Which of these two laptops to choose

[gizmo001i]

Hi,
I have a choice of two laptops with the following specs for my son, who is very much into photography and will be running photoshop on the laptop. I know they aren't fantastic, but they are the choice I have. I was wondering if people could give me their views on which one to go for. They won't be used for gaming really, but will be used for photo editing and basic home use as well as video playback. Any opinions will be very welcome.
Here are the two laptops:

Samsung R519
15.6" LED SuperBright display
Celeron Dual Core T3100 1.90GZ
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
Intel GMA X4500M DVMT Graphics Chip
Windows 7 Professional
DVD Reader/ Writer
3-in-1 media card adaptor
Integrated web cam
WiFi

Toshiba Satellite Pro L450
15.6" LED TruBrite® display
AMD SEMPRON 2.1GHZ
1GB memory
160GB hard drive
ATI Radeonâ„¢ HD 3200 Graphics Chip
Windows 7 Professional
DVD Reader/ Writer
4-in-1 media card adaptor
Integrated web cam
WiFi


One laptop has what I would consider to be a better processor as it is dual core, whereas the other laptop has better graphics capabillity. However, I am guessing that the graphics capabillity will only be of concern, to people wanting to play games. I would upgrade the memory of the laptop that I get to at least 2Gb, so memory isn't that much of a problem. But as I said before, anybodies views as to which one to go for will be very welcome.
Many thanks
Ian

[GeoffR]

A very difficult choice, personally I would keep looking, you can get NVidia and ATI graphics with dual core processors at sensible prices. Additionally I would budget for an increase of ram to 2GB.

However, if it really must be one of those two I would go with the Toshiba given that graphics performance is important.

[GlennH]

I'd probably go for the dual-core machine, even with its inferior graphics. I run Photoshop CS3 on an abysmal integrated Intel graphics chip, which would probably be inadequate for some of the new GPU-accelerated features of CS4. I imagine the Intel GMA X4500M would be better in that respect, although this info can be researched on the Adobe site and elsewhere.

The maximum RAM capacity would also influence, as 1GB doesn't really cut it for PS - unless you don't mind hanging around a lot. Both machines can probably be upgraded as far as that goes.

The Toshiba is probably better at decoding HD video, as the GPU name suggests, likely helped along by Avivo technology. But I reckon dual-core processing might outweigh that for PS purposes.

[LargeFormat]

If money is no object there will be a new Sony Z series in a few weeks. i7 quad core processor, 3G as well as WiFi, solid state disk, 8GB RAM, 1920 x 1080 screen, Windows 7 64 bit, carbon fibre lightweighht construction etc.

[Chris Cool]

Put Dell on your list - preferably with at least duel core over 2Mhz and 3MB of ram - if you can stretch to a 1920x1080 HD screen, then all the better

Take a look at the Inspiron 15 with i5 processor for £399

I like Dell cos of it's on-line support - it's easy to find a solution should something go wrong

[Chris Cool]

If money is no object there will be a new Sony Z series in a few weeks. i7 quad core processor, 3G as well as WiFi, solid state disk, 8GB RAM, 1920 x 1080 screen, Windows 7 64 bit, carbon fibre lightweighht construction etc.

I went for most of that on a Dell (i7 with 6MB ram) - I love the quietness of the solid state drive

Not cheap though...

[gizmo001i]

Hi,
Many thanks for all your replies. Regretably I am stuck with the choice of the two laptops as we are using the Home access scheme for it. this severely limits the choices that we have, but seeing as my son very much likes photography, I want one that will be as suitable as possible. Memeory isn't a problem as I am happy to upgrade that to at least 2Gb. Once again, many thanks for your replies.
Ian