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Question

8GB RAM and dGPU Enough For Adobe and Multitasking?

Mar 20, 2018 3:16PM PDT

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing the Surface Book 2 (13.5", i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB) using a personal grant I was awarded (I'm a grad student). I'm trying to keep the cost at or below $2,000 before accessories, tax, and warranty.

Are those specs, after considering the dGPU, enough for Photoshop, Lightroom, and Illustrator? The work done with these programs are not SUPER intensive, mostly doing graphic work for science education and communicating my thesis, creating posters for presentation, etc.

I would also want to multi-task while doing this, having 1 or 2 word documents open, having an Excel sheet open, and maybe 10 or less tabs in Chrome.

So, what do you think? Also, as an aside, how long do you think this laptop would last me for the above tasks? I'm searching for a laptop that will last 4 to 5 years.

Thanks for any help!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
No. Here's why.
Mar 20, 2018 3:56PM PDT

Those 10 tabs in Chrome could be heavy. There is no standard here as to what those 10 tabs could be doing. You might know about addons to shutdown tabs from eating memory or CPU or you might not. But given the rather open ended nature of Chrome memory and CPU use, the answer has to be nope.

As to 4 to 5 years even the battery can't be assured to get that far so that's another nope.

No laptop I know of today will reach that many years without some repair or part replacement. If you want to curb your Chrome then why not this laptop after you return to the reality of battery lifespan.

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Makes sense
Mar 20, 2018 4:03PM PDT

Oh okay, makes sense. My Chrome tabs are typically Outlook web app, google drive, and twitter. I also often forget to exit out of other tabs, mostly work related.

I have had my Macbook Air since early 2014 as my one computer and have had very little problems with it, so I just assumed that there are other computers that can offer such longevity. The battery is, at this point, not great, but it isn't god awful or anything.

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I've written far too much on battery life extension.
Mar 20, 2018 4:10PM PDT

Now that we have good battery and charger designs, we can use the new(?) ABC (always be charging) rule.

In fact I just tripped over another story about how keeping it on the mains extends battery life span.

Yes, there are naysayers so let's let everyone make there own decision. My view is that if folk use those other ideas it will help keep the battery production up and prices low.

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Answer
The Surface 2 is a no-go for another reason.
Mar 20, 2018 4:27PM PDT
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Source of the money
Mar 20, 2018 6:49PM PDT

Mostly I can't go Mac because I need a touchscreen, pen capable computer. I'm purchasing through a personal grant I've been given (doctoral student), and in the grant I specifically identified a touchscreen computer. Also, I'm just curious about Windows, 2-in-1s, etc. overall.

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Interesting.
Mar 20, 2018 6:59PM PDT

At the office and home we picked up a few touchscreen laptops. After a while the touch novelty wore off. So we don't buy them anymore.

Maybe the Lenovo Yoga line? (You won't get me to write to get the Surface 2.)