Razer Blade Alternatives? (Laptop Recommendations for photo/video.)

[w.lu]

I'm a photographer that does also does some light video work in search of a new Windows laptop. I was originally going to get a Razer Blade QHD but after watching the recent video on LTT and seeing how many of the Razer Blades had to be RMA'd, I'm having second thoughts.The laptop truly appealed to me as I'm looking to ditch my bulky and aging G74, it was great in the past but my gigs require me to travel and the G74 is way too heavy and annoying at airpots.

Things that are important to me that the Razer Blade had:

-Powerful Hardware
A strong i7 is a must due to reduction of rendering time and photo/video software actually being able to take advantage of multiple threads

-Small form factor/sleek

Would love to have something the size of, or similar to the Blade. A simple design that doesn't look too crazy is nice as well...

-Accurate screen
Something with color accuracy and just an overall high quality screen. Not sure if anything could be QHD like the Blade but that's definitely a plus.
 

Other things like the ergonomics/keyboard are of course a plus, as well. I would definitely appreciate any recommendations. 

As for budget, I'm not totally constraint to one since this is for my profession. Of course the more bang for my buck is better, I'm not trying to say that since this is a business expense I'm rich or anything. 

I really appreciate any input and advice! Thanks a lot in advance.

[Crunchy Dragon]

If you spent quite a bit on a higher end Inspiron or XPS from Dell, you should be fine. Or possibly even an MSI Stealth series laptop would work

[Drak3]

Best bet would be a MacBook Pro with Windows installed in Bootcamp or a Dell XPS 13. There is also the HP Spectre.

[bigjohnthescot]

I used an Aus rog g75vx up until a month or so ago either that or a Panasonic Toughbook it all depends on what and where you shoot I suppose

[aubryscully]

The XPS 13 or 15 seems like it would work great for this. A major difference (apart from size between the two) is that the 15 can have a dedicated GPU in it. Idk how useful that is in your workflow with the software you use, but I would be willing to bet it SHOULD at least help with the video work you do.

[Himommies]

7 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Best bet would be a MacBook Pro with Windows installed in Bootcamp

Unless you care about looks that much.there's no point in doing that.All your function keys will also pretty much be useless so from a productivit standpoint that's a definite no

[Drak3]

Just now, Himommies said:

Unless you care about looks that much.there's no point in doing that.All your function keys will also pretty much be useless so from a productivit standpoint that's a definite no

Experimenting with an OSX workflow and one of the most accurate screens on conventional laptops are a pretty good reason.

[AlexTheGreatish]

The Gigabyte Aero 15X - it's pretty frigging amazing - review coming soon

[mech]

2 minutes ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

The Gigabyte Aero 15X - it's pretty frigging amazing - review coming soon

I have seen that laptop... it looks pretty "dope af" as the kids say

[Himommies]

4 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

Experimenting with an OSX workflow and one of the most accurate screens on conventional laptops are a pretty good reason.

From personal experience unless you want to pay 1500 for the a OSX workflow that you don't know you'll like get the XPS 15.It has a screen that's at least or even better than the Macbook.Also like I said,no Function key's on the PRO is pretty much a deal killer

[bigjohnthescot]

also, are you going to shoot tethered ar use a card reader evn with the new hardware you will still be looking at a hefty laptop. My advice is to just use a light laptop with plenty of storage and save the editing for the studio I find it a bit problematic to try to edit out in the field plus it will leave you more time to shoot. you can always chimp and use your zebra depending what body you shoot and what format raw jpeg and card you use not a whole lot of laptops will have a 12 in 1 reader anyway good luck to you also will you be using an atmos or similar video monitor combo it all take your battery life i could keep going but you see what i mean

[Drak3]

2 minutes ago, Himommies said:

From personal experience unless you want to pay 1500 for the a OSX workflow that you don't know you'll like get the XPS 15.It has a screen that's at least or even better than the Macbook.Also like I said,no Function key's on the PRO is pretty much a deal killer

In Windows, the touchbar is the Function row. In OSX, the touchbar offers expanded functionality and can still operate as the function row. IMO, the touchbar is superior to the function row on 99.99% of other laptops.

[seon123]

Coffee Lake Surface stuff should fit right in. Really good screens, available with quad core I7s, and pretty light and well made

[w.lu]

Sorry for not responding as fast, I was actually surprised by how much feedback I'm getting and I'm really appreciating it. I've been looking up all your recommendations. 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

If you spent quite a bit on a higher end Inspiron or XPS from Dell, you should be fine. Or possibly even an MSI Stealth series laptop would work

I've actually been looking heavily into the MSI Stealth series laptops since I started moving away from the Razer Blade. Lookings pretty nice and I love the slim form factor, definitely will look more into it and will consider it.

 

1 hour ago, bigjohnthescot said:

also, are you going to shoot tethered ar use a card reader evn with the new hardware you will still be looking at a hefty laptop. My advice is to just use a light laptop with plenty of storage and save the editing for the studio I find it a bit problematic to try to edit out in the field plus it will leave you more time to shoot. you can always chimp and use your zebra depending what body you shoot and what format raw jpeg and card you use not a whole lot of laptops will have a 12 in 1 reader anyway good luck to you also will you be using an atmos or similar video monitor combo it all take your battery life i could keep going but you see what i mean

As for answering your questions, I'm ruling the MBP out just because when I work with other photographers, we like to have a bit of versatility in our lineup. I shoot a lot of big business events/weddings which require us to travel to different venues, some are more "Windows friendly" so when that happens it's nice to have someone on a Windows laptop. Buying a MBP just for bootcamped Windows just doesn't seem to make too much sense to me, I appreciate the response though.

To answer whether we shoot tethered or with a card reader, actually I do both. I work with a network of other photographers so being able to do both is pretty nice. I guess what you're asking though is whether or not I need ports for dongles and adapters. Having Thunderbolt/USB-C is pretty important so that I could also play in external hard drives. 
Lots of these events are also multi-day events where we need to edit and give them some photos/videos on the last day so I really do need something for editing with a laptop.

 

1 hour ago, bigjohnthescot said:

I used an Aus rog g75vx up until a month or so ago either that or a Panasonic Toughbook it all depends on what and where you shoot I suppose

Is that ROG not a 17"? I'm done and over those, it's just too much to carry around and TSA always requires me to inspect them even with TSA Prechk.

 

1 hour ago, aubryscully said:

The XPS 13 or 15 seems like it would work great for this. A major difference (apart from size between the two) is that the 15 can have a dedicated GPU in it. Idk how useful that is in your workflow with the software you use, but I would be willing to bet it SHOULD at least help with the video work you do.

A dedicated GPU is actually a definite must, I totally forgot to mention this.

1 hour ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

The Gigabyte Aero 15X - it's pretty frigging amazing - review coming soon

Thanks for mentioning this, I can't wait for the review to come out... guess I can wait a little bit.

[AlexTheGreatish]

12 minutes ago, w.lu said:

Thanks for mentioning this, I can't wait for the review to come out... guess I can wait a little bit.

Basically:

 

i7 and GTX 1070 MaxQ is lots of power

Keyboard is v nice to type on, stiff but in a good way

1080P screen with calibration

~6h battery life

Relatively thin and light for the power

Lots of IO

Looks rather professional, but also RGB keyboard if you want to make things spicier

[bigjohnthescot]

so yeah I am more of a stock and wildlife landscapes shooter but plan on moving more into video this year so more of my efforts are going to be in DaVinci and premiere along with photoshop I don't shoot events or weddings so yeah we are talking different needs here and yeah that 17" Rog could get heavy lol but I was in the army for 10 years and carried a helluva lot more than that on my back hooah!

 

[Pendragon]

aero 15 and 15x are great choices

 

if your not in a hurry the new xps15 is going to launch as soon as intel releases the 8700HQ (soon) q1 2018.

 

if you would like to save a shit ton of money, new Dell Inspiron Gaming series. Get the 4k screen, 1060 Max Q. 

[croppy]

On 11/24/2017 at 10:17 AM, AlexTheGreatish said:

Basically:

 

i7 and GTX 1070 MaxQ is lots of power

Keyboard is v nice to type on, stiff but in a good way

1080P screen with calibration

~6h battery life

Relatively thin and light for the power

Lots of IO

Looks rather professional, but also RGB keyboard if you want to make things spicier

How long before they get coffee lake upgrade to this do you think?

[AlexTheGreatish]

21 minutes ago, croppy said:

How long before they get coffee lake upgrade to this do you think?

No clue

[dominic.lallande]

Asus Zenbook Pro UX550. Potential thermal issues but I'm considering it for CAD work.

I also really like the XPS 15 but it's pricey. Currently the Precision 5520 is on a super sale but you won't benefit from the Quadro graphics.

[croppy]

5 hours ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

No clue

 if get clue, plz share

[croppy]

On 11/24/2017 at 8:09 AM, AlexTheGreatish said:

The Gigabyte Aero 15X - it's pretty frigging amazing - review coming soon

Sooner?

[AlexTheGreatish]

13 minutes ago, croppy said:

Sooner?

For Pilots, very soon.

[croppy]

Got my aviators on!