Hardware Devices

[Herman]

Which hardware devices do you recommend for "creators"?
Preferred manufacturers? Mobile equipment?
I'm waiting for hybrid mobile processors from Intel (12th generation).
It seems that AMD laptops get "hot" at heavy loads such as video editing.

 

[Brian]

"Creators", meaning software/firmware Developers? It's a very wide question. For real work: I prefer Panasonic Toughbooks because of the build quality and reliability.
I do a lot of development for embedded systems, so do not require the "latest and greatest". For FPGA developers: more power is required for complex designs. The latest and greatest Intel processors speed things up greatly.

I recently downloaded and installed Microsoft Visual C++: could not believe how bloated it had become. I started with C++ V1.52 over 25 years ago. I ended up installing GNU C/C++ to run under JGrasp for my Daughter taking a C++ class.

 

[Kevin]

"Creators", meaning software/firmware Developers?

I think it's in context of "content creators", as in photographers or videos for YouTube.

I'm waiting for hybrid mobile processors from Intel (12th generation).

I'm falling behind on my tech knowledge, what would be a hybrid processor be?

 

[agentlossing]

I've been running an i5 6600K processor since building my system in 2014 (I think?). I had been wanting to update my graphics to take advantage of the GPU-enabled image processing from programs like DXO, but thanks to the bloody crypto miners that's not going to happen for probably another year at least. So I decided to upgrade to a 10-series processor, the i5 10400F. It has arrived, but my necessary motherboard upgrade is still on the way. Should still speed up my image editing quite a bit.

 

[Herman]

Thanks for the replies.
Hybrid architecture: 12th Gen Intel Core

 

[Herman]

Creators by Asus: see ProArt at Asus website.
(photography, video, animation, architecture etc)

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Intel’s 12-series CPUs are anything but efficient. Intel has been using higher energy consumption to compete for several generations. The 12-series is better, but it’s no magic bullet. Ryzen 4000 or 5000 are great mobile chips. Very efficient and good battery life. The problem is, if you’re looking for mobile Ryzen, they often get stuffed in lesser designs, so you end up with a compromised system.

If you aren’t opposed to Apple, the M1 series of chips offers the best mobile combination of performance, efficiency, and battery life, IMO, and Apple puts good displays in their mobile devices, which is really important if you’re into photo editing. Don’t even get me started on MS and the mess that is Windows 11.

 

[Brian]

On a humorous note: I run DOS on a 2.7GHz I5. It is fast. I use it to develop embedded software.

 

[Herman]

Is it hard to move from Microsoft to Apple?

 

[Brian]

Herman- I think it depends if the particular software you use is available on the Apple system and how deep you are into what you use now.

I know a lot of people that moved to Apple as it had the software they used, and the system was easier to maintain.

 

[agentlossing]

Intel’s 12-series CPUs are anything but efficient. Intel has been using higher energy consumption to compete for several generations. The 12-series is better, but it’s no magic bullet. Ryzen 4000 or 5000 are great mobile chips. Very efficient and good battery life. The problem is, if you’re looking for mobile Ryzen, they often get stuffed in lesser designs, so you end up with a compromised system.

If you aren’t opposed to Apple, the M1 series of chips offers the best mobile combination of performance, efficiency, and battery life, IMO, and Apple puts good displays in their mobile devices, which is really important if you’re into photo editing. Don’t even get me started on MS and the mess that is Windows 11.

I would have loved to switch to a Ryzen 3 3300X, a super cheap processor that punches way above its weight... But it has turned out to be popular enough that prices have skyrocketed, it may be a "recommended" processor for mining rigs...

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Is it hard to move from Microsoft to Apple?

It does depend on your software for sure. If you're an Adobe CC user, it's probably relatively simple. There are other photography softwares that have both Windows and Apple versions, and the license might even transfer. At least here in the US, Apple has really good returns, 14 days, no questions asked. I think they even cover return shipping. It would give you an opportunity to try it out and decide. I was a Windows user for many years, but ever since Windows 10, I'm not a fan of this new MS. Too much telemetry sending home to MS, and too much pushing of MS software and services, which is only worse in Windows 11, from what I hear. MacOS has been a relatively incremental OS over the years, so each new version isn't a drastic change from the last, and the OS generally tried to stay out of the user's way.

I would have loved to switch to a Ryzen 3 3300X, a super cheap processor that punches way above its weight... But it has turned out to be popular enough that prices have skyrocketed, it may be a "recommended" processor for mining rigs...

Thankfully, with Adler Lake returning Intel to some performance parity with AMD, some of the newer Ryzen CPUs are getting cheaper. The 5600G and 5600X are pretty good values now. The 5600G is nice because it offers integrated graphics, since dedicated GPUs are selling at criminal prices these days. I remember paying about $100 for a new RX 570 a few years ago, and now used ones are selling for way more than that. It's about the worst time ever to try building your own PC.

 

[Herman]

Profession at ProArt | Laptops for Creators | ASUS USA

 

[agentlossing]

It's about the worst time ever to try building your own PC

Yes it is. I wouldn't even have upgraded except DXO PL5 is a bit intensive, and I found a good price on the processor at Staples.

 

[Herman]

Oled screen, yes or no?

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

If you’re doing photo/video editing, then what matters most is gamut, accuracy, and ideally factory calibrated. OLED can be good, but sometimes it can be too warm, or there’s color shift when your angle of view changes. I suspect many of the early OLED limitations have been overcome, but I believe most of your photo editing monitors are LCD (IPS or IGZO), which I assume they do that for a reason. Macs don’t use OLED at all (but iPhones do), and the new MBPs use mini-LED.

 

[agentlossing]

Subjectively, I would say LCD for editing, OLED for viewing - providing both are good quality with a decent gamut. OLED tends to be more saturated, but it's probably best to edit on the less-saturated screen, so those viewing on LCD screens later don't have the perception that things are washed out. Also, OLED tends to crush blacks unless it's a really good screen, and while I can deal with that when browsing images, it's annoying if you're seeing something that might not actually exist during editing.

 

[Herman]

Thanks for the replies.
Which manufacturers do you recommend?

 

[Herman]

Apple, Acer, Dell, Asus, Lenovo?

 

[olli]

Apple, Acer, Dell, Asus, Lenovo?

I've had an Asus Zenbook for about six years now and it is still running everything I need comfortably including heavy duty photo processing on things like Adobe Super Resolution and DXO Deep Prime (though the Asus was the top of the line model when I got it). I'm hoping to hang onto it for at least another 4-5 years.

That said, I think most laptops in given price brackets are much-of-a-muchness these days. My wife has a great little HP, and in the past we have had good experiences with Toshiba and Sony (though I'm not sure either of them is still in the laptop market.