ADVICE on Buying a 2000-3000 euro laptop for Video Editing

Hi there,

I have to help a company buy 8 laptops.

- 1 laptop for video-editing ( Budget 2000-3000 euros)
- 6 performant laptops for office (budget around 700-800 euro per laptop)
- 1 laptop for me - gaming (budget 700-800 euro)

Can you help me with some ideas?

For the video-editing I was thinking at

1. Notebook / Laptop HP EliteBook 8740w Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz 7 Professional

http://www.pcgarage.ro/notebook-laptop/hp/elitebook-8740w-core-i7-720qm-16ghz-7-professional/

or a Dell Precision 6500...

Would that be a good choice?

On the other hand, some people told me that NVIDIA Quadro FX is not suitable for video-editing...and I did not agree...what's the truth?

I'm not up to date with the latest releases in laptop technology and I could really use some help on making the right choice...think you can help me?

I've been reading your infos on the site for over a year...so I thought that if I have any chances on getting some professional answers this would be the place...

Thank you,
Patrick

PS: Excuse some of my writing mistakes, but english is not my native language! thx...

 

Since I'm not sure of the Euro to USD conversion rate, I'll give some general advice:

For video editing - especially 720/1080 hi-def editing - you'll need a notebook with performance specs equal to that of at least a Socket 1366 Intel desktop CPU (higher end I5 or I7) or a higher-end AMD AM3 Quad Core CPU. A unit with DDR3 is a must - 4GB is the absolute minimum; be sure to get one that is easily upgradable to 8GB memory if required.

As for the graphics, on-board Intel graphics are (at best) so-so. Although ATI graphics usually outperform NVIDIA, this comes at a cost: ATI is still having driver issues, especially with 64-bit Windows. These issues can cause audio/video stuttering or, in a worst case, a total freeze up of the PC (the "Blue Screen of Death"). My advice on choosing a graphics card is to research this based on the video editing software you will be using by checking online reviews and the software vendor's tech support blogs.

Based on manufacturers' turn-around time for warranty repairs, my thought is to go with a business-grade Dell (in the US, they are called the "Vostro" series and usually come with on-site warranty repair service standard). HP, on the other hand, almost always requires you to ship a notebook PC back to them for warranty service and there is no guarantee on the amount of time it will take to get it back.

On the video editing PC, you may also want to consider:

• Adding an extended warranty with accidental damage coverage if you will be taking it out of the office frequently.
• LoJack by Computrace - a service that tracks the PC if stolen (about $50 USD per year per PC).
• A unit with either two hard drive bays or a USB3 or eSATA connection for faster transfer speeds to an extermal drive (HD video can equal up to 1GB for every 2-3 minutes of footage, depending on the file format).
• An extra battery or two if you plan on using it unplugged for any length of time. Video editing requires a ton of power and will drain even a high-capacity battery quickly.

Hope these tips help.

 

I don't recommend video editing whilst running on battery - period.

If the video camera that you're working from uses Firewire, ensure the laptop has this interface.

The hard drive is the bottleneck, if you can find one that can use 2 drives, that would be my choice (SSD for boot/applications, SATA HDD for data).

I'm not convinced that there's really a problem with ATI drivers (but I hate their CCC that requires .NET).

Searching for a good forum that specialises in NLE (non-linear editing) using your software of choice might give you more specific answers.

A Mac might be the easiest route though, depending on the end user and where it will be used. What you can do with one app on a Mac is often a struggle using 3 or 4 on a PC.

 

As of 21Nov10, 2000 - 3000 Euro = $2750.62 - $4125.32...

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

 

(Spoofing Staples' old ad campaign)

WOW! That's a HIGH price! :-D

 

Yeah, the current Euro rate is Euro 0.72 = US$1.00 last I checked...

 

And I'm not convinced ATI outperforms Nvidia but ... why laptops, you can get ALOT more performance and stability out of a desktop ...