Laptop or Tablet - Help!

Tablet for me, If Need to choose only one. Although I still use my Macbook pro for PS,  IPad Pro with 12+ ram is your best solution. Working with the pen/stylus is just another level especially for masking, dodging, burning and curve adjustments.

BTW Tarmoo , thank you so much for the heads up. I have the M2 Ipad Pro 12.9" and will move towards the new 13" one.

Thank you all!

You've given me a lot to think about. I'll be checking out some second hand places and trying a couple of people's setups out, but it's good to know that a good setup isn't out of budget :)

Hello.

For me personally.  Apple 15inch MacBook Pro.

I have the A1398 model 16Gb RAM, 512Gb SSD and Intel i7.

The first to get the Force Touch trackpad and you can use these left or right handed.

The Apple Magic Mouse 3 is ambidextrous so left or right handed and just swap buttons if you want.

Logitech do dedicated models of mice for left-hand use.  The Lift is such but only in Graphite.

Some things I do find easier if I was using a mouse but not much.

You won't get the battery life on an Intel Core Mac compared to Apple Silicon.

MacOS 12 Monterey is good (the latest for Intel Core Macs) and intuitive although still a little practice is needed.  My Mac can run silent and is snappy.  Built-in Graphics is surprisingly good and Olympus Workspace runs like a champ on here and the Retina display is magnificent and all the colour spaces you could want.

Certainly possible to get one well within your budget.  Picking the right model is key and that is why I got the A1398 model.

Very happy with it.

Mark.

RebeccaSophia said

As a left hander I struggle with using a mouse with my right hand (although have never used a left handed mouse, so I assume i'd be rubbish with that too), so i'm not very accurate, which led me to the tablet idea, although I don't think you can get full editing software on a lot of tablets? 

There is no rules saying the mouse had to be on the right side of the keyboard, you could have the mouse on the left side if you wish.

My son is left handed, he copes fine with a mouse on the left side of the keyboard.

Sometimes he find it funny when he ask me for help, I being right handed, keeping my eyes on the screen, and my right hand fumbles around the desk for the mouse. Then I would look for it and say "Hey! Where's the mouse?" and he points to the left side of the keyboard.

Even thought the mouse is a gaming model designed for the right hand, my left handed son must've simply ignored the discomfort of holding it in his left hand and get used to it.

You could buy one of those kind of mouse where it is basically an unformed shape all around. A mouse that is kind of all rounded on both sides, similar to the kind used by Apple computers. So you could have it on the left side of the keyboard for your left hand. 

Avoid gaming mouse which is designed for the right hand. They're shaped like they fit the right hand. Just go for a mouse that's very much shaped like a stone, both side are of same shape, so they can be used by either right or left handed people.

In Windows (I've no idea if Apple Mac's operating system have something similar), you could use settings to switch the buttons around, thus the normal left-click main role becomes the right-click sub role, and you use the right-click to do the work of the normal left-click work.

Where right handed people hold the mouse in their right hand, and use their index finger to click on the main commands, you could have the mouse in your left hand, and still use your index finger to click on the right button that is set up to do the work of left button on mouse used by right handed people.

I'm right handed, but I did use this option to let me use the right side button as I found it more comfort to hold the gaming mouse where my index finger rest on top of the right button (normally in general use, the index finger should be resting on the left button).

My family and my friends often use the mouse in the normal way (using left click) only to find the computer keeps bringing up sub-menus. So I would tell them to "Use that button."

It's a simple matter of buying a cheap round shaped mouse, have it on the left side of the keyboard, opt for using settings to adjust which buttons do which clicks, and simply train yourself to get used to it.