[Bradford] Specs for new PCs/laptops

[Devo Too]

Hi Folks,

Things have moved on significantly since I last attempted to spec a PC 
or laptop. Having looked on a couple of sites including 
pcspecialist.co.uk to try and "design" a laptop for my own use, then 
calling our very own David Carpenter (the only other Lugger I have a 
number for, lucky you lot!) to see if he could throw any light on the 
topic. Well, he tried.

So two questions: I need a laptop to process photographs, so not high 
end gaming or streaming video spec but then, not a simple browsing and 
word processing box either. Would anybody please try to suggest which 
type of processor, e.g. how many cores and all that stuff, and which 
type of video card would do the job well without overkill, here on the list?

Secondly, do you consider this a worthwhile discussion topic for a LUG 
meeting? My own thoughts are that it would be useful to have a general 
understanding in today's terms, without necessarily identifying 
competing manufacturers, which CPU in generic terms is designed for what 
set of uses, same for video cards and are there any other components 
which are critical to know about when deciding?

Cheers,

Mike