4k editing laptop on a budget

AlexOh

I'd appreciate it if someone could recommend a laptop with great value for editing 4k footage.

To be specific my rig is a Panasonic G7 and a Yuneec Typhoon, so it's not the highest bit rate for 4k.

What I'd like to do is basic cutting, grading, and titles. Occasionally I'll do a bit of composting. I'll be doing most of this in Blender for Linux or Windows, but I'd also like to use Adobe products from time to time.

I've read the system requirements for the programs, and a bunch of posts by different people, but for my objectives I haven't been able to nail down what the most important factors are.

I understand that the main factors are processor speed, number of cores, RAM, graphics card speed, graphics RAM and system memory (HD vs SSHD)

I'd like to stay below $700 if possible. New, used or refurbished is fine. I'd also like reasonable render times. I don't expect anywhere near real time, but I'd like for it to be manageable.

If you have any great experience or awful experience editing on such a machine please share it. I have a bunch of conflicting information. What's really most important? Should I be most concerned with cpu speed, graphics card or memory?

Am I just dreaming, or do you think it's possible?

Vitaliy_Kiselev

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/9956/gh4-laptop-requirements#Item_57

Any Intel 4 core good CPU, 16Gb of RAM, SSD + HDD will do. Plus FullHD IPS screen.

For your price I think it is only fast deals on refurbished stuff mostly.

kurth

proxy's are your solution bro !

AlexOh

Thank you so much for the responses.

Vitality- do you think this is a good option?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Z710-Laptop-17-3-1080p-i7-4700MQ-16GB-256GB-SSD-GT-745M-win10-/172182341119?nav=SEARCH

Kurth- what proxy work flow are you using?

I really appreciate you both taking the time to help me.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@AlexOh

It is used thing and seems to be with TN screen.

Tron

@AlexOh If you're looking for a cheap quad core check out this HP http://www.amazon.com/HP-i7-6700HQ-Quad-Core-Processor-Touchscreen/dp/B018VJXAEO

You can pull out that DVD drive and add an expansion bay instead so that you can keep the spindle drive for storage but add an SSD for speed. It's not an ultrabook form factor but they're fairly reliable in my experience. The 8 GB memory is one DIMM so another slot should be available to lift it to 16GB.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@Tron

This look good, yes. By idea it must also good for with H.265 due to Skylake.

Tron

@Vitaliy_Kiselev Good point there, Vitaliy. I have the most basic Skylake Atom CPU with lesser 520 graphics and it plays 4K HEVC quite well on my Surface 3 tablet. Surprised the hell out of me, actually.

AlexOh

Thank you both!

@Tron @Vitaliy_Kiselev

I'm strongly considering getting the computer Tron recommended.

Do you think it would be worth it to get this one for a little bit more? It's refurbished rather than new, but it has a dedicated Nividia graphics card. I'm not sure that would make much difference for video editing. Otherwise it seems to be almost the same specs.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01E5WUIK0/ref=mp_s_a_1_80?qid=1463457083&sr=8-80&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=hp+laptop+ips+nvidia&dpPl=1&dpID=41%2BLKBnKt4L&ref=plSrch

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN Wireless 802.11b/g/n

This one worries me.

Editors support Intel QuickSync. Nvidia stuff is more suitable for Davinci, but I am not sure how such low power cards work with it.

Tron

@AlexOh I think the latest Intel graphics may actually be better at encode/decode performance with H.265/HEVC, so if that's of primary concern with your workflow (future-proof) it may be worth considering the Intel GPU.

My understanding is that Resolve 12 recommends at least 2GB of VRAM, so if using Davinci is in your workflow probably go with the Nvidia GPU w/4GB dedicated.

PauloTeixeira

i5 Processor+ GTX 940M graphics card + 1920x1080p screen =$550

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-NVIDIA-Windows-E5-575G-53VG/dp/B01DT4A2R4/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1463626780&sr=1-3&keywords=Acer+Aspire+E+15

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-E5-574G-52QU-15-6-inch-Notebook/dp/B019G7VOSO/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1463627213&sr=1-4&keywords=Acer+Aspire+E+15

i7 processor + 1920x1080p screen + AMD Radeon M375 graphics card = $700

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y700-series/y700-14-inch/ It shows $1,000 in the link but it's actually on sale for $700 if you go back a page that shows the other laptops. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y700-series/

I saw a $700 laptop a while back with an i7 processor, 1920x1080p screen and GTX 960M card but the deal seams to be over. Once the new laptops comes out with the 2016 series graphic cards, I'm sure we'll find a lot of good deals on laptops with a GTX 960 card. Heck, even laptops with a GTX965 card will probably go for around $800 by that time. We'll see.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@PauloTeixeira

i5 processor you linked is low power 2 core thing.

Most probably all screens are also TN.

Again i7 processors are VERY different, we talk here only about 4 core models.

AlexOh

@Tron @Vitaliy_Kiselev

I'm writing this message on my new HP Flagship i7 laptop. It's the exact one Tron recommended.

Thank you guys again! Once I've had some time to mess around with it a bit and cut some footage I'll post my thoughts on the computer.

Just based on the initial unboxing and setup it seems like a good value so far.

matt_gh2

Sounds good. Remember to bump ram from 8gb to 16gb. Should be cheap to do.

kkfok

I cannot edit footage of my 1DC and LX100 smoothly in Adobe Premiere with my Desktop (i7-5820k, 32GB, GTX980, Samsung SM951 NVMe SSD). I believe that proxy is really necessary

cls105

Create a deal alert on slickdeals. Search model, or gpu that you want That's a good way to get a deal. So many gamers posting links for notebooks there.

Tron

@AlexOh The Skylake CPU/GPU seems to be amassing a very good reputation. Hope it works out well for you. Here's a tutorial if you ever decide to swap out the DVD drive for HDD/SSD caddy (you can also upgrade the ram while you're in there) -

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