I'm just like you, I know nothing about laptops.

Personally, Lenovo laptops suck. Mine lasted a good 3 months with all the expensive spyware on it before it died.

I've had an ASUS for a year now and it's the best thing next to some crazy $2,00 Apple laptop.

Ohhh! Thank you for the advice, I'll note myself that! O:
Do you use Photoshop or other heavy programs on your laptop?

I've run 3-4 different types of Photoshop on it before. Paint Tool SAI, GIMP, AutoDesk (which sucks), Corel Pro trial... I've even got some Steam games and video editing programs on it. Still have 100 GB left.

That sounds awesome @___@ Do the programs run smoothly with no lags?

Yup! (except a few games, but that's because I run several programs at once and always have multiple tabs open)

Hmmm, alrighty then! Thanks! =D

You're welcome!

Actually lenovo laptops are awesome, you just need the right one, I have a lenovo gaming laptop, backlit keyboard, 1TB of memory, 4-5 hours battery life, the works, runs all of those programmes just fine (price tag of around £700 though) and Iv heard lots of good reviews from other lenovo laptops.
Before that I had a HP entertainment laptop, again could run those programmes smoothly, I had that one for five years before I upgraded to the lenovo to suit my needs and because the HP had over heating problems in its 5th year, allvin all though that was a great laptop with 8GB of memory and a 2-3 hour battery life.
I highly reccomend both HP and Lenovo, but again, it depends which laptop you get from them ^^

I'm with you, I love my Lenovo. I suspect you mean 1Tb of hard disk though, 1Tb of memory would be impressive in any machine let alone a laptop.

At work we use to be a big fan of Toshibas. Their business models are still good, but expensive, their "home" ones not so good. Work changed to Dells, which I find "meh" nothing too good or bad about them. We did have a bundle of Acer laptops, don't touch those. Asus seems to be hit and miss, I have some friends who think they're the best things ever and others who run screaming from them.

yupyup, the one I have is a Lenovo Ideapad Y500 15.6-inch Laptop (8GB RAM, 1TB HDD)
While I've never owned a toshiba it's used quite a lot in schools and other work environments, so i'd say they're ok for small works, i agree with you on the dells, asus and acer's :)

I have an Asus X53z or something like that, 250 dollars, considered a 'gaming' laptop so it can run EVERYTHING. Only draw backs is they overheat quick so a cooler pad would be great.

Oh! That sounds great and has a reasonable price too- thank you 8D

This one here is has the best price/perfomance ratio so far: http://goo.gl/al9pF4

Thank you!

I agree with saraw that ASUS laptops are great, however i have a lenovo for 2 years now and it never failed me, i use it to program and even play games when bored :P

The games you have on the laptop- are they heavy? Photoshop weights about 1GB, and SAI too I think - so it's quite a lot and I want them to work smoothly on the laptop >o<

Skyrim, WoW, Tera, the big games. Can run those and Sai and Skype and 18 internet tabs before I start lagging :p

oh my god that sounds fantastic- but do you have a graphic card?

Eh it's integrated but it's an ATI Radeon HD 6530, it's what it came with.

Hmmm, alright! thanks!

yes they are quite taxing on the computer, this one that i linked you is better than mine it will handle photoshop really well since it has a pretty strong processor, also it has two dedicated graphics cards wich will enable photoshop to use OpenGL aceleration for the more Compute complex features like filters and 3D rendering (if CS6). You may also buy the 16GB of ram if you are going to work on extremely high resolution peices with 100+ layers and want it to be really fast on those pieces, if you want to save works, load works programs faster you can even get an SSD and throw it in (it's easy to do even people that don't know how to can do it with a little tutorial).

Here if you feel like reading a really long a tech detailed review of the notebook in question: http://goo.gl/IKqaE2

That sounds perfect! Oh wow, thank you so much for the help! I will consider everything you've recommended, I appreciate it a lot

Happy to help :)

Apparently the wireless card for this computer might be so bad that it's really a bad idea to use for wi-fi internet. It has issues with anything besides web browsing at times; and you need to be able to mess with the router more often than not. I assume you can't do that yourself where you're going!

I've heard that frequently, but it usually turns out that anyone complaining is using the wrong type of router.

"This 9-year-old Cisco router I'm using has been perfectly fine for my 486 computer, and you have no right to tell me that the problem isn't coming from that newfangled Le... luh...Luveenoh?
Hell, I never even heard of them before. WHy can't I get an IBM and be done with it?"

"Sir, Lenovo *is* IBM."

"Why the hell don't they just call themselves IBM?"

"Because it's not 1986 anymore, SIr."

I gotta agree, that looks like one heck of a good deal! It's got a better processor and graphics than my Asus laptop does, and it's cheaper too.

If it's just photoshop, then anything that runs a good i5 or higher?
What's your budget anyway? Last time I checked, a strong laptop was about 3000 shekel.

3000 Shekels is quite a lot for my budget, sadly :(
My highest option is about 2000~

The problem with laptops is the average low-end ones will not have discrete graphics but rather some sub-par built-in chip.
Adobe recommends 1GB or VRAM. The laptops that DO have a discrete card like that will run around $800-900.

As far as actually picking out a specific one, I'm not too good at that. I'm currently running the high-end version of the Lenovo U530 touch, though the display seems a bit off to me. Might be an issue for art stuff.

Good luck! Let us know if you need more help.

Oh damn, that's quite pricey for me- and also trickey :'D
and thank you for the help! O:

If you wanted to go with something older and cheaper, I'd recommend the Dell Latitude D630. It has dual core processing (Intel Core 2 Duo ~ low end Core i3) and can run the Photoshops and Sais of the world well. It doesn't have a webcam, but those are relatively cheap to get. I loaded Windows 7 on mine and it runs like a Swiss watch. You can find these on eBay for $150 or less, complete. Just make sure you get one that has 2gb or more of memory and 2ghz + of processing speed, with the built in Intel graphics. The machines with the Nvidia chips have video issues.

Good luck to you in your search.

Thank you very much!

While it's true that Dell has made bad machines in its time, the Latitude series laptops have generally performed well (with Intel video chipsets). My father has worked in IT for a number of years and the businesses that have used them found them to be very durable and reliable. See: Latitude D600 being in a company's high-tech server room... in 2014. As long as there isn't bloatware or malware on the machine and as long as a user has the presence of mind to run a program like CCleaner or Advanced Systemcare every so often, there isn't really any issues. (of course I'd just suggest running them anyway)

Hey there,

As a general thing, if you're wanting a laptop that will run Photoshop, focus on getting an Intel processor, and lots of memory. At work, I use an Asus N56V<something> (like one of these) which is an i5 with 16GB ram, and it's pretty good at the job it does. There's a 2GB nVidia 630 graphics card in there too, which Photoshop loves, and it has a full HD screen.

If I remember right, Photoshop CS and SAI are single threaded programs. A quad core i7 would be a waste of your money, since 3 CPUs will idle while only 1 does any work. A dual core i5 would definitely seem the best value for your specific use case. Don't be afraid to buy a memory upgrade for whichever laptop you choose however; nearly all have a little access hatch on the bottom and it doesn't void your warranty to fit it yourself.

Top of my manufacturer list would be Asus, then Lenovo. I'd put Dell somewhere down near the bottom, to be honest; I don't like their build quality at all (big, clunky, plastic beasts), and they don't seem to get the best out of the hardware.

Do be aware however that laptops are always slower than a desktop of the "same" spec. (Examples: desktop i5 CPUs are quad core, whereas laptop i5s are dual core. An nVidia 760 mobile graphics card has 768 graphics cores - the desktop version has 1152. "Same" hardware label, different spec underneath.) That's not to say all laptops are slow and horrible, because depending on what you want them to do, you can still get one faster than you need - I have my i5 laptop for work, and a little light i3 that I carry round to write stories with when on the go, and both are perfect for the jobs they do. As long as the task you have in mind isn't super-heavy on performance (Photoshop isn't really) then you'll be fine.

Final word of warning for a first time buyer; laptops in general have a high failure and return rate. Buy from a respectable retailer with plenty of stock, so that if yours is dead on arrival, you'll get an immediate replacement from their shelves, rather than waiting weeks for the manufacturer to send back the original.

Good luck - hope you find something you're happy with :)

Choose a laptop with more than "HD" screen resolution. It will be hard, because the majority of them currently comes with 1366x768 display which is practically a joke, especially if you'd like to use it for a professional purpose, like drawing. Make sure it has a full HD (1920x1080) display else it will be useless for you. I think those are useless anyway, I had 1024x768 display 20 years ago, and this is the same just an inch wider... it's a joke really. Even chinese tablets have bigger resolution these days...

Good day, and I hope my post can be of some help, despite having very few pointers in terms of actual new-ish laptop models!

Firstly, like many of my fellow commenters have also suggested, any laptop which runs an Intel core i5 processor will probably more than suitable, and something with an Intel i7 is even better, but you'll want something with at -least- 8GB of RAM to be able to fully utilize its speed.

[My buddy who builds computers would be annoyed with me for saying this, as nowadays, he recommends something with at -least- 16GB of RAM, bare minimum; me, I'm still on an ancient old desktop with 4GB of system memory, which in itself has never given me any troubles, but then again, I don't use Photoshop, and I don't tend to multitask, like so many of us do. :P]

So, in other words, 8GB+ RAM is ideal, but 16GB+ RAM is optimal, particularly if you like multitasking. :D

You'll likely also want something with dedicated graphics as opposed to integrated, especially if you enjoy the occasional gaming in addition to Photoshop. (i.e. look for something that has "AMD Radeon HD" or "nVidia GTX" graphics, rather than something that says nothing at all about the graphics, which more than likely means they are integrated) It will also do you some good to Google the information on the graphics themselves, as fellow users will often let you know what is good and what isn't.

As a final point, I would -not- recommend Windows 8 or 8.1. Despite my own dislike of it - which in disclosure, is generally superficial compared to the folks who actually use it - pretty much every single friend I've known who's had Windows 8 or 8.1 has strongly disliked it, and would have preferred to get Windows 7 instead.

If there's any chance you can build your own laptop, such as at http://www.cyperpowerpc.com/ or otherwise, I would suggest steering clear of Windows 8 and trying to opt for a Windows 7 Professional or Windows 7 Ultimate laptop, in lieu of all of the crazy new touchscreen/two-in-one (tablets that can be attached to keyboards)/all-in-ones they offer nowadays, almost all of which come with Windows 8 or 8.1 as standard.

[Not knocking on Microsoft or Windows in general - I would just prefer to use Windows 7 instead of 8, by my own personal preference in addition to everything else I've heard! XD]

So, in short! I would go with at least an Intel i5 processor, or if you prefer AMD processors, at least one of their six-core configurations. For me, Windows 7 is a must. Also keep in mind that, although a GPU/video card can be "dedicated," it may still be "integrated," i.e. built into the motherboard, which will take away from system memory.

Hope this at least -slightly- helps; again, I don't know nearly as much about modern builds/system configurations as my peers, but I still know a thing or two about designing/building a system. :P Please feel free to give me a shout/note if you're still confused; I will do my best to help.

Good luck!

*pawprint*
-Cab

Out of curiosity, what don't you like about WIndows 8?

There aren't any legitimate retail sources that sell WIndows 7 on a new computer anymore, as of about February last year, so you won't find a WIn7 machine with any modern parts in it. If you're building a tower, WIn7 is a cost-saving measure, but ultimately, it doesn't run nearly as well on anything less than about 8gb of memory because despite being very powerful and easy to tune, at the back end it is everything that Mac users hate about WIndows.
I don't count this as bad though, as WIn8 is much more efficient, bordering on being as kernel-efficient and streamlined as OSX. YOu can install what's called the Classic Shell which gives you the efficiency and awesome backwards-compatibility of 8.1 with an interface that makes sense on a machine without a touchscreen.

I will strongly argue against the suggestion that Lenovo laptops "suck"; and in fact, I will even go as far as to argue that they are the best that you can get without spending three times as much for an equivalent Apple product. See, not only do I sell these things for a living, but I also use them extensively on the side. I work with Best Buy as a Geek Squad service consultant, and I run a recording studio out of my basement, as well as producing for three separate projects.
I have seen more Dell and HP laptops come back for repairs each than everything else put together, and only about half of those are from user error or mistreatment.
ANY laptop you get for under about $450-$500 normally priced, is going to be built to considerably different standards than one above that line, and anyone who thinks that a $399.99 Lenovo is going to be of the same quality as a $750 Lenovo probably hasn't been shopping for their self for very long.

So avoid Dell and HP like the plague.
Acer/Gateway are the same company, much like Ford and Mercury, save that there's really no difference between the product lines of Acer and Gateway at all beyond the fact that Acers don't have that stupid cow print on the box.

Sony laptops are generally very well built and well furnished, but I've had a distressing number of people come back with Sony Vaio series machines suffering from hard drive failure.
Samsung is hit or miss. Their monitors are great, but their machines are all over the place for quality.

If you want the best bang for your buck, pick up an Asus. THis company is not well-advertised, but has acquired a Godlike reputation among gamers, builders, and geeks of all sorts for their incredible durability, attention t detail, their outstanding factory driver packages, and generally having the best level of value for the cost.
If you're doing heavy artwork and lots of layers, you will want at least an i5 processor to avoid frustration with response and speed. An i3 processor will be very marginal for handling the sorts of tasks you'll want to throw at it, and since you cannot upgrade the processor in a laptop, you will want to avoid an i3 or anything older (DEFINITELY avoid Pentium or Celeron, and never buy a laptop with an AMD processor in it unless you're content with having it plugged in and sitting on a cooling pad any time you're doing any heavy work. AMD is not bad, they're actually quite nice, but they generate a lot of extra heat and use a lot of extra power as compared to a similar-performing Intel processor, which makes them more ideal for low-budget performance desktop builds). Higher volumes of memory will improve the size of files you can actively work with, more layers, more resolution, more effects processing. You want at least six gigabytes of memory, preferably 8.
Hard disk space will always be a fight. YOu can start with something in the 500gb range, but depending on what else you use it for, you may fill that up quickly. Your laptop will always have USB ports, which you can use to expand your space and create backups ongoing.
Most modern laptops have an HDMI output on the side, which you can use to connect your computer to a television set. THis, I find to be particularly useful when I use my Q550 series machine for remote recording sessions at a friend's house; I generally use my desktop for recording while at home and my monitor is big enough not to worry about it.

FOr your needs, I believe an Asus Q301LA series, which offers a 4th-generation Core i5 processor (the most energy-efficient of the lot without going to an i7 right now), 6gb of RAM, a 500gb hard drive, and a 13.3" touchscreen, would be an ideal starting point, and if you were willing to step up by another $150 or so, the Q501LA would be the ideal machine for you. It has the same 4th-gen i5 processor, but it has 8gb of RAM, a 750gb hard drive, and a 15.6" touchscreen.
THe "premium" model would be the Q550 series, which come with a 4th-generation i7 processor, 8gb of RAM, and a 1tb hard disk (1,000 gb), as well as a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX745m graphics chip with 2gb of dedicated video memory THis extra bit really helps with image processing, graphics, renderingand smoothing-out video and game framerates, and is an important thing to have in any machine that you're using for visual arts. These are about $250 over the cost of the 501 series though, and significantly heavier and bulkier despite having the same screen size.

I should add in addendum to this that these recommendations are given with the important caveat that without spending a stupid sum of money, any time you willingly switch from a desktop to a laptop, you are willingly sacrificing a lot of functionality for a little portability. This can be fine IF you are not seeking to replace your desktop with a laptop, but rather, expand your capabilities by giving yourself *some* capabilities on the go.

Go with Asus as the brand for sure. They make some rocking laptops that have some crazy power underneath the hood. Look for something with an I7 Processor by Intel if you really wanna have some incredible power, and look into a high end nvidia graphics card. If you go with one of Asus's gaming laptops, then you will get something that can do anything you can think of. They are epic and amazing!~

You might want to take a look at http://www.dfsdirectsales.com/, in particular check out their portable workstations (the Mobile Precision) stuff. These are lease return laptops, so they are used, but the Mobile Precision laptops are some of the best I've used and they are powerful machines. Prices are reasonable because, well, lease return.

My advise would be to get something quad-core, and then load it up with memory (run a 64-bit Windows) and get an inexpensive SSD to really make it fly.

Other people (above) had some good suggestions for new laptops, but if you're not sure how this will play out and don't want to sink a bunch of money into the investment you should consider this option. If it doesn't work out, you can probably resell the laptop for about what you put into it (which wouldn't be true with a new machine).

Hope this helps!

HEY! If you're still looking for a small, powerful little laptop, I would HIGHLY suggest the Surface Pro! (It's what I'm using currently.)
You could get the highest tier original Pro 1 for around $600, and it can definitely handle Photoshop etc. (Plus it has Wacom pen input built in!)
Alternatively, there's also the Pro 2 & 3. The Pro 3's highest tier model will be released around September-ish and is JUST below $2000, but it has a larger screen, i7 core, 8 Gigs of RAM, and 512 Gigs on its' SSD.
The only down side is that it uses N-Trig rather than Wacom, but from what I've heard, it seems to work great still!
(Here's a link to the Surface Pro 3.)

Hope it helps somehow.! ...three months late! ^^;