This post is dedicated to my new friend Della. Thanks for asking, and hopefully it will help you and others on your photographic journey!! …And in making your lists for Santa 😉

Minimum laptop specs for photo editing:

32gb RAM
Quad core I7 or better
Dedicated video card with 3GB GDDR5 video ram, or more.
SSD 250gb
IPS panel with 100% sRGB

These are just minimum specs. Just like with computers and lenses- more is better. 🙂 And you can always upgrade later on.

I’m more about performance than looks when it comes to computers. I really don’t care about a few pre-loved scratches on the outside of the case if it works. Nothing bugs me more than working on photos, the computer slowing down. I get frustrated and rapidly click on the same button, it goes slower, I get annoyed and click AGAIN! Then it freezes up and has to be restarted! Ain’t nobody got time for that!! I have been there. It really takes all the fun out of it.

Good luck, and I hope you get something that does what you need it to do!!

Ballin’ on a budget?

If you’re ballin’ on a budget a refurbished Dell 5530 touch screen without 4k would be a great start. Why the touch screen? The models with the touch screen have the ips screen. Thats the screen you want for editing photos. I Don’t know what IPS stands for in the laptop screen world, it’s not In Person Sales. Though this IPS screen has worked great for my IPS client reveals.

Buy a Basic used Precision

Have a better Budget?

If I had a bigger budget I’d look at a 4k touch screen 5530 Precision workstation with ssd, multiple usb ports, hdmi port.

Buy a newer model Precision

Buy a 7680 from Amazon

Bonus tips

Calibrate your monitor

After you have a computer to edit photos you will want to have the monitor calibrated so that when you print, the prints come out looking like your screen.

I use this SpyderElite to calibrate my monitors.

Another thing I learned on some laptops with integrated graphics was, I had to set my Advanced display adjustments to Vibrant, and under color space set it to sRGB. Once I did that The SpyderElite calibration looked right.

Mouse

Sometimes a good mouse is necessary for a lot of editing and to give certain muscles a break. I have Logitech MX Anywhere rechargeable mouse. It’s lasted for years. They also have the Mac version of the MX Anywhere mouse.

Wacom Tablet

I love the Wacom intuos pro for intricate precise editing. I also will use it just to switch things up to give my cramped muscles a break. I set the pen to function as a mouse. The medium size Wacom Tablet fits into a bag with the laptop nicely.

SSD

I upgraded my laptop hard drive to a Samsung 980 SSD I did this because my original hard drive that came with it was a bit of a potato and had very poor read write performance.

minimum laptop specs suggestions for photo editing

OH, I HAVE TO TELL YOU, THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS, MEANING I GET A COMMISSION IF YOU DECIDE TO MAKE A PURCHASE THROUGH MY LINKS, AT NO COST TO YOU. BUT REALLY I LIKE SHARING THE TOOLS I USE.