5 Best Laptops For Lightroom – 2021

TOP PICK
Dell XPS9560-5000SLV-PUS 15.6" Ultra Thin and Light Laptop with 4K Touch Display, 7th Gen Core i5 ( up to 3.5 GHz), 8GB, 256GB SSD, Nvidia Gaming GTX 1050, Aluminum Chassis
ASUS UX550GE-XB71T Zenbook Pro 15.6" UHD 4K Touch Laptop, Intel Core i7-8750HK, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win10 Pro, GTX1050Ti
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop,15.6" FHD IPS, Intel 8th Gen i5+8300H, NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti 4GB, 8GB RAM, 16GB Intel Optane Memory, 1TB HDD, Narrow border design, Windows 10 Home (15-cx0020nr,Black)
Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250, 12GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Windows 10 Home, A515-54G-73WC
Dell Inspiron 15 3567 Series – 15” LED-Backlit Display - 7th Gen Intel Core i3 Proc - 4GB Mem – 128GB SSD - Intel HD Graphics 620
BLW's Score
93
88
87
85
81
MSRP
$996.43
$2,399.00
$909.66
$998.99
$505.00
Processor
Intel Core i5-7300HQ 3.5GHz
Intel Core i7-8750HK 4.1 GHz
Intel Core i5+8300H 2.3 GHz
Intel Core i7-8565U (up to 4.6 GHz)
Intel Core i3-7130U 2.7GHz
RAM
8GB DDR4
16GB DDR4
8GB DDR4
12GB DDR4
4GB DDR4
Hard Disk
256GB SSD
512GB SSD
1TB HDD
512GB SSD
128GB SSD
Display
15.6" 4k (3840 x 2160)
15.6" 4K (3840 x 2160)
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080)
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080)
15.6" HD (1366 x 768)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
NVIDIA GeForce MX250
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10
Weight
3.9 pounds
4 pounds
4 pounds
4 pounds
4.96 pounds
Battery Life
6 hours
5 hours
5.5 hours
8 hours
5 hours
TOP PICK
Dell XPS9560-5000SLV-PUS 15.6" Ultra Thin and Light Laptop with 4K Touch Display, 7th Gen Core i5 ( up to 3.5 GHz), 8GB, 256GB SSD, Nvidia Gaming GTX 1050, Aluminum Chassis
BLW's Score
93
MSRP
$996.43
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i5-7300HQ 3.5GHz
RAM
8GB DDR4
Hard Disk
256GB SSD
Display
15.6" 4k (3840 x 2160)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
OS
Windows 10 Home
Weight
3.9 pounds
Battery Life
6 hours
ASUS UX550GE-XB71T Zenbook Pro 15.6" UHD 4K Touch Laptop, Intel Core i7-8750HK, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Win10 Pro, GTX1050Ti
BLW's Score
88
MSRP
$2,399.00
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i7-8750HK 4.1 GHz
RAM
16GB DDR4
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
Display
15.6" 4K (3840 x 2160)
Graphics
NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti
OS
Windows 10
Weight
4 pounds
Battery Life
5 hours
HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop,15.6" FHD IPS, Intel 8th Gen i5+8300H, NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti 4GB, 8GB RAM, 16GB Intel Optane Memory, 1TB HDD, Narrow border design, Windows 10 Home (15-cx0020nr,Black)
BLW's Score
87
MSRP
$909.66
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i5+8300H 2.3 GHz
RAM
8GB DDR4
Hard Disk
1TB HDD
Display
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
OS
Windows 10 Home
Weight
4 pounds
Battery Life
5.5 hours
Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop, 15.6" Full HD IPS Display, 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250, 12GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Windows 10 Home, A515-54G-73WC
BLW's Score
85
MSRP
$998.99
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i7-8565U (up to 4.6 GHz)
RAM
12GB DDR4
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
Display
15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce MX250
OS
Windows 10 Home
Weight
4 pounds
Battery Life
8 hours
Dell Inspiron 15 3567 Series – 15” LED-Backlit Display - 7th Gen Intel Core i3 Proc - 4GB Mem – 128GB SSD - Intel HD Graphics 620
BLW's Score
81
MSRP
$505.00
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i3-7130U 2.7GHz
RAM
4GB DDR4
Hard Disk
128GB SSD
Display
15.6" HD (1366 x 768)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10
Weight
4.96 pounds
Battery Life
5 hours

Taking a photo and publishing it or printing it is not as easy as it sounds. It requires many other jobs to be done for the final photo to be made worth watching.  Photo editing is one of the activities required to enhance a photograph.

A commendable job is always about high resolution, a display of accurate color and a fast processor.  But there are also the problems of travelling with a machine which is heavy in weight. The photographer needs to carry his photo gear too.

Thus small lightweight machines with a very long battery life are the need of the hour. The machine should also have the capacity to store a huge amount of data (read huge number of photos). Thus there is the need for a large hard drive as well.

Adobe Light Room is a common software used by the photographers, video editors and anybody attached with similar kind of professions. Choosing a laptop with a high end graphics card is also always not needed. Most of the present day laptops come with large and fast memory and hard drives.

See Related Article: 5 Best Laptops For Skype

Factors To Consider

So, the things to be considered are screen and upgrade potential.  Budget is also a very important thing to be considered.

working on adobe lightroom with laptop

Photoshop is the tool which has to be used by the photographers. Such a machine has to be bought which can keep pace with such an application. The computer should be good enough for editing high resolution raw files and also incorporating the advanced effects in them.

The laptops chosen by the photographers are mostly pixel perfect and are capable of displaying stunning colors as well as a very good contrast. This is required as then only there is a balance between the highlight and the shadow detail.

They become consistently visible due to the balance between these two effects. Photoshop is a very demanding software, so the graphics card chosen should be feasible enough to comply with it. It is only the graphics card which is capable of doing a lot of heavy lifting for the photographers. Portability also plays a very big role.

Before this, one has to consider his working place. Will he be working from his office or studio? Someone might also be interested in taking photo shoots from the road itself.

In case one needs to have a light laptop, one should compromise with the battery life to an extent. Following are some of the best laptops for Lightroom which incorporate several of the above mentioned features:

Check Also: 5 Best Laptops For Accounting Students

Our Top Picks for Best Lightroom Laptops

1. Dell XPS9560-5000SLV-PUS

Specs:

  • Intel Core i5-7300HQ Processor
  • 256GB SSD
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

This is a notebook computer that can also be used as a personal computer. It comes with a large 15.6 inches display and a very powerful 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7300HQ Quad Core processor. Most interestingly, the processors can be expanded up to 3.5 GHz CPU processor.

It weighs only 3.9 pounds which makes it lightweight. Its sleek silver look is also one of the primary reasons for attraction. This machine is great for more than just average use. It has a spacious hard drive for storing huge amounts of data that can store lots of data, as needed by the owner.

This 15.6 inches laptop is also the world’s smallest laptop which is known for its power packed performance. It also has a stunning Infinite Edge display. With the Ultra Sharp 4K Ultra HD display, offering a resolution of 3840X2160, one can see every minute detail of every pixel without actually having to zoom the picture.

It has at least 600 pixels more than the normal personal computers. It also has a wireless connection of Killer 1535 802.11ac and also a Bluetooth feature. For additional storage capacity, one can buy extra memory, which is sold separately. It uses Windows 10 Home 64 bit English as its OS.

See Also: 5 Best Laptops For Game Developers

2. ASUS ZenBook Pro

Asus Zenbook Pro

Specs:

  • Intel Core i7-8750HK Processor
  • 512GB SSD
  • 16GB DDR4 RAM
  • NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti

Do you need a powerful laptop? If so, this is the perfect machine for doing image editing, daily computing tasks or even gaming. It is fast and  powerful and looks good too.

The latest 8th generation Intel i7-8750HK Hexa Core 2.2 GHz processor with Turbo to 4.1 GHz makes it one of the most powerful machines in the market while having a reasonable battery life of 5 hours. For data storage, it is equipped with a fast PCIE NVMe 512GB SSD with 16GB DDR4 RAM.

Its 15.6 inch 4K display with a 178 degree wide angle view makes it an exceptional choice for image processing. The Nano Edge touch display keeps the laptop physically small and avoids the distraction of a large display bezel. This beautiful display is driven by a powerful dedicated NVIDIA GTX 1050Ti with 4GB of VRAM.

Connectivity is not a problem. This laptop has extensive connectivity with HDMI, 2XUSB 3,1 Type C (Gen 2) with Thunderbolt, 2XUSB Type 3.0 Type A , 802.11ac WiFi and a SD card reader. Weighing in at just 4 lbs, it is also very easy to carry.

The sleek design of the machine makes it appealing to the lovers of style as well. We recommend this machine if you need something powerful and stylish and don’t need to be work all day away from an outlet.

3. HP Pavilion 15-inch Laptop

HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop

Specs:

  • Intel Core i5-7300HQ Processor
  • 1TB HDD
  • 12GB DDR4 RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

If the owner is in need of a model which is one of the best both in terms of power as well as storage, one should opt for this machine. This is one of the best laptops for Lightroom, and will help in getting access to problem free streaming sessions as well as lag-free photo editing.

7th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7300HQ Processor is used in this machine. Quad Core 2.5 GHz which can be clocked up to 3.5GHz is another feature. This makes the machine not only fast and responsive but also makes it more natural as a result of which one can have better interactions with his PC.

When it comes to video graphics, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with dedicated 4GB GDDR5 is the master player with regard to providing a smooth, efficient and wonderful multimedia experience.

The 15.6 inches diagonal FHD display with 1920X1080 resolutions makes it one of the best laptops in terms of clear display. The IPS multi touch enabled screen with 178 degree wide viewing angle, makes it a great choice.

Memory is great with 12GB DDR4 SDRAM which can run efficiently and reliably at a faster speed. The hard drive is of 1TB 7200RPM Serial ATA, which can store videos, photos and songs on the machine and make it readily accessible. Windows 10 is the best OS for getting things done.

4. Acer Aspire 5

Acer Aspire 5

Specs:

  • Intel Core i5-8565U Processor
  • 512GB SSD
  • 12GB DDR4 RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce MX250

This is a mid-range laptop, available with some of the best specifications in the market. Related to the price in the market, it offers some of the best features, which some of the other machines in the same price range do not.

The 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8565U processor and with Turbo Boost technology it can run up to 4.6GHz. This makes it a very fast option. It has Full HD Widescreen Comfy View LED backlit display which supports the Color Blast technology, already talked of.  The NVIDIA GeForce MX250 dedicated GPU results in great graphics rendering times.

Memory and storage is configured with 12 GB DDR4 memory, and a 512 GB SSD.  If that’s not enough, this laptop is easily upgradable to more memory or storage.

It is accompanied by Acer True Harmony High Performance Sound Systems and a 802.11ac WiFi featuring MU-MIMO technology. It also has an in-built HD webcam that supports High Dynamic Range video. It also has an 8 hour battery life, which is better than most laptops.

If you are looking for a no-nonsense, reliable and practical laptop, this is a great choice. And although it’s not the best choice for demanding gaming applications, it is powerful enough to run most games very well, if that’s one of your requirements.

5. Dell Inspiron 15

Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop

Specs:

  • Intel Core i3-7100U Processor
  • 1TB HDD
  • 4GB DDR4 RAM
  • Intel HD Graphics 620

This is a daily use laptop on a very low budget. It is a great blend of capacity and features, with touch screen facilities and a backlit keyboard, making it much better looking than some of its competitors. It is also a Signature Edition laptop.

It is powered by a 7th generation Intel Core i3-7100U Dual Core mobile processor and 8GB system memory. The 2.4 GHz, 6GB DDR4L 2400 MHz, 1 TB HDD 5400 rpm, Intel HD Graphics 620 make it as popular as it is.

This 15.6 inch notebook is very powerful to deal with most of the daily chores that a person associated with photography is in need of. It weighs just 5.6 pounds and is very easy to carry and travel.

The LED backlight widescreen and it offers a 1366X768 resolutions display. It has a DVD-RW 802.11n, Bluetooth 4.0, webcam, media reader, stereo speakers, MaxxAudio Pro and some other brilliant specs which make it indeed a great buy.

It also has 1 x HDMI, 1 x Headphone output/Microphone input combo, 10/100 Ethernet, 1 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0. Windows 10 is the OS which it uses, making it at par with its competitors. The black color of the product makes the product visually appealing as well.

Conclusion

It is the age of digital cameras. Thus computers play a very vital role in the photography profession for taking out the real beauty of the images captured.

With the help of the right tools and software, the photographers can tweak the photos much better and more extensively than they could do in the previous days. This is the reason due to which a photographer should always have a laptop with him.

As the number of clients increase, the processor used has to be very fast. In some cases, the machines have to be portable as well, if the laptop has to be carried to the venue as well.

Resources

PhotographyConcentrate

PhotographyLife

CreativeLive

Adobe

About the Author Marcus

Marcus has a graduate degree in computer engineering and has many years of experience in cutting-edge technology research and development in both startups and Fortune 500 corporations. In his free time, he enjoys RTS gaming.

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