Which Asus is the best for image editing?

I use quite a lot of photoshop. Which Asus laptop should I get for that purpose? I prefer matte screen over glossy screen (though matte seems difficult to find these days).

Which of these should I upgrade to get better performance in PS?

-Ram (2GB)
-Cpu (Core2Duo)
-GPU (an advance GPU from Nvidia or ATI)

Do photos look BETTER on a laptop screen with higher resolution compared to a lower resolution?

I prefer 14,1 inch and smaller screens.

 

For photoshop work, higher pixel density helps obviously. For 14.1, that leaves you with the new A8js release with the WXGA+ screen - everything else that Asus makes in the sub-15" group is WXGA (which isn't bad). There aren't any current/new Asus models with the matte screen anymore; the V6 was the last one as far as I know.

GPU does nothing for ps performance that I've ever heard, since the software can't offload the graphics filter processing to the gpu (unlike video rendering, where it can sometimes help). Go first with *any* C2Duo chip over the older CDuo yonah's, and then plug in as much RAM as you can fit/afford.

Photos do not *look* better on a higher res screen, you can just get more of a given file on the screen. One word of caution, however.... the 14" and below screens can suffer from narrower vertical viewing angles (a consequence of the manufacturing process of the smaller lcd's) compared to the larger 15-17" screens and this can affect your image color reproduction/quality. Depending on how picky you are with your editing, this may/not be a dealbreaker for you.

 

The higher the resolution, the more detail, but depending on the screen size and what your eyes can see... everyone's ideal screen is different. The pictures you have already have a set pixels per square inch, which is dictated by the megapixels of the camera or the way you scanned them. on a WUXGA screen you can basically get all of a 2mp image on the screen. Since more screens are lower res than that (especially under 17"), and since more cameras are producing more than 2mp today... You have images that basically aren't going to "look better", but you can see more detail when you're zoomed in and making modifications. I like WSXGA+ on a 15.4", WXGA+ on a 14", WXGA on a 13"... so on and so forth. doing heavy photoshop work on a 14" or smaller does get difficult.. My suggestion is you have an large external screen with bluetooth keyboard and mouse... that way you can basically get anything you want. The integrated graphics solutions today are more than enough to satisfy most photoshop users, so I'd really let the size of the system you want dictate what you get. You could get an 11" S6 if you wanted, although not great for what you're doing, with an external mouse and keyboard and big lcd, it'll more than handle it.

 

As a graphic artist and web designer I have always required a high resolution screen on my laptops. My first laptop had a 1600x1200 resolution, my current laptop is at 1680x1050 which has been perfect for my needs. I use Photoshop for website design as well as my photography. I currently am using the ASUS G1 and the combined power and beautiful glossy LCD has been perfect. My previous laptop was a matte screen and I must say that the contrast of the glossy screen is much higher. I recommend glossy over matte screen for graphic work. Reflection has not been an issue for me at all. As for the look of the laptop itself, everyone at my work place and at school has loved it. I have received many compliments at school and work on the looks of it.

 

As a heavy Photoshop user, I agree with everything you said, but want to qualify this one statement. If you go too low, then you can actually see the pixel grid on most basic web images - which can be really annoying because you sort of lose the forest for the trees. I personally have a 15" UXGA right now, but noticed this when looking at the WXGA 15.4" widescreens in the stores.

From what I've read here, without ever seeing an Asus, that the G1, Z96JS, and V1JP (which all use the same screen) have the best Asus screens, but they are 15.4". I'm still trying to get someone to tell me the screen model number of the WSXGA+ F3JP so that we can see if that's the same screen as the others.

I would like a 14" as well, but I can't buy the A8J* because too many people have said it's too bad for image editing. Thinking of waiting for the new V2 14" (coming out in a month or so), but no guarantees that it doesn't use the same screen as the A8's. So I'm thinking of going to 15.4" just because there don't seem to be many good 14" screens. The 14" WXGA HP dv2000t is sharp and the colors seem pretty accurate, but it's just not very bright.

Radium: Would you say the whites are really white on the G1? I'm just looking for confirmation that they aren't sparkly, dusty or grayish like the matte Compal Hel80 was. I need a really good screen and haven't been able to speak to many graphics people about the G1 (so hard to buy sight unseen when the screen is so important to me).

Edit: Strangely, my second choice behind the G1 right now is the Toshiba U205 which has an excellent screen. Bright and good contrast and all. It's 1280x800, so strictly it's WXGA, but it's pretty much the equivalent of a 15" UXGA. I figure why buy something like a 15.4" WXGA when you can see the same pixels on a 12"? I'd use VGA out to a big monitor for the Toshiba - too bad it doesn't have DVI.

I'm probably one of the only buyers out there considering a G1 AND a Toshiba U205.

 

If you're looking for a "professional" system, go with the the V1jp over the G1p, but Radium's comments are valid regardless.... at least in the 15.4" range. The OP want's 14" or less, so you have to consider pixel size as you step down........ Like I said, I like roughly the same pixel density on every screen I use from 30" down to 11".....

15.4" (WSXGA+)
14" (WXGA+)
13" (WXGA)

Although a bigger screen would be better for doing the work, for me, I can use anything as long as the pixel size is about the same... and these are basically how you can step down the monitors and maintain that same desktop size.

 

For the OP, how about the glossy 13.3" W7j? I haven't seen it in person but the screen specs look good on paper.

250 nits, 400:1 contrast, 16ms response time H/V angles 90/55.

Only problem is you're not really maximizing ram or CPU.

 

Asus doesn't offer many matte screened notebooks.

 

The W7 is a great machine and I love to travel with it...... while working 3ds max and photoshop.... it's just that screen is a little small to be "productive" on while working on big projects. If the OP is ok with getting a larger desktop monitor for those situations, the W7 is about as small as I'd go while still maintaining a very capable system.

 

Well, I don't have F3Jp but here is what everest says about my F3Ja:
CMO1523 N154Z1-L02

So it does seem to have same panel as V1JP.

 

I am a heavy photoshop user and contistanly work with large heavily layered files, usually 400-800mb LZW tiff files that open up using 1-1.8gb RAM I actually set up a test file 460mb layered tiff (about 20 layers, an architectural masterplan) to test computer configurations.

Anyhow from what I tested the more RAM the better, 2 gig is as high as you can go with XP beyond that XP actually page files more and is slower, (makes me laugh when I see people running 4GIG ram under XP it just doesnt utilize it well at all.

However with XP64 Edition +4GB RAM we saw a massive speed boost, the previous fastest was 89sec, and with winXP64 + 4GB ram it went down to 12 sec for a 460mb file! it used more of the available RAM,where XP struggled badly.
The next performance boost can be seen with a fast HDD and second HDD to run as a scratch disc, thats why I brought a W3J (I have two Seagate 5400.3 160GB drives) one main drive and another installed in the optical bay. however it sufferes from only having a T2400 CPU and 5400rpm drives, it is ok but you cannot expect it to compete with the test desktop system running Dual core 2 processors and Segate 15K SCSI Cheater HDD which alone cost 750 USD.

Saying that my friends A8Js (upgraded to a 2.0Ghz T7200 Dual core 2, and 7200rpm drive, which is SATA) and to be honest it currently outperforms my W3J, it is very fast, although I would say the screen on my W3J is better quality and has better viewing angles.

I am not too worried, as I am waiting for my warantee to run out in a few months time, then am going to upgrade to a new Dual Core 2 processor and seagate are also releasing 160GB 7200rpm drives very soon, if not already (supposedly Q1 2007). once I get those, I should see a considerable performance boost.

So to sum it up, W3J has a better screen than A8Js, and the ability to run twin HDDs internally will aslo give you a performance boost. of course his A8Js with faster SATA HDD and processor outperformed my W3J (for now ha ha)

Whatever you do upgrade to a faster processor, install 2GB RAM, und upgrade your HDD to a 7200rpm HDD, with photoshop GPU has little impact.

 

From the specs, LG S1 M002A9 has a very nice matte screen, X1600 ATI and Core 2Duo 7400. Pricey, but probably has the specs you want.

Edit: Doh, you were asking for Asus...sorry.

 

I would think a higher resolution is always better when editing photos. However, these days most <= 14.1" screens are glossy and low res.

I think you'll want to upgrade ram as PS is pretty memory intensive. Graphics card shouldn't matter as much as photoshop isn't a 3D graphics intensive program. But I suppose even a weak dedicated gpu is always a plus.

You're gonna have a really hard time finding the type of screen you're looking for. If you're willing to look at 15.4" then you'll definitely find what you want power wise even if the size is a bit big. Right now the A8j is the only 14" that comes to my mind or maybe the w3. Both of these are glossy and low res.

 

If you plan on using a color managed workflow, you will have to have a glossy screen in order to be able to perform color calibration. Matte screens can't produce a true black and are difficult to calibrate for color-sensitive work.

That's why professional image editing used CRTs exclusively until high quality glossy LCDs started becoming available in the last year or two.

 

Not true about the resolution, IMO. The A8J is WXGA+ (1440 x900) which is pretty equivalent to WSXGA+ in a 15.4".