Adolescent Artist Takes His Show on the Road
May 17, 2018 7:43 PM Subscribe
I want to get my 15-year-old a laptop that can support running photoshop and being connected to a drawing tablet (and running YouTube incessantly forever), hopefully without spending a billion dollars.
I'm lost trying to figure out what specs he needs and whether to go Mac or Windows.
My kid uses this XP-Pen drawing tablet/monitor to draw, often for several hours a day with a Windows 10 desktop (built by my late husband). Kiddo is going away for several weeks this summer, and I'd like to get him a laptop that can support his drawing needs and run photoshop. Part of his time this summer will be spent at an animation intensive summer program for high school students, and he is interested in animation as a career, so a device that will support that kind of work would be ideal.
I love my MacBook, but I basically just read the internet on my computer and I know he needs more power. I'm open to either Windows or Mac machines, which a slight preference for Macs. don't want to cheap out and get something non-functional for his needs, but I'm also willing to sacrifice weight and coolness to spend less. He's a pretty responsible kid and is good/careful with his tech, but he's still a gangly 15-year-old so a tougher machine is better. I think we're looking for a 13-inch.
What sort of specs (memory, speed, components) should I be looking for? What kind of price point? Any recommendations for specific machines?
My kid uses this XP-Pen drawing tablet/monitor to draw, often for several hours a day with a Windows 10 desktop (built by my late husband). Kiddo is going away for several weeks this summer, and I'd like to get him a laptop that can support his drawing needs and run photoshop. Part of his time this summer will be spent at an animation intensive summer program for high school students, and he is interested in animation as a career, so a device that will support that kind of work would be ideal.
I love my MacBook, but I basically just read the internet on my computer and I know he needs more power. I'm open to either Windows or Mac machines, which a slight preference for Macs. don't want to cheap out and get something non-functional for his needs, but I'm also willing to sacrifice weight and coolness to spend less. He's a pretty responsible kid and is good/careful with his tech, but he's still a gangly 15-year-old so a tougher machine is better. I think we're looking for a 13-inch.
What sort of specs (memory, speed, components) should I be looking for? What kind of price point? Any recommendations for specific machines?
Best answer: FWIW I am an animator and run the Adobe (Photoshop, After Effects) suite as part of my workflow, as well as 2D and 3D animation software.
Currently, there is so much of a price differential between macs and windows that I think you can get much more for the money if you go for a Windows machine. I had macs for many years when I started as an animator, but a few years ago I had to replace my computer and macs were just too expensive to make sense any more. I would look past specs and go with a 'workstation' branded computer which is likely to have better quality parts and be more durable. Refurbished is not a bad idea - you can often get a machine with better specs if you're willing to buy refurbished. Lenovo is good, I went with a Dell workstation. (If you go this route, look for 'Dell Precision Mobile Workstation", link is to their refurbished outlet) I have heard lots of negative things about their consumer machines (XPS line and lower) but I think their workstations are built much more solidly. Go for lots of RAM (I wouldn't get less than 16 GB) and a good processor (one of the newer I7s). Video card is not actually important unless he is gaming - you don't need a good one for most animation and graphics software right now. I would say a large screen is very important, but if he's going to be working mostly on a 22" tablet/monitor, I think that's not as big a factor. Do get one with an SSD. Do get at least a 1920x1080 resolution screen (having a monitor with less than that can be a huge pain with a tablet monitor). If you can budget between $800-$1200 you should be able to get one that meets those requirements.
posted by matcha action at 8:46 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
Currently, there is so much of a price differential between macs and windows that I think you can get much more for the money if you go for a Windows machine. I had macs for many years when I started as an animator, but a few years ago I had to replace my computer and macs were just too expensive to make sense any more. I would look past specs and go with a 'workstation' branded computer which is likely to have better quality parts and be more durable. Refurbished is not a bad idea - you can often get a machine with better specs if you're willing to buy refurbished. Lenovo is good, I went with a Dell workstation. (If you go this route, look for 'Dell Precision Mobile Workstation", link is to their refurbished outlet) I have heard lots of negative things about their consumer machines (XPS line and lower) but I think their workstations are built much more solidly. Go for lots of RAM (I wouldn't get less than 16 GB) and a good processor (one of the newer I7s). Video card is not actually important unless he is gaming - you don't need a good one for most animation and graphics software right now. I would say a large screen is very important, but if he's going to be working mostly on a 22" tablet/monitor, I think that's not as big a factor. Do get one with an SSD. Do get at least a 1920x1080 resolution screen (having a monitor with less than that can be a huge pain with a tablet monitor). If you can budget between $800-$1200 you should be able to get one that meets those requirements.
posted by matcha action at 8:46 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I keep recommending them but my house loves its Lenovo Yogas. You can fold back the screen to use it as a tablet, which makes it ideal for watching videos and for drawing.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:22 AM on May 18, 2018
posted by DarlingBri at 2:22 AM on May 18, 2018
Best answer: I’m sorry to contradict upthread advice, but I’d argue that video cards are very important, and becoming ever more so. Adobe products use GPU acceleration to perform many common functions. Every release of the cloud suite brings more and more functions into the GPU fold, and it makes day to day work much, much faster.
After Effects and Photoshop are like some steering cows through caramel without GPU acceleration for mundane tasks like Gaussian blurs as well as handling 3D data or generative filters like the Trapcode Suite.
Do not scrimp on the video card!
posted by Construction Concern at 6:44 AM on May 18, 2018
After Effects and Photoshop are like some steering cows through caramel without GPU acceleration for mundane tasks like Gaussian blurs as well as handling 3D data or generative filters like the Trapcode Suite.
Do not scrimp on the video card!
posted by Construction Concern at 6:44 AM on May 18, 2018
Best answer: I’m an artist and the best machine for me has been a MacBook Air. 13”, super portable, great battery life; I get a ton of work done by carrying it and my Wacom tablet to cafes, the park, etc. I think you’ll spend about us$1000-1200 depending on the precise model you get. It is not the most powerful machine in the world but it is super portable and much more powerful than what I was doing pro Flash work on in the early 2000s.
I wouldn’t drop big $ on a high end video card until he’s starting to go pro.
Oh and if you do go Mac, and your existing drawing tablet isn’t a Wacom, make sure there are Mac drivers for it. Mac support on them can be spotty.
posted by egypturnash at 4:31 PM on May 18, 2018
I wouldn’t drop big $ on a high end video card until he’s starting to go pro.
Oh and if you do go Mac, and your existing drawing tablet isn’t a Wacom, make sure there are Mac drivers for it. Mac support on them can be spotty.
posted by egypturnash at 4:31 PM on May 18, 2018
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posted by rikschell at 8:19 PM on May 17, 2018