What laptop do you use for editing that's not an Apple product?

Charli

Charli

cool little "title"
Hey gang,

Long time no visit. I may not be working on short films, but I've stayed active writing demo scripts for companies.

I want to know, what laptop - make and model plus specs - do you use for editing?

I'm in the market to get one this holiday weekend, but I don't know what to buy. I've been using a desktop for years now and I'd like the chance to be mobile. Under $1500 is what I can afford via company I work for and help from hubby's family.

Anyone please help steer me in the right direction.

I was thinking of Asus gaming laptops, something that cranks up to over 3.0 GHz.

Thanks for any help.
 
I have...

MSI GT70 0ND-219US

Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
17.3" Full HD Anti-Reflective Display
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M Graphics (I think 4GB)
12GB DDR3 1600MHz System Memory
750GB Hard Drive
256 GB Solid State Drive
Blu-ray Disc Burner
USB 3.0 x 3, USB 2.0 x 2
HDMI Output
Built-In 720p HD Webcam


It was around $2000 when I got it, plus another $300 for a solid state drive at the time, so $2300 out the door. Works smoothly for the 1080p AVCHD footage I mostly edit. Can slow down when effects are applied that aren't rendered. Think it worked better on those when I first got it three years ago. Will see how well it does 4K once I start doing 4K.
 
Thanks, Eric. That does help. I won't be editing anything 4K. I need to edit commercial videos for work, but they're not shot on 4K that I know of. I want to be mobile, but I'm torn because desktops provide more punch for same money.
 
Depending on your choice of application for editing, the video card in the laptop could play a big part. So I would make that a consideration when making your purchase.

All the best!

Dave
 
I was looking at used Dell m4600 and m6600 laptops. Older i7 processor and replaceable graphics card. In the m4600 I was probably going to go with Intel 2860qm processor and the nVidia Quadro 2000m card. They are few and far between right now. The m6600 sports a 17 inch screen if that's important, but they also max out with a slower processor and an extra $300 for 2 inches of screen. Dell m6700 and m6800 might be in your price range with newer Keppler base nVidia cards and new i7 processors, but now you are well above $1000 new or used.
 
Charli said:
Hey gang,

Long time no visit. I may not be working on short films, but I've stayed active writing demo scripts for companies.

I want to know, what laptop - make and model plus specs - do you use for editing?
Click to expand...

What editing tools do you have or are you going to get? I have a Mac so I can't advise on the details of what is available in the Windows world, but what tools and what CPUs and Graphics Cards work best with a given set of tools, should give you an idea of what to look for.

For my Mac, I have 2.6 GHz i7 processor with 16 GB ram and an Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 1 GB of video ram. That allows me to run all my Adobe products such as Premiere, AfterEffects and Photoshop. I can also run DaVinci Resolve "Lite" (Blackmagic Design has dropped the 'lite' for the 'free' version 12...).

Of the set, Resolve is the pickiest of the applications about what the hardware is.

I've begun to shoot in RAW mode with my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, and that does cause non-realtime playback. But for recording in the Apple ProRes codec the system was fine.
 
A DVXuser friend of mine can get me Premier, AfterEffects and Photoshop (last one is for sure). I have tried using Sony Vegas and I won't go back to that. Not into Avid. So I'm looking at Adobe.

I was looking at the ROG G751JLDS71 http://goo.gl/afKg9Q gets good ratings on BestBuy but horrid ratings on Amazon. Maybe I just need to stick with a desktop. Right now, this is what I know, the company is buying me a computer/laptop and will pay for quite a bit of it. I can't say how much, but it makes this laptop affordable with money given to me by family and working a couple of weeks.

Should I be looking for a desktop instead working with Adobe Premier and After Effects?
 
You could build yourself a pretty sweet desktop for editing for $1500. Your money goes a lot farther when you built it yourself. I built my first PC last weekend with a buddy of mine and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I ended up spending almost twice as much as you're willing to, but I also treated myself to a 34" curved, ultra-widescreen monitor and a 6GB graphics card.
 
Charli said:
A DVXuser friend of mine can get me Premier, AfterEffects and Photoshop (last one is for sure). I have tried using Sony Vegas and I won't go back to that. Not into Avid. So I'm looking at Adobe.

I was looking at the ROG G751JLDS71 http://goo.gl/afKg9Q gets good ratings on BestBuy but horrid ratings on Amazon. Maybe I just need to stick with a desktop. Right now, this is what I know, the company is buying me a computer/laptop and will pay for quite a bit of it. I can't say how much, but it makes this laptop affordable with money given to me by family and working a couple of weeks.

Should I be looking for a desktop instead working with Adobe Premier and After Effects?
Click to expand...

I use the asus G-751, It's a good laptop, I added ram, now has 24 gigs, also added an extra terabyte drive. Works decent with Adobe CC2015. 4K bogs it down. Overall it's a good deal for the specs. Don't get the touchscreen, I made that mistake. Matte finish is better.
 
I have ASUS ROG and everything is fine.. Just get SSD for system disc..don't go for 5200rpm ..
 
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