Introduction
Best laptops for drawing? If you are a graphics designer or design engineer, you will need a computer that has the right hardware specifications to get the work done. With hundreds of thousands of laptop models in the market, it may at times be a little confusing to zero on one that you need. If you are one of those that are not sure about the right laptop they need to do their design work, this article is for you.
I am going to share with you everything you need to know about laptops for drawing. These kinds of laptops are appropriate for graphics designing and drawing. Let’s dig in;
Key specifications you should look at
Before choosing the best laptops for drawing, the very first thing should know the important specifications that are needed on any computer meant to do graphics design and drawing work. The major specifications to look include the following;
The CPU
Graphics designing involves a lot of heavy tasks that need a lot of computing power. If you want to get work done in the shortest time possible, you need to get a laptop with a CPU that can handle such tasks. For graphics and drawing, I recommend a laptop with a processor that is at least core i5 4th generation or newer. Newer generation CPUs have better graphics processing capabilities.
Some older generation computers can also get the work done but processing may take more time. Another important point to note is that most Intel processors are better than AMD in single-core processing. This gives them an edge in doing graphics design work.
RAM
Most of the graphics and drawing software needs a good amount of RAM to fully function without any lags. The minimum amount of RAM I would recommend is 8gb. Most of the design and drawing software need a minimum of 8gb Ram to operate optimally. But if you intend to do video rendering, you may need 16gb of RAM or more.
Storage
When it comes to storage, you should prioritize speed over storage capacity. However, you need to get a drive that has a capacity big enough to accommodate all the software you intend to install. I would recommend getting a laptop with an SSD of at least 256GB. This will give you good speed and also enough space to install most of your software. If you run out of space, you can buy an external hard disk for storing your large project files
Graphics card
If you intend to do light graphics work like simple photo editing, then you may not need a dedicated graphic card. Intel HD graphics will be good enough. However, if you want to do heavy graphics work like video rendering, you will need a computer with a dedicated graphics card to boost up the graphics processing. For such work, I would recommend a graphics processor with at least 2gb dedicated video memory. If you can afford, go for one with 4gb dedicated video memory.
Minimum and recommended system requirements for a laptop for drawing
These minimum requirements are coming from the official website of Adobe, in regards to Adobe Photoshop. I chose to list them because Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular software for graphics design.
Windows laptops
| Processor | Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support; 2 GHz or faster processor with SSE 4.2 or later |
| Operating system | Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1809 or later; LTSC versions are not supported |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Graphics card | GPU with DirectX 12 support 2 GB of GPU memory |
| Monitor resolution | 1280 x 800 display at 100% UI scaling |
| Hard disk space | 4 GB of available hard-disk space; additional space is required for installation |
| Internet | Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services † |
macOS laptops
| Processor | Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support |
| Operating system | macOS Mojave (version 10.14) or later |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Graphics card | GPU with Metal support 2 GB of GPU memory |
| Monitor resolution | 1280 x 800 display at 100% UI scaling |
| Hard disk space | 4 GB of available hard-disk space; additional space is required for installation |
Best laptops for drawing and graphics design – The List
last update 19.11.2020
Here are some of the Laptops I would for drawing and graphics design
1. HP Probook 440 G5
2. HP Probook 450 G6
3. Lenovo ThinkPad E595
4. Apple MacBook Pro
HP Probook 440 G5
Processor: Intel Quad-Core i7-8550U
Graphics Card: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage: 256GB SSD
Display: 14″
Max Screen Resolution: Full HD (190×1080)
RAM: 8GB
Battery Life: 18 Hours
Pros
- Relatively cheap compared to other models with similar specs.
- Supports SSD storage.
- It uses a newer generation CPU.
Cons
- The display may be small for some graphics tasks.
- Doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card.
HP Probook 450 G6
Processor: Intel Quad-Core i5-8265u
Graphics Card: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Storage: 256GB SSD
Display: 15.6″
Max Screen Resolution: Full HD
RAM: 8GB
Battery Life: 8 Hours
Pros
- Additional storage slot for the normal HDD.
- It has a newer generation CPU.
- Wider screen (15.6”).
- Some models have a dedicated graphics processor with up to 4gb VRAM.
- It has a variety of models to choose from (models vary in some specs and price).
Cons
- It is quite expensive.
Lenovo ThinkPad E595
Processor, 2.10 GHz. As we already have seen in our previous article this CPU is a synonym with quality and speed.
One great function of Lenovo ThinkPad E595 is its MIL-STD-810G army certification that is proof of its reliability and strength.
Lenovo ThinkPad E595 has a fifteen.6-inch display which is greater than the maximum laptops under $seven hundred.
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Quad-Core Processor
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon RX Vega 8
Storage: 256GB SSD
Display: 15.6″
Max Screen Resolution: 1920 x 1080
RAM: 8GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Ram
Battery Life: Unknown
Pros
- One of the latest intel CPUs.
- Powerful graphics card.
- It has both SSD and HDD storage slots.
- More than enough RAM.
Cons
- Nothing that It’s worth of note.
Recommended
Apple MacBook Pro
As such, there’s no doubting the fact that the Apple MacBook Pro 16” has to fall in this list for the best laptop for drawing Another note is about the size of the display. The 16″ retina display is, in fact, the biggest ever developed for a Mac. Apple equipped this model with bigger fans that grant silent operations.
The battery lasts up to 11 hours, best for your needs. This is combined with a remarkable-pleasant Retina display and the state-of-the-art NVIDIA chip. It also has four USB ports, an HDMI port, an audio port, and a card slot. Overall, the MacBook Pro 16” is a great solid choice for beginners and veterans alike.
Processor: 2.6GHz 6-core Intel Core i7
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6
Storage: 512GB
Display: 16″
Max Screen Resolution: 3072×1920
RAM: 16GB
Battery Life: 11 Hours
Pros
- IOne of the latest intel core i7 CPUs
- Powerful dedicated graphics card
- Large and fast SSD storage
- Its display has a high refresh rate
Cons
- Expensive, but higher quality means higher price.
Final thoughts
Choosing a laptop suitable for graphics and drawing is not a hard task if you know the requirements of the software you intend to use. So before going out to buy one, first research the hardware requirements of the graphics software you intend to use. With the requirements at the back of your mind, you can then head to the market and choose what you want with ease.
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