Laptops for digital art

RAM

These RAM recommendations are based my experience doing on doing 2D illustration using Krita and Clip Studio Paint.

RAM
MY EVALUATION

4GB

NOT ENOUGH. AVOID.

8GB

OK. Should be fine basic 2D art. Good place to start for a beginner.

16GB

GOOD. The average person will be fine here and will be able to handle a decent workload.

32GB

EXCELLENT.

Pen display connection

Before you buy a laptop, please ensure that you are clear how you intend to connect it to your pen display. More here: Connecting a pen display

I recommend that you get a laptop with at least 1 USB-C port that supports DP-alt mode (any thunderbolt 3 or thunderbolt 4 port will so). Ideally, a laptop should have two such ports. See: USB-C DisplayPort alt mode

If you want to connect to a pen display with a single USB-C cable, you should really this document to ensure you understand the requirements for ports and cables: Connecting a pen display with a single USB-C cable.

Power consumption

Pen tablets don't draw much power at all from a laptop, so it won't diminish your battery time.

Pen displays on the other hand draw a lot of power and if your laptop is powering your pen display, then it is going to limit the time your laptop can work on battery power.

For a pen display, you should either

  • Keep the laptop connected to power from the wall.

  • Or, connect the pen display to get power from another source.

Simultaneous monitors supported

If you are getting as pen display it essential will act as another monitor.

So you should verify your laptop can handle that many monitors.

  • Some laptops for example can only handle two displays: their built in display and external monitor.

  • Some laptops can handle 3 displays simultaneously

  • And a few laptops can handle 4

Laptops have used and I recommend

Laptops I have not used but should work well

Check the reviews for these laptops

  • Surface Laptop Studio

  • Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360

  • Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro 360

  • ASUS ProArt PX13

  • ASUS ProArt P16

Laptops I do NOT recommend

Windows ARM laptops (FOR NOW)

IMPORTANT: DO NOT get a Surface Pro that uses an ARM processor (example: Microsoft Surface Pro 11). ARM-based Windows machines do not work with drawing tablets at the moment. More here: Windows on ARM.

Chromebooks

I don't recommend Chromebooks for use with drawing tablets. I don't think drawing tablets work well with Chromebooks. More here: Using a drawing tablet with a Chromebook.

Ports

Ideally I think a laptop should have

  • AT LEAST 2 USBC-Thunderbolt 4 ports or USB-C USB4 ports

    • The more ports, the better

  • 1 USB-A port

  • 1 HDMI port

  • 1 headphone jack for audio

Videos

Resources

Places to find other suggestions

Please make use of the community (for example on reddit) to get feedback and guidance on a laptop for your needs.

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