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Features

Windows PCs: 3 Great iMac and Macbook Alternatives for Photographers

Brett Day
No Comments
07/10/2020
3 Mins read
Pauleth Ip The Phoblographer Asus ProArt StudioBook 15 Product Image 01

Last Updated on 07/10/2020 by Mark Beckenbach

There are a few Windows PCs on the market geared towards photographers and creatives that give the Macbook and iMac a run for their money.

For quite some time, Macbooks and iMacs have been favored by photographers and creatives due to their ease of use and excellent product support, but times are changing. Many PC manufacturers are now creating Windows PCs aimed directly at a market Apple has been cultivating for years. We have to say there are now some fantastic Windows laptops and desktops on the market that give iMacs and Macbooks a great run for their money. We have rounded up all of the Windows PCs we have reviewed so that you can see if the time has come for you to make the switch, or if you need to replace your older computer.

Our needs as photographers and creatives have changed a lot in the span of a few short years. RAW file sizes have increased, and video resolutions have gone through the roof. Because of this, the requirements of computers have skyrocketed too. If you have a computer that sounds like it is about to launch for the space station when you’re editing, it’s time to upgrade. If you want to either shift to Windows PCs from Macs or upgrade your existing Windows PCs, the three Windows PCs we have listed below will help you save a ton of time thanks to their excellent specs and impressive performance.

Lenovo Yoga A940 All-In-One PC

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • More affordable than Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2
  • Responsive 4K IPS touchscreen
  • Snappy performance
  • A wealth of connectivity options
  • Condenses into a system that packs away neatly when not in use
  • Capture One Pro works flawlessly: we experienced no crashes
  • Much more affordable than some Surface Studio Pro configurations

Cons

  • Included mouse and pen aren’t rechargeable, yet the keyboard is
  • The exhaust fan can become rather loud
  • The screen only covers 90% of Adobe RGB according to our tests

Buy now: $2,169.99 – $4,399. Price as tested: $2,169.99

Photography accessories

Pro Tip: There are tons of great accessories on the market that can help you when it comes to getting more from your PC and making your life easier. If you want to save some serious time when it comes to editing images we highly suggest products like the LoupeDeck+ and the Wacom Intuos Pro. These two accessories will make photo editing easier and they are easy on the wallet too.

Razer Blade Studio 15 2020

windows pcs

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Nice sleek design
  • Well built and features a nice aluminum body
  • Ridiculously impressive performance (with a caveat)
  • Powerful discrete GPU blasts through tough editing jobs
  • The OLED touch screen is a thing of beauty
  • Improved keyboard over the last version of this laptop
  • Nice RGB effects that aren’t too tacky
  • Nice and easy to use trackpad
  • Futureproofed with a UHS III SD Card reader

Cons

  • This laptop breathes fire under certain conditions
  • Can get so hot that the keys are too hot to touch
  • Under load, the Razer Blade Studio sounds like a pair of GEnx Turbofan engines from a Boeing 787
  • Less than impressive battery life
  • Serious performance hits when not connected to the power brick

Buy now: $3999 – $4,299. Price as tested: $4,299

post processing

Pro Tip: These Days, most laptops and monitors come calibrated right from the factory. However, we highly recommend that you calibrate your own screen in the environment it will be used in the most. You then can guarantee you will be getting the most accurate colors from your display. Using a screen calibrator like the Datacolor SpyderX Elite and SpyderX Pro is easy, and the calibration is done within minutes. If you want to make sure what you see on the screen is what you’ll get in a print, check out the SpyderX Elite.

Asus ProArt StudioBook 15

windows pcs

Here are the pros and cons from our full review:

Pros

  • Beautiful 4K display with thin bezels
  • 100% AdobeRGB & sRGB coverage
  • Excellent performance
  • Powerful discrete graphics (Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060)
  • Lightweight yet solid magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis
  • Sleek, minimalist design
  • A wealth of connectivity options
  • Competitively priced (as tested US $1,999)

Cons

  • No SD card slot
  • No Thunderbolt 3 support
  • No webcam built-in
  • Can get quite warm under load
  • Fans can be rather loud when set to Velocity Mode

Buy now: $1,999.99 – $3,999.99. Price as tested: $1,999.99

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