Video Editing Laptop?

[A.E. Pendell]

The laptop I currently have is fine enough for video editing, but the panel is HD+ and very washed out feeling, and the graphics chip is a low-end Nvidia GT 630M, which leaves most of the rendering up to the CPU. That, along with it just being quite out of date (Windows 10 crashes randomly for no reason because the hardware just wasn't made for it I guess) and falling apart in general (the left screen hinge is only held in place by the cables running through it), I've decided I'm going to save up for a nice new video editing laptop. It needs to be a laptop, I know desktops are cheaper for better performance and much easier to maintain, but in my current situation I simply need a portable workstation if I want to get things done in a reasonable time frame.

 

It doesn't need to have great battery life. I understand that if I want a somewhat powerful laptop with dedicated graphics and a powerful CPU, I must sacrifice battery life, but it would be nice if it lasted at least 4 hours or so in casual use.

 

I would prefer a 17-inch laptop, since that's what I have right now and I really enjoy the large display. I don't know if having a 15-inch display could affect my ability to edit as well or not. Probably not, but it would be satisfying to have a 17-inch nonetheless.

 

I don't have anything that can shoot in 4k, nor raw 1080p video. I'll be working mostly with AVCHD Progressive and H.264-compressed videos coming from my camcorder, phone, and Canon T3i. Files I'm working with likely won't exceed 50mbps, so I don't need a beastly laptop. A 1050, hell, a 980 would probably be perfectly fine for handling my video renders. I also wouldn't need a crazy modern CPU. An i9 would be way overkill. I could work with a 6th or 7th gen Core i5 or i7, quad-core or higher. I'd like at least 16GB of RAM, but I'm thinking 32GB would be the sweet spot for a laptop I want to use for a long time to potentially edit very long videos. The memory's speed isn't too much of a concern to me, any DDR4 memory should be fast enough. Since I'll have Windows 10, the Adobe CC Suite, and some other useful programs, I would like a 500GB SSD for all the programs, and a 1-2TB 7200rpm HDD for storing my files and projects on. It's also fine if the laptop only has a 500GB SSD option and no extra drive, so long as it has a high-speed USB port, I can buy a Samsung T5 Portable SSD to use.

 

I don't know if I want to buy a laptop with a 4k screen or not. It'll only be 17 inches at most, and I won't be editing 4k files, but 4k would look so pretty! But if I'm being realistic, if I want somewhat nice battery life, I should stick with a 1080p panel. If it has a high quality dedicated graphics card, I could just use an external 4k monitor in the future anyways.

 

With these basic requirements, I've made a small list of potential laptops for me to strive for, but my online window shopping abilities are not the best, so I could be accidentally missing great options.

 

• Origin PC EVO-17S - I configured this one on Origin's website with an i7, 1080p panel, 32GB 2666MHz RAM, a 500GB NVMe SSD, and a 2TB Seagate FireCuda HDD, and it came out to roughly $3,200. So, definitely not a cheap option, but Origin is a boutique PC builder, so I would hope I'm paying extra for superb build quality and customer service.
• HP Omen 17-an188nr - This is a pre-configured build from HP, but a very good one. It does look pretty bulky, but it houses an i7-8750H, a GTX 1070, a 4k anti-glare G-Sync display, 32GB RAM, a 256GB SSD and 2TB HDD, and an 86WHr battery rated to last at least 4.5 hours on casual use. This one is FAR cheaper than the Origin laptop, coming in at $1,900.
• Dell XPS 15 9570 - The second model up from the cheapest model listed, but with the OS changed to Windows 10 Pro and the SSD changed to a 512GB one. Otherwise comes with a 15.6" 1080p display, 1050Ti, Core i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 97WHr battery, which it is my understanding that if your model has the 97WHr battery, there is no space for an extra 2.5" hard disk. If I were to purchase this laptop I would also purchase the Samsung T5 1TB SSD, so that brings the overall cost up to $2,060.
• Dell G3 17" 3779 - Another Dell. The second most expensive model listed under the G3 17", with the only option changed being up from Windows 10 Home to Pro. This one has 16GB RAM, same CPU at the the others, a 128GB SSD and 1TB 5400rpm HDD (I could upgrade the SSD and hard drives myself later on, but I can make a 128GB SSD work for a while, if I'm stingy about what programs I install), a 1050Ti, and a 1080p IPS panel. This is the cheapest of the options, at $1,160.

 

These are the options I'm mainly looking at right now, if anybody else has a good recommendation, I'd be glad to check it out. Or if any of the above options has a major flaw I should know about, I would appreciate someone informing me.

 

I haven't really checked out many other brands, like Lenovo, Acer, or Asus. I've kind of just stuck with HP, Origin, and Dell for some reason.

Edited August 4, 2018 by A.E. Pendell
added some specs I forgot to list

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Dell G5 top spec with an aftermarket RAM upgrade -- same specs as the G7 but cheaper

[genexis_x]

Budget? Location? Preferred weight in kg? Do you need a good quality display?

[A.E. Pendell]

Just now, ZM Fong said:

Budget? Location? Preferred weight in kg? Do you need a good quality display?

I mean, I'm going to be saving up either way, but I would like it to be under $2,500. I can go higher than that, it'll just take a while longer and I'll be more anxious about breaking it lol.

 

I'm in Texas.

 

I don't really have a preferred weight. I've never been a fan of super light laptops, they always feel incredibly cheap with almost no weight to them. I'm used to lugging around very chunky laptops, so in today's laptop market, I guess I really don't have a limit.

 

And yes, I'd like the display to be 1080p, 1440p, or 2160p, preferrably IPS, and have at least decent color accuracy and Adobe RGB coverage over 60%.

[genexis_x]

5 hours ago, A.E. Pendell said:

snip

1. MSI GT75 - around 3 hrs battery life

 

2. Clevo P775TM (ObsidianPC or HIDevolution) - desktop K CPU, 2.5 hrs battery life

 

3. Alienware 17 R5 - try to find non Gsync model for better battery life (around 3 hrs battery life for Gsync), may have heatsink and thermal paste issues

 

4. MSI GE73 - fairly portable, around 3 hrs battery life

 

5. MSI GP73 - opt for 120Hz panel

 

6. Asus GL703GM - repaste is highly recommended

 

7. HP Omen 17 an - OKish build quality and cooling

 

All with CFL-H CPU. 8750H CPU needs undervolting. I've removed all laptops with cooling issues (especially the thinner ones). RAM and storage upgrades are usually cheaper if you upgrade yourself (manually)

[A.E. Pendell]

On 8/4/2018 at 11:51 PM, ZM Fong said:

All with CFL-H CPU. 8750H CPU needs undervolting. I've removed all laptops with cooling issues (especially the thinner ones). RAM and storage upgrades are usually cheaper if you upgrade yourself (manually)

Why do they need undervolting?

 

And for cooling issues, I was thinking it wouldn't be too much to bring around a cooling mat if I plan to do taxing stuff when I get there with it. Don't most people with gaming laptops use cooling mats anyways?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, A.E. Pendell said:

Why do they need undervolting?

Because Intel problems

 

It's actually for better performance (and slightly lower temps)

 

Cooling mats don't help much, if you choose the wrong one you'll end up with worse temps

[A.E. Pendell]

On 8/8/2018 at 4:42 AM, ZM Fong said:

Because Intel problems

 

It's actually for better performance (and slightly lower temps)

 

Cooling mats don't help much, if you choose the wrong one you'll end up with worse temps

I haven't dealt with many modern laptop UEFI's. So, if I were to get something like the Dell G7 (which I'm really considering getting the 4k model because it'll probably have slightly better color, and if I really need crazy color accuracy I can always get an external monitor later down the road), would I be able to underclock its CPU in the UEFI settings? Because every computer I've ever messed with doesn't have voltage settings and stuff like that in its BIOS or UEFI.

 

Also, thanks for the recommendations! The Omen does seem nice, though I didn't consider it because aesthetically, it's a bit... "loud"? The MSI's and Asus seem interesting! Alienwares are hardly laptops, I would probably break out the old terminology and call them "luggables" tbh, they should have handles on them. I've never heard of Clevo, and from the looks of it it's some sort of Chinese laptop? And I don't need the power of a desktop CPU in a laptop anyways, and from what little I know, that probably honestly sucks power and cooling-wise.

 

I wouldn't even mind something like the XPS 15's thermal throttling so long as it still got the job done. I mean, the only taxing thing it would be doing that might make it throttle would be rendering 1080p videos? And I usually leave my laptop plugged in and sitting on a desk while it's rendering. Tbh an 8th gen Core i7 throttling itself would still probably be faster than my current 3rd gen low power i7.

 

But I'll take a look at some Asus and MSI laptops now, thanks!

[genexis_x]

3 hours ago, A.E. Pendell said:

underclock its CPU

Why underclock. Wasted performance. Just undervolt with Throttlestop. Very safe

 

Clevo is ODM which is the real manufacturer of laptops

 XPS 15 will throttle even with i5 8300H under medium load. High temps kill hardware faster