Video Editing Laptop for 2013

[philaguila]

Right now I am working on customizing my own laptop on HP.com. I have to buy a new one since my current laptop's hard drive is starting to die off. I have read plenty of forums that suggest in settling with a desktop PC but right now a desktop PC is not ideal because I usually work outside of home on the road and travel a lot.

Video editing is also not a hobby thing as it is my job so I need something that will perform very fast and be reliable working with RAW High Definition video from a DSLR camera for now.

Some of the things that I currently have for the customize page are:
1. 12GB of RAM

2.Intel i7-3610QM processor (2.3 Ghz with turbo boost to 3.3 Ghz, 6MB L3 Cache),

3. NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory (HDMI, VGA)

4. 750 GB of memory @ 5400rpm + I already own a 2TB External Hard Disk Drive

5. Blu-ray writer

6. 17.3-inch diagonal Full High Definition Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080).

This laptop currently totals at $1,413.98 which is around my budget ($1,500)

Again, this needs to be a laptop and along with video editing I also do RAW photo editing, music editing, graphic design, special effects like Adobe After Effects CS6.

If there is something that I am missing, advice to get a different laptop or listed something on here that could be unnecessary (possibly #6 at a cost of $150 more than a regular 1600 x 900 resolution screen?) please let me know. I really appreciate the help and look forward to seeing what you guys say.

Thanks!

 

[DarkSable]

Looks pretty good, but I would HIGHLY recommend a SSD and possibly a discrete video card, as it'll help with the video editing a fair bit.

Also, as for the 1080p screen, it depends on what format you're editing in. If you're only working with 720p media, you don't need a 1080p screen - if you're dealing with 1080p media, then you want it for sure.

 

[philaguila]

Looks pretty good, but I would HIGHLY recommend a SSD and possibly a discrete video card, as it'll help with the video editing a fair bit.

Also, as for the 1080p screen, it depends on what format you're editing in. If you're only working with 720p media, you don't need a 1080p screen - if you're dealing with 1080p media, then you want it for sure.

On the customize page there is an option for a 160GB SSD Flash module. Would that be adequate? And for the video card, could you be more specific? Do you mean to get a different video card as opposed to the one I listed and If so, one you recommend?

Also, if im also doing after effects and other special effects things, possibly 3D Max, is 12GB Ram enough or am I really better off at 16GB RAM for $100 more?

One more thing is that there is an option for 7200rpm but is it significantly better than 5400rpm?

Thank you

 

[DarkSable]

On the customize page there is an option for a 160GB SSD Flash module. Would that be adequate? And for the video card, could you be more specific? Do you mean to get a different video card as opposed to the one I listed and If so, one you recommend?

Also, if im also doing after effects and other special effects things, possibly 3D Max, is 12GB Ram enough or am I really better off at 16GB RAM for $100 more?

One more thing is that there is an option for 7200rpm but is it significantly better than 5400rpm?

Thank you

I'd buy either a large 7200rpm drive if you need the storage space, or buy the cheapest drive option and just buy an SSD yourself and slap it in there - it's the easiest upgrade you can do for a laptop.

As for if it's worth it: yes. It's the single largest upgrade you could possibly do, and will make your laptop feel more like a workstation than an underpowered, portable computer.

Sorry, I missed that you had a video card in there already. Check the programs that you use and see if they use CUDA or Open GL - if it uses the second, you want an AMD card, not an nvida card.

12GB will be more than enough, and paying $100 for another 4GB is an absolute rip-off; it costs them perhaps $10 more.

 

[philaguila]

On the customize page there is an option for a 160GB SSD Flash module. Would that be adequate? And for the video card, could you be more specific? Do you mean to get a different video card as opposed to the one I listed and If so, one you recommend?

Also, if im also doing after effects and other special effects things, possibly 3D Max, is 12GB Ram enough or am I really better off at 16GB RAM for $100 more?

One more thing is that there is an option for 7200rpm but is it significantly better than 5400rpm?

Thank you

I'd buy either a large 7200rpm drive if you need the storage space, or buy the cheapest drive option and just buy an SSD yourself and slap it in there - it's the easiest upgrade you can do for a laptop.

As for if it's worth it: yes. It's the single largest upgrade you could possibly do, and will make your laptop feel more like a workstation than an underpowered, portable computer.

Sorry, I missed that you had a video card in there already. Check the programs that you use and see if they use CUDA or Open GL - if it uses the second, you want an AMD card, not an nvida card.

12GB will be more than enough, and paying $100 for another 4GB is an absolute rip-off; it costs them perhaps $10 more.

So there is also a 1.5 TB with 7200rpm, that should be big enough right? Or would a SSD like this one be better to buy and install seperately...?
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Series-2-5-Inch-Internal-SSDSC2CT180A4K5/dp/B00B0IC342/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Thank you for the advice. One more question I could use help with is for the processor,
would a 3rd generation intel i7-3612QM (2.1ghz, 6MB L3 Cache) be better than a 2nd generation i5-2450M processor (2.5ghz with turbo boost to 3.1ghz)? And why?

 

[DarkSable]

So there is also a 1.5 TB with 7200rpm, that should be big enough right? Or would a SSD like this one be better to buy and install seperately...?
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Series-2-5-Inch-Internal-SSDSC2CT180A4K5/dp/B00B0IC342/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Thank you for the advice. One more question I could use help with is for the processor,
would a 3rd generation intel i7-3612QM (2.1ghz, 6MB L3 Cache) be better than a 2nd generation i5-2450M processor (2.5ghz with turbo boost to 3.1ghz)? And why?

Couldn't tell you if it's big enough - only you know how much storage you need.

I would personally go with the SSD, just because the benefits are HUGE and overway the loss in storage capacity, as you can make up for it with an external drive.

Finally, that i7 is going to WHOMP the i5, for a couple reasons:

1) It's a quad core. The i5 isn't.
2) It's ivy bridge, which is slightly faster than sandy. It won't make that big of a difference, but in any application that's not single-threaded (i.e. video editing) the i7 will win a million times over.

 

[philaguila]

So there is also a 1.5 TB with 7200rpm, that should be big enough right? Or would a SSD like this one be better to buy and install seperately...?
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Series-2-5-Inch-Internal-SSDSC2CT180A4K5/dp/B00B0IC342/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Thank you for the advice. One more question I could use help with is for the processor,
would a 3rd generation intel i7-3612QM (2.1ghz, 6MB L3 Cache) be better than a 2nd generation i5-2450M processor (2.5ghz with turbo boost to 3.1ghz)? And why?

Couldn't tell you if it's big enough - only you know how much storage you need.

I would personally go with the SSD, just because the benefits are HUGE and overway the loss in storage capacity, as you can make up for it with an external drive.

Finally, that i7 is going to WHOMP the i5, for a couple reasons:

1) It's a quad core. The i5 isn't.
2) It's ivy bridge, which is slightly faster than sandy. It won't make that big of a difference, but in any application that's not single-threaded (i.e. video editing) the i7 will win a million times over.

Yes a lot of the storage would be occupied by High Definition RAW video footage. And if I do get an SSD, do you have any you would recommend? Or would the drive in the link I sent be a good option too?

 

[DarkSable]

Yes a lot of the storage would be occupied by High Definition RAW video footage. And if I do get an SSD, do you have any you would recommend? Or would the drive in the link I sent be a good option too?

Hmm, that's a fair point. Consider going for a laptop that has two drive bays - one with the SSD with windows on it and one for data storage.

The one you linked is good, or an Intel 335 or 520, Samsung 840 pro, 840, or 830, OCZ Vector or Vertex 4, or Crucial M4. Drives are listed in order of preference, brands are not.

 

[philaguila]

Yes a lot of the storage would be occupied by High Definition RAW video footage. And if I do get an SSD, do you have any you would recommend? Or would the drive in the link I sent be a good option too?

Hmm, that's a fair point. Consider going for a laptop that has two drive bays - one with the SSD with windows on it and one for data storage.

The one you linked is good, or an Intel 335 or 520, Samsung 840 pro, 840, or 830, OCZ Vector or Vertex 4, or Crucial M4. Drives are listed in order of preference, brands are not.

Yeah, sorry I'm still not all that familiar with how to get two drive bays. How does that work? Here is a link to where I go for the customizing page on HP.com, you'll see a customize and buy orange button on the right of the display image of the photo. Then when you scroll down far enough to "Hard Drive", you'll see 750GB 5400 Hard drives, then Dual Hard Drives, then the hybrid hard drive, and lastly the solid state drive. If I were to get two storage bays as you recommended, would I get the dual? and then replace one of the two with a separately bought SSD? Thanks in advance for the clarifications on this.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/A3G47AV;pgid=c7twGfjc0ptSRpIq7ZUcoGXQ0000xWUgt43S;sid=Y7RzvPmVY-qAs6j2nvMuKCCaaW_-F_NO7h-EJW49aW_-F3Luu592SCZd?HP-Pavilion-dv7t-7000-Quad-Edition-Entertainment-Notebook-PC

 

[DarkSable]

Yeah, sorry I'm still not all that familiar with how to get two drive bays. How does that work? Here is a link to where I go for the customizing page on HP.com, you'll see a customize and buy orange button on the right of the display image of the photo. Then when you scroll down far enough to "Hard Drive", you'll see 750GB 5400 Hard drives, then Dual Hard Drives, then the hybrid hard drive, and lastly the solid state drive. If I were to get two storage bays as you recommended, would I get the dual? and then replace one of the two with a separately bought SSD? Thanks in advance for the clarifications on this.

Hmm, it looks like it comes with two drive bays. What I meant is that you want a laptop with a chassis that has that - since it appears that you do, you'll be good.

What you want to do is buy it with the amount of storage you see yourself needing for data. Then buy a 128GB SSD and put it in your second bay drive, and reinstall windows onto the SSD - that way you'll have all the benefits of the SSD and will have the original hard drive for data storage.

 

[philaguila]

Yeah, sorry I'm still not all that familiar with how to get two drive bays. How does that work? Here is a link to where I go for the customizing page on HP.com, you'll see a customize and buy orange button on the right of the display image of the photo. Then when you scroll down far enough to "Hard Drive", you'll see 750GB 5400 Hard drives, then Dual Hard Drives, then the hybrid hard drive, and lastly the solid state drive. If I were to get two storage bays as you recommended, would I get the dual? and then replace one of the two with a separately bought SSD? Thanks in advance for the clarifications on this.

Hmm, it looks like it comes with two drive bays. What I meant is that you want a laptop with a chassis that has that - since it appears that you do, you'll be good.

What you want to do is buy it with the amount of storage you see yourself needing for data. Then buy a 128GB SSD and put it in your second bay drive, and reinstall windows onto the SSD - that way you'll have all the benefits of the SSD and will have the original hard drive for data storage.

Thank you! Yes I will probably do that then. But just to be sure is there anything else you recommend for me? More Ghz for the processor? more cache? since I think what I have selected in the options is only 6MB cache but a friend told me I should try for at least an 8 or a 12MB cache??
... Also, is there another website that I could create a better laptop for a better value that you'd recommend?

 

[DarkSable]

As long as the CPU is a QM, then you're fine. Also, if you're talking about cashe as in the CPU cashe, that's not something you can just upgrade. If you're talking about RAM, for video editing you want 8-16GB, depending on the price.

As for other options, I'm not real familiar with non-gaming options, but I'd check out Sager; they're extremely well built.

 

[philaguila]

As long as the CPU is a QM, then you're fine. Also, if you're talking about cashe as in the CPU cashe, that's not something you can just upgrade. If you're talking about RAM, for video editing you want 8-16GB, depending on the price.

As for other options, I'm not real familiar with non-gaming options, but I'd check out Sager; they're extremely well built.

Yes, I currently have the 6MB L3 Cache option selected but do you think that cache should be more than just 6MB? Assuming I do also get the SSD..

 

[DarkSable]

Ahh, I see what you're saying.

It depends entirely on the cost - I personally would be disinclined to run with it, since it won't make that large of a difference.

(And again I emphasize that the ssd is more than worth it - there is no other upgrade that will make a computer feel faster than putting an SSD in it.)

 

[jaguarskx]

A SSD is not going to improve encoding performance. It can help make the laptop feel a little more responsive, since read/write times are faster than a 7200RPM hard drive. That means programs can launch a bit faster, Windows can boot up and shut down faster, but there is no effect on the encoding process since encoding is limited by the CPU. I suppose if you can get around 1,000 FPS while encoding, then the read/write speed limitations come into play. A 7200RPM hard drive is more than sufficient especially considering the price / capacity ratio.

 

[DarkSable]

A SSD is not going to improve encoding performance. It can help make the laptop feel a little more responsive, since read/write times are faster than a 7200RPM hard drive. That means programs can launch a bit faster, Windows can boot up and shut down faster, but there is no effect on the encoding process since encoding is limited by the CPU. I suppose if you can get around 1,000 FPS while encoding, then the read/write speed limitations come into play. A 7200RPM hard drive is more than sufficient especially considering the price / capacity ratio.

It won't help with the encoding process, no, but this is going to be used not just for video editing, but for general work - and for that, an SSD to put windows will be enormously beneficial.

[/quotemsg]

 

[philaguila]

A SSD is not going to improve encoding performance. It can help make the laptop feel a little more responsive, since read/write times are faster than a 7200RPM hard drive. That means programs can launch a bit faster, Windows can boot up and shut down faster, but there is no effect on the encoding process since encoding is limited by the CPU. I suppose if you can get around 1,000 FPS while encoding, then the read/write speed limitations come into play. A 7200RPM hard drive is more than sufficient especially considering the price / capacity ratio.

It won't help with the encoding process, no, but this is going to be used not just for video editing, but for general work - and for that, an SSD to put windows will be enormously beneficial.

[/quotemsg]

So I have brought it down to two different laptops that I customized. One is a Lenovo and the other is the HP I have above. Could help me, since you understand my situation better most that I've talked to, with choosing the right one and guiding with upgrading or downgrading the components I have selected for the better one? And of course to not forget that I have an external hard drive and am willing to buy a SSD separately to replace on the HP.

The Specs for the HP
Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
OS and recovery media System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) edit
Graphics card NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA] edit
Memory 12GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 1.5TB 7200 rpm Dual Hard Drive edit
Hard Drive Acceleration Cache NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache edit
Office software No Additional Office Software edit
Security software No additional security software edit
Primary battery 30% off 9 cell Lithium Ion Battery edit
Display 17.3-inch diagonal Full High Definition Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080) edit
Primary optical drive Blu-ray writer & SuperMulti DVD burner edit
Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam edit
Networking Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) edit
Keyboard Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad edit
Included Warranty Services Included 2 Year Warranty



And here are the specs for the Lenovo

ThinkPad W530 - 1 Year Depot Warranty Edit
Processor: Intel Core i7-3740QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz) Edit
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Edit
Operating System Language: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English
Display Type: 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready Edit
System Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro K2000M Graphics with 2GB DDR3 Memory Edit
Total Memory: 16 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (4 DIMM) Edit
Keyboard: Keyboard Backlit - US English Edit
Pointing Device: UltraNav with Fingerprint Reader Edit
Camera: 720p HD Camera with Microphone Edit
Hard Drive: 500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm Edit
Micro Hard Drive (mSATA): 16GB mSATA Solid State Cache Drive Edit
Optical Device: DVD Recordable Edit
System Expansion Slots: Express Card Slot & 4-in-1 Card Reader Edit
Battery: 9 Cell Li-Ion TWL 70++ Edit
Power Cord: 170W Slim AC Adapter - US (2pin) Edit
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.0 with Antenna Edit
Integrated WiFi Wireless LAN Adapters: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 AGN Edit
Integrated Mobile Broadband: Mobile Broadband upgradable Edit
Language Pack: Publication - US English

Accessories and options:
1YR Onsite Next Business Day + Accidental Damage Protection Edit