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Question

Video Editing and Business Usage - Suggested Laptops?

Feb 26, 2016 6:01PM PST
--- I like to type, so just skip the whole first paragraph if you don't care for backstories or unnecessary details. You will all learn to love/hate me because of it. I've already typed too much in this disclaimer alone. Onward to the (un)important part! ---

*I'll put the question and related information in bold so you can skip my rambling if you so choose.

So, I'm relatively new to the computer world (and the C|NET forums) when put next to you folks. I've been interested in computers and technology since my first computer-related class in high school, but I've never really had much experience with hardware (or software, for that matter). I know the (very) basics and can navigate a computer pretty well, but I am, by no means, an expert in this field. I'm more of a finance guy with an interest in technology; that explains why I'm majoring in Finance and minoring in Computer Science, I s'pose.

Enough of that, though - on to the question!

I currently have an HP Pavilion 15, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD, AMD A10-5745M for general use (and the Steam 11 for university use, but that isn't important here). I plan to start video editing and eventually begin using my laptop for business purposes. As of now, I am not editing for any formal purpose or creating any profession films - it's just something I think I would enjoy - maybe start a YouTube channel in the future, make some awesome finance videos that would totally go viral in hours...or not. My question is: is my laptop equipped with what I would need, or do you folks think that I should consider upgrading? I have been looking at some Macs, but are the hefty price tags worth it?

I would appreciate some input from those of you with more knowledge than I, and I look forward to seeing what you have to say.

Thanks,

Steve

Discussion is locked

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Answer
RE: Laptop for Video Editing
Feb 26, 2016 7:22PM PST

You are definitely going to need an upgrade. You will need a laptop with a decent processor and graphics card which currently your laptop doesn't have. You will also need more than the 8 GB RAM for video editing as those tasks utilize lots of memory- anything above 12 GB is decent. Go for a Mac? No! The are over priced . You can always get a Windows Laptop for the same price or less than a Macbook that performs far better than the Mac.

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Answer
My son had the A8 with 8 then 16GB RAM. It worked.
Feb 26, 2016 7:24PM PST

You're fine today. My brother has one of the A10's with 8GB and it's good too.

I'd stick with what you have but consider a big SSD for speed.

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Swapping HDD for SDD
Feb 26, 2016 8:13PM PST

Thanks for the reply.

I assume this is a simple swap, yes? Is there a particular SSD that you would recommend?

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No. So many good choices today.
Feb 27, 2016 11:16AM PST

I've been retrofitting the office so we tend to just get the cheap 120 dollar 500GB models.