Powerhouse laptop suggestions?

rawfa

rawfa

Veteran
Hey guys,

I have family coming from the US and I would like to take this opportunity to get a hardcore laptop (I mostly edit full HD video on Premiere and photos on Photoshop). Here is what I´m looking for:

- Expandable ram up to 32gb (I´m not saying I WANT it with 32gb ram straight away but I´d like to opportunity to upgrade in the future).
- Core i7 (preferably the latest generation)
- A good graphic card (it doesn´t have to be the ultra high end used for industrial applications)
- Full HD screen
- If it has enough space to allocate two 2.5 hard drives it would be cool, but it´s not a must as I can use USB 3.0
- Preferably a brand that has easy international support (stuff like Clevo, Xi and Alienware would be hard to get official support here in Brazil).
- Now here is the tricky part....I wouldn´t like to spend more than us$1500 (is this possible?)

Any suggestions?

So far I´ve my eyes set on this Toshiba X875-Q7190: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...intel_i7_3630qm_12gb_ddr3_1tb_hd_windows.html


P.S - Lets be objective. I´m a Windows guy and that is it. So please don´t try convincing me how much better my life would be if I had an IMAC instead of Windows.
 
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well for support, you need either HP or Dell or Lenovo. Out of that support is inexistant (meaning you just return the device to the shop, they send it to some centralized workbench and you wait 3 weeks to get it back).
Most laptop can have the DVD popped out to accept a 2nd harddisk (you can purchase this kind of bay for 10$ on ebay).
Usually i replace the original disk by a SSD (240gig) and i hadd a 2nd disk (500gig is enough).
If you need more then you can use the e-sata, most laptop have one now or if it is a very recent one, USB3, so for disk space there is usually
no problem, except you will end up with tons of cables and boxes.
The only thing you cannot change is the graphic card so you need to choose a good one first.
for Memory, if you go with 16Gig, there is few chance you need an upgrade soon (i mean before the laptop is dead a way or another).
Most laptop have an external display output (was vga, no more and more hdmi or display port)
 
Postmaster said:
One word: Acer Aspire V3-771G-736b321.13TBDWaii Big Mama's Revenge
Click to expand...

Do you have personal experience with this one? I would never consider recommending Acer, but if you have it and love it, then that's a very interesting choice worthy of a look see.
 
I'm on my second Toshiba. Both have been reliable workhorses, the first died after 7 years. My current one is 4 years old w/ 2 200GB drives, DVD burner, 4GB ram, Core2 duo 2.1GHz proc, and ATI Radeon graphics. I didn't buy it for video editing but as an engineering laptop for programming, testing, and commissioning commercial AV systems. However it currently runs both Premiere Elements and Lightworks for casual editing with decent performance for its age. Nothing like the one described above, but Toshiba quality has been excellent for me. No complaints.
I would check to see who has the best in country support network for your region and go with that. Toshiba, Lenovo, Panasonic toughbooks. Definitely don't like Dells, have more problems with them displaying properly on projection systems than any other major brand. Their video output never seems to conform to VESA standards.

If I were buying a dedicated pro laptop for DIT or primary media production work, I would go with a Boxx. http://www.boxxtech.com/Products/goboxx-1820-mobile-workstation
 
I'm platform agnostic and run a homebuilt PC at home.

Despite price and a few drawbacks, I think the Retina MBPs are a great way to go - but wait until the Haswell chip update. They're consistently reviewed as some of the best and fastest Windows laptops on the market (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57581290-37/macbook-pro-declared-best-performing-windows-laptop/) The build quality is excellent. High DPI mode switchable to High Res gives excellent screen real estate. SSD standard, and with the new interface used on the MBAirs the new Retinas this summer should have some of fastest SSD speeds around (800mb/s+). Battery life with Haswell + OS X Mavericks should you choose to utilize that OS at all are very good due to improvements in OS and Software.

No the RAM is not upgrade-able and the self fix-it scores are low, but spec it out with high ram and large SSD from the start and you should be good for years. Replacement battery is expensive but won't be needed for 3+ years and is $175.

If not that, I'd look at something from Samsung or Alienware perhaps. Build quality is really important to me in a laptop and is a key distinguisher from desktop. Also, be SURE to get the new Haswell chip in whatever you buy as the battery improvements are quite large.
 
Fists said:
This sager laptop is a monster it has a dual nvidia gtx 780, i7 3.7-4.0 ghz 6 cores with 15 mb cache ( the only laptop with an actual desktop cpu), check out the rest here. Though its quite huge.. 12 pounds!
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9570-clevo-p570wm-back-order-p-3595.html
Click to expand...

I have been using a Sager for 3 years and it is quite powerful for a laptop. It has 2 hard drives (500GB & 750GB) and I can connect a third using the Esata and a hard drive dock. Unlike Fist's recommendation I just have one video card though. One downside is a very short battery life (45 minutes max).
 
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