If you are a graphic designer, you may be wondering what is the best laptop for graphic design. This is a question that can be easily answered when you look at the laptops hardware, rather than the installed software. The hardware will influence the performance of the laptop when running software programs.
Many people tend to choose between Apple or Dell when it comes to laptops, due to strong brand awareness. They often employ many marketing strategies that make it clear that you will never regret choosing one of their products. These two brands are known just about anywhere as the leading manufacturers of all things laptop.
If we talk about laptops for graphic design, we should not ignore these two brands either, since their products usually integrate the best of the technological world, and the models they regularly release will have the latest processor model. along with more RAM than the previous model and a better graphics card.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that really matter to graphic designers:
Screen size and resolution
When choosing a laptop, make sure you understand this specification. Screen resolution is the number of actual pixels the laptop can render on the screen, and is not necessarily related to the actual size of the screen. There are certain models of ultraportable laptops with small but high-resolution screens. This doesn’t mean you should settle for a small-screen laptop for your design work. A 13-inch laptop can be attractive at first glance and can bring a lot of portability to the table, but it becomes quite difficult to do any editing on such a small screen.
Your goal should be a laptop that has a screen that is at least 15.4 inches in diagonal screen size. Also, the pixel density or DPI must be high. There are new laptop models that can output Full HD resolutions even on a standard 15.4-inch screen.
Before you buy it, be sure to try it out. This means doing a real resolution test and seeing what resolution works best for you. These newer laptops are capable of decent resolutions and you’d be wise to take your time and check them out.
You should open various programs, such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, and see how the overall layout of the software fits on the screen, how big the editing space really is, and whether the edited image is sharp enough for you to work with. After a few tries, you should reach a point where you find a laptop that is perfect for the job you intend to do.
If there’s a laptop you like, like one of those MacBook Airs that are pretty small in both resolution and screen size, it’s a good idea to get a monitor that you can use to extend the desktop of the current laptop, so that You can store all your toolbars and dockable windows on your laptop screen and do your editing work on the big monitor where you can see it better.
System memory or RAM
System memory is another crucial factor to consider when choosing a laptop for graphic design work. Graphic design programs tend to use a lot of RAM and that can lead to poor system performance if the laptop is not up to the task. The more RAM your laptop has, the better it will perform in the grand scheme of things. A large amount of RAM means the added ability to run multiple design programs at once and easily switch between them. The amount of system memory installed will also affect pretty much anything else you might be running on your computer, from movies, to gaming, to browsing, to actual office work.
Now I know a lot of graphic designers and they tend to run a lot of programs at once. Of course, their computers are configured with a ton of system memory, which makes it easier for the computer to run Photoshop, Illustrator, and other vector graphic design programs at the same time. The thing to remember here is that the amount of system memory directly affects overall system performance.
Your goal should be in the minimum 4GB range, and that’s just for starters. If you’re on a budget, this is your starting point and you should plan on adding more memory modules in the future.
If you want to multitask and run various programs other than graphic design ones, you should consider laptops with about 8 GB of RAM installed. Several laptops on the market today let you buy the standard model, with about 4GB of RAM, but include the ability to add more through available open memory slots.
Now, if you’re going for an Apple laptop, you might want to factor in the additional charge you might encounter if you intend to upgrade your current model with more RAM. Some providers do this and charge extra if you want to upgrade your laptop. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you should try getting the RAM modules online and installing them yourself, instead of paying extra for a really easy screwdriver job.
Laptop CPU – Central Processing Unit – Processor
The laptop’s CPU or processor is the part that does all the calculations. It is an essential piece of vector-based design programs, where there are many parameters to consider. A decent CPU should be another thing on your list of things that make up the best laptop for graphic design.
There are several possible options that can be done here. A good starting point is to aim for laptops that have at least a dual-core processor. This will allow you to run the applications much better, so you will not suffer from system interruptions and careless operations.
If you opt for a laptop with a quad-core processor, you should have no problem running almost any graphic design program.
Just remember: more cores means better laptop performance.
Graphics or video card
If you really want the best laptop for graphic design, you will most likely never choose one that comes with an integrated graphics card. This is because integrated GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) use the available RAM to display the image on the screen, while a dedicated graphics card has its own RAM or VRAM.
You can lose a lot of RAM if your laptop has an integrated GPU, and system memory is very important in graphic design laptops.
Such systems will run slower as they will split the available RAM to run the actual programs and the integrated graphics card. This should be another item on your list – get a laptop that has a dedicated graphics card.
Now if you were a gamer, you would be concerned about the type of graphics card installed as this is an important aspect in gaming laptops. But since the laptop will be used for graphic design work, a mid-range video card will do just fine. If your job involves doing 3D graphics work as well, then a high-end graphics card is also needed.
Current laptops in this niche have good graphics cards with about 1-2 GB of dedicated memory. These are good for both graphics design and a bit of gaming when you’re not in the mood for work.
If you intend to play a lot of games, or start doing 3D rendering and modeling, then you should take a look at the Alienware laptops or the Republic of Gamers series from Asus, as they are set to play the latest games at the highest possible. visual adjustments.
Graphic design laptops will carry a dedicated graphics card that has its own memory or VRAM.
Portability – This is what you sacrifice
If you think you’ll be buying a very portable laptop, you may be wrong.
The best laptops for graphic design have many powerful components installed and this can make it difficult for the laptop battery to last more than a couple of hours. You sacrifice portability for performance when choosing a laptop for this type of work, but it’s worth it.
In conclusion
The best laptops for graphic design are configured with a decent sized screen that allows for a good native resolution so you can fit in all those toolbars, dockers, and still have enough screen for the image being edited. In addition, there is a lot of installed RAM, a dedicated graphics card, and at least a dual-core processor, if not quad-core.