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Question

Video editor needing laptop

Sep 17, 2015 5:48PM PDT

Hi Folks,
I have a budget of AU 1,500 (give or take) and I am needing to purchase a laptop suitable for video editing and some basic animation and graphics.

I will be using Premier pro and Creative suite mainly.

I understand the specs will need to include:
Quad core i7 processor
16GB RAM
Large internal SSD drive
Quadro mobile GPU?
15inch hi res or 17 inch screen size
USB 3.0 ports
HDMI video output

Working in television we were supported by technical staff when it came to our edit suites so to be honest, I haven't much technical knowledge! I now am moving into remote work and need something powerful, reliable and mobile.

I've used both PCs and Macs and while I do prefer Macs...I don't like the price tag.

I have read that the Dell XPs 15 (not the use 4k model) isn't bad.

Can you help with specific recommendations?

Thanks in advance!
Miranda

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Sounds like these will do.
Sep 17, 2015 6:02PM PDT

My video editing begin years ago on an Acer ter600. What you listed will do fine. There are folk that think it requires far more but I've seen video editing done on old Core2Duo machines, 4GB RAM and Windows 7. Just had to be patient.

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Any specific machines?
Sep 17, 2015 7:21PM PDT

Great. Do you have any advice on what specific machines I should be looking at that would have the above list of specs?
Also would you recommend new or second hand?

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Answer
A Gamer?
Sep 19, 2015 3:33AM PDT

Hi Miranda,
I agree that a Mac is generally a good media creation machine but your price tag would be very limiting going down the fruity road!

You might want to take a look at some of the gaming machines, not to play games on but they do put a lot of emphasis on their video performance capabilities to keep the frame rates up. I'm thinking of the Dell Alienware machines or the ASUS Republic of Gaming (RoG) models. I'm sure there are others. For what you want, if you can cope with the extra weight, a 17" screen will help.

Although I'm personally a fan of second user machines, in this case, I think you would be better off with a new machine - it will be a significant investment and the new machine warranty will help you sleep at night! You might, though consider an ex-Demo machine from a main dealer or from the manufacturers direct (NOT Ebay!), or I know that ASUS and Lenovo both have periodic model run-out sales when they are introducing a new generation of processors or a new operating system (think Windows 10). Sign up to their newsletters while you are researching and check the websites regularly.