Laptop or Tablet - Help!

Have a look at CEX. It's second hand, but it all has a two year guarantee.

I love my iPad Pro, which will run Affinity Photo nicely. It will work with a bluetooth mouse or trackpad just fine, as well as the Apple Pencil (though the newer Apple Pencil 2 is the only one worth using; the original Pencil is a really stupid physical design IMO). This is a fun way to edit photos, with a bunch of excellent apps available, though it might not be fun with super-high-res photos needing extensive edits.

The iPad experience is improving, but it's still a companion device in some ways. I do not think iPadOS is improving fast enough for all general tasks right now. So if you're spending a significant amount on a good iPad (and I'd recommend a Pro or an Air) but you're expecting a machine that can also do other tasks well, it pays to think about what those tasks are and do some research to be sure you'll be able to use iPad apps to do it.

As Tarmoo says, new ones are coming today.

I would still recommend getting a laptop of some kind. A Macbook would be my choice personally but a sensibly-specced one blows the OP's budget. (Maybe not refurb). Try to avoid getting a Macbook with only 8GB RAM -- it's surprising how much you can do with this but it perhaps won't be enough for the lifetime of the machine. 16GB is enough for a long time for all but the heaviest edits.

On the budget side, I have a little old Surface Go 2 which is pretty good -- nice hardware -- and the advantage there is a pen that is recognised as a Wacom, with broad app coverage. So I think one of the newer Surface Go machines would be good if you get one on a deal. I still think Windows is a pretty hateful experience but there's nice enough hardware out there.

I've one of these pre-ordered they are due out at the end of may where they are a tablet PC which will let you run full versions of apps as it will be windows 11.

I've previously ordered with this company one of their mini PC's and have been happy with the performance so looking forward to this new tablet PC.

https://store.minisforum.de/en/products/minisforum-v3

~B

I’ll bring my MacBook Air and editing tablet along to the next social and you can have a play

The windows machines are going to be cheaper than a Mac but essentially from an editing point of view they do the same thing, I have just ended up finding the Mac’s work better for longer but you do need a half decent amount of memory and had space otherwise they would be a nightmare and that will push up the price

I also have an iPad I don’t edit on it myself but your welcome to try it as well and see what you think

I have just ordered the new M4 13in iPad Pro - picking it up Wed 5th.

There is a new 13in iPad Air now available, plus the entry level iPads have just had a price cut.

RebeccaSophia said

As a left hander I struggle with using a mouse with my right hand (although have never used a left handed mouse, so I assume i'd be rubbish with that too), so i'm not very accurate, which led me to the tablet idea, although I don't think you can get full editing software on a lot of tablets? 

I'm sure you've already had enough different opinions, but one more... :-)

A lot depends on what kind of editing you do.  Cropping and adjusting an image's contrast/colour/curves can probably be done on any device that runs the software you like, including poking your finger at a tablet.  But if your editing requires the accurate selection or isolation of parts of the image then I can't really see that working well on a tablet: a laptop with a mouse (or Wacom-type track pad) is going to be much better.

I'm a left-hander by the way, using a symmetrical mouse in my left hand.  I don't switch the buttons around from the usual right-handed default, and for years got along that way much better than trying to use the mouse in my right hand.  More recently I've practised more with my right hand and now I switch hands regularly to try and avoid RSI during long editing sessions :-)

Edited by Somersetman

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Tarmoo and usefully the new pencil works with the iPad Air as well as the Pro. Good kit. Shame the OS is still underwhelming from a usability perspective; they could do so much more.

Tarmoo said

I have just ordered the new M4 13in iPad Pro - picking it up Wed 5th.

There is a new 13in iPad Air now available, plus the entry level iPads have just had a price cut.

I am very glad I didn't buy a M2 last month :-D Especially as they seem to have cut the price a bit.

Tarmoo said

I have just ordered the new M4 13in iPad Pro - picking it up Wed 5th.

There is a new 13in iPad Air now available, plus the entry level iPads have just had a price cut.

Please let us know what you think of it.
I'm considering one.

If anyone here has an iPad that can use the original Apple Pencil, let me know. I believe I have at least one going spare. That would include the current 10th gen entry level iPad.

RebeccaSophia What's your budget Rebecca? (Approximate!)

Edited by Lews

RebeccaSophia I'm sure you can pick up a suitable used fast enough laptop and a wacom sml tablet with enough left for say 8gb ram Samsung A8 4g within your budget. I use Capture 1 and Imaging edge and Paintshop, so laptop suits well when I can't use desktop, I don't use PS LR or Affinity, this set up covers most things I need and can run DJI apps for Pocket3, RS3, and drone leaving phone free (have separate RC controller for drone too). The tablet is great for all apps instead of phone and images and has usbc. The laptop tethers directly for cameras so quite a bit of freedom and alternative options. Suits me, though might not be for everyone.

playwithlight said

You can get the Adobe Photography plan for £ 9.98 per month that includes Lightroom and Photoshop. Opt for Lightroom Classic. 

... or quite a bit less than that if you keep your eyes open on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  I've never paid full price.

RebeccaSophia said

...As a left hander I struggle with using a mouse with my right hand (although have never used a left handed mouse, so I assume i'd be rubbish with that too), so i'm not very accurate, which led me to the tablet idea, although I don't think you can get full editing software on a lot of tablets? ...

On mice and other pointing devices, since most else has been said.

A lawyer, solicitor, of my acquaintance early on in computerisation adopted the habit of holding the mouse in his non-dominant hand, and a pen for writing on paper in the other. Good fopr that purpose, I suspect less so for editing images.

The trackball, which Kensington sell a reasonably priced example of, is an ambidextrous pointer.  Imagine a mouse with a big ball, upturned.  They have their moments particularly when space is limited.  You can strap one to your thigh, if that suits you. 

The Mole is an alternative when you are doing things with both hands.  it is like a mouse, but bigger and lives on the floor, under your desk, to be worked with a foot.  Most people are less precise with their foot.  Footballers might be an exception.

I use a mouse for some things, and a Wacom pen on my Wacom pad for others (for me the pen is the best tool for editing), there is some crossover.  The pad makes a good mousemat if space is tight, even for an ordinary mouse rather than a Wacom one.

The Bat is a pointing device less relevant here.

Other methods of pointing and clicking include infra-red pupil trackers, which are apparently useful for people using all their other limbs to fly a helicopter and wanting to annihilate something at the same time, or for people with effectively no limbs.  Something like that goes on in the viewfinder of some of the Canon cameras, to pick out which focus point you want to use by pointing your eye at it. Mildly clever.

And the LEAP device, which looks upward from your desk, and observes your fingers and thumbs precisely.  Software for it is less common than one might hope. Very cyberpunk.

Don't edit with a mouse, pens are much better.

A mouse is useful to have, for text and controls.

The mouse needn't occupy your desk.