While my ‘production’ photo processing system is a pretty hefty desktop system running Ubuntu, it looks like I may need to replace my aged System 76 laptop with something that is capable of running darktable when I’m doing remote photo work for up to a month or so at a time.
In addition to the laptop, I’d expect I’ll drag along a mouse, keyboard and an external display along with an external backup drive and whatever dongles I’d need.
What are your recommendations for laptops that runs darktable well? By well, I want a decent (size, color quality) display, enough processing ‘oomph’ (CPU and optionally GPU) as well as adequate memory so that I’m not grinding my teeth waiting for routine darktable operations to complete, etc. I’d also like a machine that happily runs Linux without a struggle - including getting GPU drivers installed and running if necessary)
This won’t ever be my primary machine, so I’m not looking for anything really powerful or pricy. I’m hoping for something approximately mid-range in price, but if I need to spend more to get a decent level of performance, I will do that assuming the value is there.
For several years, I have been using laptops with Linux. I install Mint or plain Ubuntu to dual boot with the stock Windows, but only use Linux. My current laptop is a Lenovo Yoga Slim 7, bought last December for about £800 including tax. (16Gb memory 500Gb storage, Intel i-7, 2880x1800 HiDPI display)
This is a great configuration for traveling, and runs darktable well, but I always have problems with colour rendition, and the fact that laptop screens are a lot smaller than my desktop. Maybe you can solve this by carrying an external display but I doubt you will want to carry around a 27" hDPI . .
In reality I just use DT on the laptop to backup the day’s photos, and for quick checks in DT. Whilst it is possible to get some useful workflow eg to weed out dud shots, I find it inefficient compared to my home desktop, YMMV but I tend to shoot 2-300 per day and don’t want to waste too much evening time, when I know I will revisit the images when I get home.
So at most I will smarten up the best photos to show everyone over dinner. I guess it depends on how much photo quality you need to get while you are on the road.
And while we are on the subject of snapping, I decided to load my daybag for a flight with all my camera gear, lenses etc, plus Lenovo laptop. Bag was very full, and all seemed to fit snugly, but when I got home I noticed that stress on the laptop had cracked the screen - just a hairline crack, but it will likely grow.
Recently purchased a laptop from these guys Buy Linux Laptop? Laptops with Linux preïnstalled | Laptopwithlinux.com.
Can get it pre-installed with Linux - I went for the no-OS version. Gives you a choice of builds. I went with the 11th Gen i5 (1135G7), which comes with the (seemingly well respected) onboard Iris Xe GPU.
Never had any problems with 8GB of RAM … even when there’s a few things on the go.
If you go with them, you may have to download some code from one of the support pages so that screen/keyboard brightness can be controlled - but that may be because I went for the no OS build (?).
Can’t remember how I got the OpenCL going - you’ll need that to make the best of the GPU - but it was fairly simple … may have even worked ‘out of the box’ (?).
Only problem was that it came from the Netherlands, and I ended-up with having to do paperwork to keep Customs happy … but that have been my doing in the first place!
I’ve got a new Lenovo ThinkBook 16p in spring to replace my old one which I used for almost 10 years but with the new filmic- and especially with diffuse/sharpen modules it was a bit slow.
The current one is equiped with Ryzen 5900hx/32GB/RTX3060 and it’s like day and night compared with my old one.
Normally I use it with an external monitor when I use DT but as it has a 16 inch monitor built in one can do also some quick editing / review on the go.
The only things not working on Linux: fingerprint sensor and OpenCL on the Ryzen APU but the Nvidia card works great.
Lenovo T14s AMD Gen 3 (it has integrated AMD GPU). Thermal is well managed, performance is excellent. The only problem I have found is that I cannot (do not know how to) enable OpenCl…
As for screen quality, I would suggest that any “serious” (meaning demanding) work requires an external 4K high quality color reproduction display. The laptop screen become less important in that case
The contributors have been touching on several of the issues that I’ve been wondering about.
Several of the contributors indicate that their main photo use of their laptops is mostly to review the day’s work, plus occasional light editing. That’s what I used my existing laptop for. The laptop I’m currently thinking about getting needs to do more.
The assignment I’m contemplating will have me on-site at a location for a month, and I will need to be both shooting and processing images during that time. I will have permanent quarters assigned to me for the time I’m there, so I can set things up when I arrive and leave them set up for the month I’m on site. I will get to the location via auto, so I’ll have a fair amount of room to pack cameras, computers, and clothing - but not a tremendous amount.
I’m used to working with a two-monitor setup. At home I use a 27" QHD monitor for my editing, with a 24" FHD monitor as my second monitor. For this assignment I’m planning to use an external monitor as my editing display and the laptop screen for everything else.
It appears that there are a number of 24" QHD photo-quality monitors available at decent prices - a monitor like that might be a good complement of size and resolution to go along with the laptop’s display. Yes, I’m sure that my 27" monitor would be easier to work with, but a 24" monitor would be much easier to travel with than a 27" - and to find room for it in the place I’ll be staying in. And… My old System 76 laptop is connected to an old 24" FHD photo monitor that is in dire need of being replaced, so if I get a new laptop and monitor they can replace my old laptop and monitor.
I’m currently leaning towards a 15" laptop, and I am seeing a lot of those equipped with separate GPUs. I’m suspecting that if I have to do a significant amount of photo processing on-site, I’m gonna want a separate GPU. What do people think?
And as paperdigits indicated, System 76 is one of the top brands I’m considering. However, at this point, I’m concerned more about finding out what kind of computer I need. Later I’ll select a brand and model that meets those needs.
Darktable modules benefit from a dedicated GPU card, ideally with at least 4gb of video memory (to avoid tiling). A GPU has multiple processing units that are able to do more work than your CPU.
But if you plan to setup for a month on location, even a small tower desktop would work if you already planning on an external monitor.
When I last upgraded my desktop, I splashed out on a GeForce RTX 3060 with 12Gb memory.
This absolutely eats DT processing with OpenCL enabled, and I would never go back.
Diffuse and Sharpen iterations are never a problem (128 takes 2 secs approx)
Guided Laplacian highlight reconstruction - 32 iterations in 8 seconds, 12 secs with diameter of recovery set at 1024px.
However, the most valuable benefit is that moving between images is lightning fast and this really improves workflow - no more waiting for thumbnails to redraw when scrolling up and down in Lighttable etc etc.
But are such cards suitable for laptops? They tend to comsume a lot of power…
And @WmBrant said clearly that the laptop wouldn’t be his primary machine, so such a card seems overkill.
But of course, it depends also on the available budget and the use conditions of the laptop (if it’s at a desk with a current outlet nearby, power comsumption is less important).
I only posted to emphasise the benefits of a powerful GPU.
Clearly my RTX 3060 won’t fit inside a laptop, but someone did mention that you can get external GPU cages (eg Razer Core X) so I think the point is relevant to the discussion.
This. The way you’re describing the location and work (load in the car, leave it in a table for a month), a small form factor desktop (or even bigger) would probably be much cheaper for the same power, specially in the GPU and thermal management side.
One other thing to take into account: how reliable are the mains at that location? Power cuts aren’t nice when working with a desktop, with a laptop you “just” temporarily lose the 2nd screen (might be hard on external drives, though). Or lug around an UPS…