Photoshop on X61 or x61s - questions

Hi,

Anyone out there with either the x61 or x61s that have either Photoshop CS2 or CS3 installed and could tell me how that performs on their system?

I'm interested to know before making a purchase. I do lots of photography (EOS 1D) and I'd like to have a small laptop with me to download the pics to and then make some necessary adjustments to photos for distribution etc.

Will photoshop work well in these circumstances on either machine? Is the ultralight screen (brighter) on the x61s a plus to have for this type of work? Would the LV processor (1.8) and the on-board graphics (x3100) be sufficient? Or would this call for the regular voltage 2.2Ghz (T7700) on a x61 (only thing I'm worried about here is the screen brightness - especially if I'd be doing something on a terrasse sipping coffee and manipulating photos or typing up reports, or sitting in a car/plane/train next to a window with a 150nit screen).

Otherwise I'd just go with a t61 14" standard (heavier but more powerful, larger screen, greater resolution).

I appreciate and await your comments.

 

Im guess for photoshop the graphics card won't be that important, but the processor will. Id go with the x61 as it will provide a bit more power for the application.

 

I had an x61s with a 1.8Ghz LV and the UltraLight screen for about a month and I do some work in Photoshop and it seems to run it alright. I was having some trouble though with it stalling out for a few seconds at times when i was doing certain tasks though either in photoshop or just like deleting a photo but i'm thinking that may have had to do with Vista and the Intel 1GB turbo memory i had installed in it but I don't know. I would personally consider going with the 14.1" WXGA+ however with like a newer Penryn processor if you plan to do much serious Photoshop work.

 

How much memory do you have? I do recall using Photoshop on an older T40 with 1GB of memory, and after I switched out to 2GB it ran like a champ.

I'd imagine the performance should be on par with a similarly equipped T61. You'd lose the higher resolution screen, but I guess that's a sacrifice you can make for the ultraportable size.

akib99 is right, Photoshop is not GPU-dependent so you shouldn't worry there.

 

in my experience with any photo editing program you want as much screen real estate as possible. The 1024x768 provided by the x series just doesn't cover it but if you have to have an x series go for the one with a better processor.

 

Right! Thanks for your views thus far.

Although I just absolutely love the form factor of the X61(s) I somehow doubt that it would be enough for some of the applications that I'd use and the screen (1024x768) might be an achilles heel for what I'd need. Really too bad the laptop doesn't come with 1280x1024 otherwise I'd buy a bunch of them without hesitation.

I do code processing as well, so I'd need some extra output from a processor. Rather unfortunate the x series isn't a tad more powerful.

I'm no fan of widescreens (in fact I loathe widescreen laptops). I used to have a t40 14.1" and it was good, but it's fairly older now and I gave it to my nephew for his enjoyment. I'll look into the T61 14.1 SXGA+ (standard screen) as an alternative.

Thanks for the comments.

 

The x61 runs Photoshop CS3 just fine for me. I wish I had more Real Estate but that's ok.

 

Thinkpad LCD is just too dim and not sharp enough for any kind of photo work.

You need a bit faster CPU than the LV or UV CPU ,so why don't you try a Dell Vostro or D630 ...............they are much better than any of Thinkpads for photoshop work.

And you dont need a Penryn for photoshop , T7500 is more than enough , in fact T7500 is faster than t8100 according to German tests.

If you get a Dell with T7500 , you will save lots of money, and next year , you'll be able to get another one.

It is ridiculous to pay premium for any brand , even for a Thinkpad because tech changing so fast, next year , you will be able to get a better model much cheaper.

No matter how much you spend on a lappie , it will be out date in a few months , so I change my policy , I will never spend more than a grand on a computer or any camera from now.

I , by the way, use XTI and 40D plan to buy a XSI to replace my XTI.

Dont waste your money on just a name, many people just think or belive there is some kind of special quality among Thinkpads or Apples or whatever expensive , but I truly doubt it cause all forums here and others have so many unhappy users of all brands.

Who cares build quality ? since we all need to replace our cameras or computers every year....................

If you like Lenovo , what about Y510 or Y410 ?

they are much cheaper and as fast as thinkpad R or T models in similar confugurations.

 

The Dell D630 and Vostro come with matte screens too. I can't imagine it being too much brighter than the Thinkpads' if at all.

It will be "out of date", yes, but that's what happens with electronics. If you spend your time chasing the market instead of buying one when you need it, you'll end up never buying one.

And what is the ratio of unhappy users to happy users posting on these forums? The number of posts made by unhappy users usually outnumbers the number of posts made by happy users.

Perhaps he wants the Trackpoint, or the keyboard, roll cage, or whatever.

If you read his posts, he's into a non-widescreen, ultraportable notebook. The Y410 and Y510 fit into neither of those categories.

 

3 gigs was installed in it running Vista Business. I think there was something up with either Vista or the Turbo memory though because like seriously when i would just do a simple task like deleting pictures it would sit there for several seconds with the status box before it finally finished.

I would personally advise against it. The SXGA+ 14.1 screen in the T61's are not good. They're dim at only 150 nits and the contrast is 200:1. The 14" widescreen displays are 200 nits and 300:1 contrast. If you want something really bright with higher contrast though then I would be looking into something like a 13.3" laptop with a LED backlit display like the Sony SZ or Dell XPS m1330. Build quality isn't the greatest on the m1330 though.

It all depends on what model you get as to how good the LCD is. The UltraLight screen on my x61s was quite bright. 200 nits should be farely bright but I can't say for sure since it may vary depending on the particular manufacturer of the display. I've never been pleased with any of the Dell screens I've gotten other than the Toshiba LED one in the m1330 which is real good. Also, there is no point in going with a T7500 over a newer Penryn processor unless Dell or someone is having a sale on a particular model with only that option. The newer Penryn processors use a smaller die manufacturing process so they're cheaper to produce and thus cheaper to buy. They also use noticeably less power than the previous gen Merom. If you're getting a ThinkPad now from Lenovo you can upgrade to the T9300 for pretty cheap since they're having a sale on processor upgrades. You can also use the 20% off coupon which is available and click through on Fatwallet to get 10% Lenovo cashback then saving you 30%.

 

I have the CS3 Web Premium Suite on my T61 and R61 14.1" 2Gb, 2.0Ghz and it runs smoothly..

 

Most laptops are not suitable for photo editing because they come with Twisted Nematic (TN) display panels. TN panels have narrow viewing angle: Color shifts as soon as the user moves slightly off the straight-on position. But they are cheap so they have become the de-facto equipment on laptops and desktops. Notable exceptions are the Flexview IPS panels offered on T4xp and T6xp, but sadly they have been discontinued.

If the OP can swing the about $500 difference in price, consider step up to the X61 Tablet. It can be ordered with a SXGA+ panel that offers wide viewing angle. On another forum it mentions they use the BOE Hydis panel with AFFS technology and 180/180 viewing angle. BOE Hydis also supplied their panels with AFFS technology for the Flexview IPS panels.

Additional benefit is the Wacom digitizer allows you manipulate the photo right on the screen. It is like working on a portable Cintiq.

Right now it looks like you can only order the L7500 processor with the SXGA+ display option. IMO, the slow processor speed is not a problem. I am a developer, and during builds, the processor spends more time waiting for the disk access than the actual linking and assembly. Go for a 7200rpm drive for the compiles.

Check out the X61 Tablet. It may be a better match than at the first glance.

 

Thanks very much msb0b for a very informative reply!!

I must say, however, and perhaps I should have clarified this from the start, the laptop would not be used for hard-core photo editing but more for quick tweaking and processing - I do have access to a desktop for the more demanding (full photo processing) tasks.

Also, my consideration for a new laptop would not be solely for the purpose of photo editing. It would mostly be used for coding (most of that done in a *nix environment).

The one hesitation I had concerning the X61(s) was the resolution (biggest concern), display adapter performance (X3100) and processor performance (LV v T) not being quite certain whether or not either system would suffice for the above-mentioned planned usage.

I really appreciate your recommendation but at this point the tablet is somewhat out of my price range.

 

I work during the Kentucky Derby next to the adjunct media center (read:still photographers) and the small sonys seem to be the most popular tool of choice. I have the x61s with adobe master collection and 3gb ram running xp pro and do video editing (with Avid) and photoshop with absolutely no problems. You can do what you need to do and do it very fast with the core 2duos, much less the new penryns.
The 7200rpm drive is an absolute necessity.
I think the tablet idea is a good one but I have no confidence in anyones tablet or I would have bought one myself.

 

Photoshop isn't really a GPU-dependent program, so the X3100 would suffice.

The resolution is a bit low, but to me editing on my dad's 1024x768 T40 screen wasn't so bad. I didn't realize it at the time, but the screen's full res was SXGA+ (he keeps it lower for whatever reason), and even at the non-native resolution everything looked pretty sharp.

 

Another thing to keep in mind with the x61t tablet is that people have a lot of issues with the bezel coming loose. This seems to happen to nearly every one of the SXGA+ panels because it's a thinner display and the x61t wasn't designed to house it properly. As far as I know Lenovo never has properly fixed the problem.