Laptop or Desktop for Design and Graphics

spartacus173500

No 1 son just off to Uni and old Dell laptop needs replacing. (Excellent service last 5 years!)

Technology moved on and now needs to be able to load and use AutoCAD, Photoshop and other design/graphics packages, as well as usual Office and Internet software.

Would a new laptop be suitable with a separate, larger, monitor and additional keyboard and mouse, or should we go for desktop/tower pc?
What Spec or model recommendations?

Advice appreciated.

seert

has anyone any suggestions for this

hebridean

You could go for the another monitor, but it would depend on the present laptops outputs and their compatibility. I was in a similar situation last (photography) year using a 6 year old Asus, and intillay bought an all singing and dancing 17.5" £850 Asus laptop but could not see any difference in terms of screen quality from what i had, and returned it. So i researched a bit more and bought a 16.5" Dell Studio XPS with an RBG screen, used for half the price from your favourite used goods website.
Ultimately you could save yourself a lot of bother if finances permit and your son is into Mac's and get him a Mac Retina display laptop. Sorted. There's no competition and i would love to own one. Alternatavely IPS screened laptops are also excellent and similar to the RGB, but thin on the ground.
I have not mentioned desktop PC's as i know very little about them and i would imagine as a student your son would like his work to be portable.
Best of Luck.

Cisco001

What budget you are talking about?
I would generally suggest going for desktop as it is more powerful and easier for upgrade/ repair. However, some people may prefer laptop for mobility

spartacus173500

I know you probably get more the more you spend but, as MSE promotes 'what do you need?'

If resonable speed/ease of use and A3 quality outputs are what is required - to see through next 3 years, would a budget £500 suffice?

What would be best 'shopping list' - exclude software which we already have ex Software for Students.

Thx for any advice.

gonzo127

I would go for desktop and pop some money into a nice monitor as this is the thing he will be looking at most, and then save some money initially on the base unit as desktops can be upgraded when funds allow

so something with a IPS panel http://www.ebuyer.com/466112-24ea53vq-24-ips-led-1920-1080-vga-dvi-hdmi-black-24ea53vq is pretty cheap and leaves ~£350 for a base unit

something like this http://www.dinopc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=1788 with a upgraded power supply unit (probably the 550w one) which will allow him to upgrade it easier in future should he need more power - and if you can afford it upgrading to the core i5 processor would also be good - but would take you over the £500 budget

of course you can go for a cheaper/smaller monitor but I think for a initial set up having a bigger monitor will be helpful as yes more ram would make it faster but it is a cheap upgrade in future and probably the easiest upgrade, same as graphics card a easy upgrade if needed, but for something where he will be having to pay a lot of attention to whats on screen a better screen is always wise IMHO