Need Help Choosing a Laptop for Occasional Use While Traveling (Graphic Design, Photoshop)

Hello everyone,

I need help choosing a Windows laptop that I would use as a secondary machine, considering I have a desktop computer (Intel i5 12400F, Nvidia RTX 2060 MSI VENTUS XS 6G OC, Kingston Fury 32GB DDR4 3200MHz CL16, Western Digital 1TB WD Blue SN570) which perfectly meets my needs for graphic design (Photoshop and Figma) and gaming (CS2).

I would use the laptop mainly when traveling, so I don't want to overspend on it since I don't have much experience using laptops. My average workday includes Photoshop with a few not too demanding tabs, Slack, Dropbox, YouTube, and several tabs in Chrome. However, I don't want a laptop that will limit my work; I need something that will ensure smooth performance without slowing me down. Since my desktop runs Windows, I prefer to use the same operating system on both machines for consistency and ease of use.

Thank you in advance for your help

 

Hello, wujabl!

As someone who needs laptop for colour sensitive work without breaking the bank, I would recommend you to check the Asus Zen Book 14 OLED. It has 10-bit 14 inch OLED display with full sRGB and DCP coverage and 97% of Adobe RGB coverage. Thin and lite, easy to carry around.

You can find Zen Books with Intel 12th gen processors (Intel 13th gen doesn't really provide any significant bump in power) for way less than a 1000$.

Other highly priced, but good choices can be Dell's XPS line and HP' Spectre line.

 

Hi! For a secondary Windows laptop that supports your graphic design and multitasking needs while traveling, consider a mid-range model with an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. These specs will handle Photoshop, Slack, Dropbox, and multiple Chrome tabs smoothly without overspending. Look for models with a solid build and good battery life, as you’ll want reliability on the go. Brands like Dell, Lenovo, and HP offer several good options in this category.