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Photoshop & Cheap Laptop Recommendations?

My partner is looking to purchase a new laptop but is on a tight budget.
Sub £400 ideally.

She'll be looking to use it for basic stuff like internet use but wants to use it occasionally for photo editing as well with Photoshop.

I'm not too bad with desktop PC hardware but i don't have a clue on how intensive Photoshop is and what type of system is needed to run it.

Was wondering if anyone could advise either of a suitable laptop that fits the above or else give feedback on what the minimum processor / RAM they would suggest for photo shop would be.
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Comments

  • Cisco001
    Cisco001 Posts: 4,182 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    You probably look at good CPU and lots of RAM...
  • Cisco001
    Cisco001 Posts: 4,182 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    May be something like this, if you don't mind windows 7

    http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/dell-vostro-3559-core-i5-6200u-4gb-500gb-15.6-inch-dvd-rw-windows-10-profes-fyrr2/version.asp?refsource=LDadwords&cr!!!!!LD&refsource=ldadwords&gclid=CJfq2bHBk84CFUW4GwodldgMDA

    Call them to ask for upgrade extra 8GB RAM make it 12GB
    it is £26 if you get it from amazon and upgrade yourself.
  • chunter
    chunter Posts: 2,020 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I don't normally think much of 17" laptops, but photoshop needs a big screen.
    Another advantage is that some 17"s come with space for two drives.
    Maybe boot and work from an SSD, and use the second drive for storage.
  • Fightsback
    Fightsback Posts: 2,504 Forumite
    Any particular reason why you need Photoshop as there is plenty of freeware that can perform all of the functions the average person needs to edit photos.
    Science isn't exact, it's only confidence within limits.
  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 24,870 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    What version of Photoshop? Once you know, you can go to the Adobe site and look up system requirements or, it might even be on the box if you installed it via a DVD.
  • Cisco001
    Cisco001 Posts: 4,182 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    chunter wrote: »
    I don't normally think much of 17" laptops, but photoshop needs a big screen.
    Another advantage is that some 17"s come with space for two drives.
    Maybe boot and work from an SSD, and use the second drive for storage.

    My though is OP shouldn't be using cheap laptop for photoshop. the screen is lack of color accuracy. He/ she should plug it to a monitor/ TV when doing his/ her occasional photo editing.
  • Retrogamer
    Retrogamer Posts: 4,218 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Fightsback wrote: »
    Any particular reason why you need Photoshop as there is plenty of freeware that can perform all of the functions the average person needs to edit photos.

    They've used Photoshop off and on over the years and it's the only software they're familiar with. So far pretty happy with it, but is open to other suggestions.
    Le_Kirk wrote: »
    What version of Photoshop? Once you know, you can go to the Adobe site and look up system requirements or, it might even be on the box if you installed it via a DVD.

    I had a look at their site, but it's a bit of nonsense some of it. One version quoted 1GB of RAM being enough and with Windows 7. Windows 7 will barely do anything on 1GB of RAM let alone anything intensive.
    Cisco001 wrote: »
    My though is OP shouldn't be using cheap laptop for photoshop. the screen is lack of color accuracy. He/ she should plug it to a monitor/ TV when doing his/ her occasional photo editing.

    I agree, however budget is very tight unfortunately.
    All your base are belong to us.
  • Le_Kirk
    Le_Kirk Posts: 24,870 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Retrogamer wrote: »
    I had a look at their site, but it's a bit of nonsense some of it. One version quoted 1GB of RAM being enough and with Windows 7. Windows 7 will barely do anything on 1GB of RAM let alone anything intensive.
    Try this link for system requirements for most versions.
  • andygb
    andygb Posts: 14,655 Forumite
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    I bought a 17.3" HP laptop from Currys/PC World about six months ago for £379.99. I has Elements loaded on it and it works fine.
  • jshm2
    jshm2 Posts: 478 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    The problem is that sub £400 laptops reach that price point by having a lower quality screen.

    If you can stump up a few more bucks he can get a MICROSOFT Surface 3 which will beat pretty much any sub £400 laptop.

    If he's not really looking for anything professional then anything with a dedicated graphics card should cover him.
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