Best cheap laptop for video editing?

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The most important factors to consider when looking for a mobile editing station is the speed of its CPU and the amount of RAM it has. Although not crucial, it is better to have a quad-core CPU over a dual-core. Many editing suites take advantage of the extra threads afforded by a quad-core CPU, which will allow you to greatly reduce your rendering times.

I believe the Dell Inspiron 15 i5558-5718SLV to be the best choice of the three you submitted. Of the three, it's the only laptop with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080p). The Asus and Toshiba laptops have a lower resolution, which is less than ideal for editing 1080p video.

That being said, is $500 a hard limit for your budget? There are some great options for a bit more...

jsimenhoff

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Feb 28, 2016
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The most important factors to consider when looking for a mobile editing station is the speed of its CPU and the amount of RAM it has. Although not crucial, it is better to have a quad-core CPU over a dual-core. Many editing suites take advantage of the extra threads afforded by a quad-core CPU, which will allow you to greatly reduce your rendering times.

I believe the Dell Inspiron 15 i5558-5718SLV to be the best choice of the three you submitted. Of the three, it's the only laptop with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (1080p). The Asus and Toshiba laptops have a lower resolution, which is less than ideal for editing 1080p video.

That being said, is $500 a hard limit for your budget? There are some great options for a bit more, especially at the $600 to $700 range. Have you considered purchasing a refurbished model? There are tons of great deals out there for refurbished laptops with the added benefit of extra power. For example I found this refurbished Dell workstation on Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA77G3R64732

It has a far beefier processor, and a dedicated GPU. Another option would be this refurbished Lenovo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3TX39N6551

It does have a dual-core CPU, but the processor is much faster than the new Dell laptop you found on Amazon. It also comes with a 256GB SSD, which should greatly reduce load times.

Ultimately $500 is a pretty steep budget and you will have to sacrifice certain features to reach this price point.
 
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lonrot

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There are deals on Ebay for that Dell Workstation, even under 400 USD. Is there a similar workstation that comes with 16 GB RAM? Can this laptop be upgraded? Thank you!
 

jsimenhoff

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These types of laptops (workstation class) are far easier to upgrade than most other laptops. You can certainly upgrade the RAM and GPU. I believe you may even be able to upgrade the CPU since the chip is pin based.

Here are some similar options, although I couldn't find any with a quad-core CPU (a feature I would prioritize over an additional 8 GBs of RAM):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA42J3U65799

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA42J3U65800
 

lonrot

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Is Dell Precision M6600 still the best against these new recommendations?

I will send you a PM.
 

jsimenhoff

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lonrot

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lonrot

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Great news!

Got myself an M4700 with 16 GB RAM and 256 SSD for $480. Windows 10 boots in 2 seconds.

Thanks a million _Johnny5.

May the gods repay you a tenfold.

9kJYLRj.jpg
 

lassemol

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Dec 25, 2016
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Hi _Johnny5,

I've been looking a lot at that refurbished Dell M4600, but they don't seem to be shipping to Europe. I live in Denmark.
I was just wondering if you know of any sites that does ship a laptop with the right specs for editing.

I'm thinking of using adobe premiere pro CC and probably also their photoshop and after effects. So from what I've read I'll need at least 8GB RAM, multicore processor with 64-bit, 1280x800 display and enough space.

What i have right now is good enough, except i only have 4 GB RAM.

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html

I'm a bit new to this, as you might guess.
Thanks.
 

Butler_1

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Mar 30, 2017
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Yes I have The Same question
 
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