What laptop spec for HD video editing?

[KenBlocksPants]

Hi all,

just after some advice from some more technical minded people than myself.

Just got a canon 550d which produces some lovely snaps as well as HD video. Now my current laptop can barely run them, let alone run some sort of editing software, so i think its time for a new bit of kit.

Budget is around £500 so really rules out a decent Mac which was my first initial thought.. but ive never really been an apple fanboi, so im just after the best spec for my money rather than a brand.

I assume memory and processor power is key for this activity (storage is stored already with portable hard drives)

Any recommendations? What should I be looking at?

Thanking you

[sgrimshaw]

Go down to PC World and take a look at the Acer Range, see how you like them.

The screens are particularly good and well suited to image/video work.

Compare prices to simplyacer.com to get best value if you like them.

Get the fastest processor model you can afford.

This is a pretty good buy:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-5742-core-i5-la...

Maxing it's RAM out might just push you over the £500 budget (buy RAM online NOT PC World!).

This also worth a look, although just above your budget:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5742-bla...

[ZesPak]

First thing that caught my eye is the "laptop" part, is this truly essential?

[KenBlocksPants]

ZesPak said:

First thing that caught my eye is the "laptop" part, is this truly essential?

Interesting... probably not really.. i just prefer the portability if i 'might' take it out 95% will probably be sat on the same desk...

Are desktops better suited / spec'd for the money then?

[KenBlocksPants]

sgrimshaw said:

Go down to PC World and take a look at the Acer Range, see how you like them.

The screens are particularly good and well suited to image/video work.

Compare prices to simplyacer.com to get best value if you like them.

Get the fastest processor model you can afford.

This is a pretty good buy:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-5742-core-i5-la...

Maxing it's RAM out might just push you over the £500 budget (buy RAM online NOT PC World!).

This also worth a look, although just above your budget:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5742-bla...

Thanks mate appreciated.

Budget is not fixed so can be flexible.

For the editing, is it all about the RAM then?

[sgrimshaw]

KenBlocksPants said:

Thanks mate appreciated.

Budget is not fixed so can be flexible.

For the editing, is it all about the RAM then?

Simply put, as much RAM as possible is certainly desireable for editing.

RAM is faster than Disk, which will be used as temporary Storage if there is not enough RAM.

[ashes]

Have a look at this site for graphic card ratings - you want a class 3 or 4 to get good performance. I have a lenovo ideapad which is excellent for editing HD - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/242041. I agree - as much memory as it will take!

Edited by ashes on Friday 27th May 15:37

[Clivey]

HD Video editing on a £500 laptop?



You could build yourself a desktop around an i5 2500k processor (which I thoroughly recommend) for not much more than that. It'll be waaay faster.

[Zad]

£500 buys a pretty killer desktop which will be upgradable for some time to come. £500 buys an ok budget/mid-range laptop which will be out of date in 2 years. You would be very pushed to find a £500 laptop which can display a 1080 resolution image at full resolution.

[sgrimshaw]

Zad said:

£500 buys a pretty killer desktop which will be upgradable for some time to come. £500 buys an ok budget/mid-range laptop which will be out of date in 2 years. You would be very pushed to find a £500 laptop which can display a 1080 resolution image at full resolution.

Does your £500 "Killer" Desktop include the monitor capable of displaying the 1080 resolution image?

Plenty of £500 laptops are "capable" of displaying images at higher resolutions than 1080p, but you need a separate monitor to display them (like a desktop does).

Many laptops have on-board Intel HD graphics, including the Acer's linked to earlier.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-ref...

[Zad]

My 23 inch monitor from Dell (1920x1080) cost £95. It is better quality than the 24 inch one I bought 3 years ago for nearly £300. So yes.

[Stu R]

Any half decent laptop can edit HD video these days. It's not a big deal, the only problems you're likely to suffer with lower spec machines are longer rendering times and their being a bit slower in handling chopping and moving bigger files around inside the editing software.

Personally I'd avoid Acer, I've had 2 and they've both been garbage. I bought my folks one, it was garbage too. My sole remaining windows machine is a Medion laptop, bought as a spur of the moment purchase for just under 500 sheets (17 inch) from Aldi. That's been used for editing the best part of 1000 hours of HD footage in total and handled it effortlessly - better than a core2duo macbook by a long stretch. Give them a look - the displays are incredibly good quality for the money, and they're well specced - my only complaint with mine is the keystrokes are a touch longer than I like (I'm used to macbooks), but other than that I've yet to see anything compare quality and spec wise for the same cash.

Medion are definitely of the budget brand variety, but compared with equally priced HP and Acer you get a shed load more for your money, and from my experience they're less likely to go Tango Uniform. Never used their desktops, but I'd be willing to give them a punt too given how impressed I am by their laptops.

Edited by Stu R on Friday 27th May 21:20

[sgrimshaw]

There you go then KenBlocksPants.

Take the Lenovo Laptop linked to above for £380, plus your 23" Dell monitor and you have a tidy little HD editing system capable of displaying at 1080p and also capable of being taken out and about if necessary.

You might save a few quid by getting a Desktop, spec4spec they are cheaper than Laptops but even mid-range Laptops these days are more than capable of carrying out very demanding tasks.

Laptops much neater in the home too

[sgrimshaw]

Stu R said:

Personally I'd avoid Acer, I've had 2 and they've both been garbage.

I've personally bought 7 Acer Laptops for myself and family over the past 4 years and not had one issue with any of them.

My business partner has personally bought over a dozen, again with no issue whatsoever.

We don't buy the cheapest range though, they are always in the £500-£750 bracket, or were before discounting kicked in.

I've also known people who bought Medions and been very pleased with them.

I bought a Medion desktop last year from Aldi and I was, and remain, very pleased with it - I'd buy another without hesitation - High Spec, Low Price, Happy Bunny

[annodomini2]

sgrimshaw said:

Does your £500 "Killer" Desktop include the monitor capable of displaying the 1080 resolution image?

Plenty of £500 laptops are "capable" of displaying images at higher resolutions than 1080p, but you need a separate monitor to display them (like a desktop does).

Many laptops have on-board Intel HD graphics, including the Acer's linked to earlier.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-ref...

Show me a new £500 laptop with a 1080p screen

Intel HD graphics are st!

The new 2nd gen i-series integrated solutions are much improved, but still can't match a dedicated solution.

What the OP wants is something along the lines of a Sony Vaio F series or Dell XPS, but you're looking at £700-800 minimum.

For £500 unless you need the mobility, a desktop will give you what you need.

The i5-2500 (k means you can overclock it) would be a good starting point.

Look for either a HD5850 or GTX460 as a minimum.

4GB ram plus is a minimum.


Acer's are ok on a budget level, but what they consider mid and high range are overpriced.

Plus I would never recommend PC world as a supplier

[sgrimshaw]

annodomini2 said:

Show me a new £500 laptop with a 1080p screen

Intel HD graphics are st!

Read the post properly.

[bonkbonk]

sgrimshaw said:

Does your £500 "Killer" Desktop include the monitor capable of displaying the 1080 resolution image?

Plenty of £500 laptops are "capable" of displaying images at higher resolutions than 1080p, but you need a separate monitor to display them (like a desktop does).

Many laptops have on-board Intel HD graphics, including the Acer's linked to earlier.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-ref...

But your £500 laptop will give you about £250 of hardware in desktop terms. If you're editing HD videos and the portability isn't important it's a bit of a no-brainer.

[annodomini2]

sgrimshaw said:

Read the post properly.

I did

You didn't read mine.

Why pay the extra for a laptop to connect it to a monitor?