Need help with deciding on specs for my new laptop that is best for me!

[Dfost35]

I am getting a new laptop for the first time since 2007. I use computers more than I used to and need help on deciding what specifications would be best fit for my lifestyle since I don't understand the hardware lingo all that well.

I work a 9:00-6:00 job Mon-Fri at a Car dealership managing their website and inventory (about 120ish cars). I take pictures of the cars with my phone and upload them to the website and usually manage them on my laptop from there (adding details about car price, miles, condition, etc..)

I don't watch much TV besides Modern Family, Walking Dead, Homeland, etc... and my wife usually ends up watching all of her reality stuff, so I typically pull out my laptop to watch a movie and check on all the news from that day.

Here's where I am more worried about this specs. I spent a great deal of time with my two most favorite hobbies; photography and traveling. I like to have movies to watch on the road while my wife is driving or in bed at night wherever we are (I typically keep about 3 movies on a device for every trip I go on). Also I take ALOT of photos (do very little editing if any at all). My last trip to Hawaii I took about 800 photos, and 700 my trip to Colorado before that.

So my question is this:
How much memory would you say I need? I am leaning towards 256GB
Would I need something around 2.0 or 2.6 GHz dual core?
Do I need an i5 or i7 processor?
In terms of RAM, would I need 8GB DDR3 or 16GB DDR3?

 

[ssddx]

cpu:
you could very likely get by with an i3 since you really do not have any demanding tasks however since you mentioned that you might do a little bit of editing here and there perhaps an i5 would be best. you really do not need an i7 processor but if it is in your budget i will not tell you its a bad idea.

ram:
6-8gb is fine.

hard drive:
256gb? are you reffering to a ssd drive? keep in mind that you can not get 256gb out of one. it is recommended to fill them to only 80% capacity and on top of that you lose 30gb for the os. this means you only have about 175gb to use. factor in that 800 photos is about 2.5gb (assuming average quality 3mb per photo). keep in mind that a dvd movie iso file (stored on the laptop) is about 8.5gb each. you can run out of space rather fast if you intend to store alot of media on the device.

personally i'd suggest either a normal hdd (though normally they include only 5200rpm drives which are slow) however another option may be to use an external hard drive for your movies. you can then store quite a few of them to take with you so that you have a choice and it really doesnt add much to your laptop bag. i personally take a 1.5tb external drive with me when i travel which has my favorite shows and documentaries so that i can have a choice about what i watch.

 

[Dfost35]

cpu:
you could very likely get by with an i3 since you really do not have any demanding tasks however since you mentioned that you might do a little bit of editing here and there perhaps an i5 would be best. you really do not need an i7 processor but if it is in your budget i will not tell you its a bad idea.

ram:
6-8gb is fine.

hard drive:
256gb? are you reffering to a ssd drive? keep in mind that you can not get 256gb out of one. it is recommended to fill them to only 80% capacity and on top of that you lose 30gb for the os. this means you only have about 175gb to use. factor in that 800 photos is about 2.5gb (assuming average quality 3mb per photo). keep in mind that a dvd movie iso file (stored on the laptop) is about 8.5gb each. you can run out of space rather fast if you intend to store alot of media on the device.

personally i'd suggest either a normal hdd (though normally they include only 5200rpm drives which are slow) however another option may be to use an external hard drive for your movies. you can then store quite a few of them to take with you so that you have a choice and it really doesnt add much to your laptop bag. i personally take a 1.5tb external drive with me when i travel which has my favorite shows and documentaries so that i can have a choice about what i watch.

i've never really considered getting an external drive, how much do they typically cost/weigh? I would also most likely be deleting the movies from the laptop after each trip if they get watched to free room.

The laptop I am considering is a Macbook Pro w/ retina display. Before the anti-mac haters join in, it is my personal preference so plz don't try to sway me one way or another.

As far as SSD's go, I am not to familiar with them or how they work, would definitely consider getting one though.

ONE last question, what do I need to look for in terms of GHz on the processor?

 

[ssddx]

external drives vary in cost and weight. you can also buy them "premade" or you can buy a drive and an enclosure seperately. i prefer making my own as i normally have hard drives around i can use and i can buy them cheaper if i need them than what the premade ones go for. alot of the premade versions have plastic cases as well which i dont care for while the portable cases i buy (while a bit more expensive) are also solid aluminum and rather tough. as far as weight that depends on if you have a laptop drive based version or a desktop drive based version. a laptop style is just a bit larger than an ipod classic and perhaps as heavy. a desktop style is about the size of 3 dvd cases stacked and weighs about a pound. i use the larger version because i had free drives to use (since i replaced drives in my system) and while a bit heavy they work out fine. i also have two laptop style versions and the cases arent built as nice but they are quite a bit lighter.

i'm not going to try to sway you but i will just let you know up front that when you buy a mac you will pay more for less. a $1000 mac is about the same as a $800 pc. you might need to adjust your budget accordingly.

the 256gb drive you spoke of is likely a ssd.

in terms of ghz i wouldnt worry so much. your tasks arent very demanding... i would focus on getting a particular cpu such as an i5 more than what what version it is rated at (since just about anything would work for your needs)

 

[trogdor796]

Since you are traveling quite a bit you may benefit from an Ultrabook(really thin laptop that doesn't weigh much and gets great battery life).

I also won't try to sway you from the Mac, but just be aware that the extra money you spend does not necessarily mean more performance or reliability. If you are fine with this, then feel free to get a Mac. ASUS computers are also really nice, especially their ultrabooks.

 

[Jacob999]

I agree. An Intel i3 should do the job fine. I would get at least a 750GB but around 1.5TB(1500GB) should do it fine for all your movies/pictures. Or you could invest in cloud storage or an External Hard-Drive for your travel needs. 4-8GB of RAM should do you nicely. Also, an SSD (Solid State-Drive) is another way of storing your stuff, but they are a lot faster(Faster start-up time etc) due to no moving parts. But they are a lot more expensive per GB than HDD's.