Help with buying a budget laptop for videostudio 7

[RobertOZ]

The link you provided does not show any products to compare. Have a look at the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 series, this is within your price range and may be suitable for your needs

Robert

[yuna1971]

Hi again robert,
Well if I sell my MacAir then I should (with savings) have around £1000 to play with.
Speaking of Dell, I really like their Alienware 14 range.

http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/uk/p/ ... un_details

[RobertOZ]

My own personal view of the Dell Alienware is that whilst the products offer a good range of options and configurations, they are not good value for money, you are paying for the name. Alienware was purchased by Dell in 2006 and was in direct competition to the Dell XPS range, hence Dell gradually removing the XPS range. I have an XPS M1710 laptop, top of the range when released, but it cost an arm and a leg to buy, compared with other Dell computer ranges and would still be working today if I could obtain a new graphics card, which had a melt down after 6 years of constant use. If you do go for Alienware make sure you also purchase the extended warranty, I found the extended warranty on my XPS invaluable, when issues started after 2 years.

Robert

[yuna1971]

Would video studio work well on it? And if memory serves is the ram upgradable on these machines?

Thanks for your help Robert !

[skier-hughes]

Your first link does not appear to be good value. A quick look on amazon shows many comparable i7 machines of similar specs at a similar price.
I have no reason why you mac shouldn't work with elements and with 4gb ram, that is plenty to do normal work. Unless you are doing multiple layers with effects you really shouldn't have had any problem.

My order of priority is processor, ram, gpu, but gpu could go above ram as more editing apps now make more use of the gpu to help. This is where you often have a stumbling block with laptops.

[yuna1971]

Hi again Graham
I can assure you after around 6 hours of downloading as the mac has no DVD drive...
Premiere elements absolutely did not run well. If you go into mac forums, most recommend the MacBook Pro with a larger hard drive, and Ram. The air cannot handle these types if program's. The bare minimum is 4Gb, but it's recommended that people use 8gb - same as Corel.
I can assure you from having tried the demo. It simply did not work well. The lag was impossible to ignore, especially rendering.

[yuna1971]

Maybe try and see for yourself - if someone has a MacAir ?
I think they are made for simple tasks and basic editing using imovie. Not some of the more intensive program's with the many effects. Even Final Cut Pro is recommended for the Mac Pro, as it's a huge program.

[yuna1971]

My own personal view of the Dell Alienware is that whilst the products offer a good range of options and configurations, they are not good value for money, you are paying for the name. Alienware was purchased by Dell in 2006 and was in direct competition to the Dell XPS range, hence Dell gradually removing the XPS range. I have an XPS M1710 laptop, top of the range when released, but it cost an arm and a leg to buy, compared with other Dell computer ranges and would still be working today if I could obtain a new graphics card, which had a melt down after 6 years of constant use. If you do go for Alienware make sure you also purchase the extended warranty, I found the extended warranty on my XPS invaluable, when issues started after 2 years.

Robert

If you don't think Alienware is the best option, do you have a few further good options that I can have a look at, Robert?

Thanks

[yuna1971]

I really like the MSI range of laptops

Would any techies mind having a look at the range (looking at £1000-1200max budget)
And perhaps link me to a good spec and solid buy?

I end up looking and I start looking at all of them.

Keep in mind that the main thing I'll use it got is using Corel video studio 7 and the net, apple music library and my completed videos (usually 5 mins long per vid) (i do own an external HDfor these files though)

Please

Thank you

[RobertOZ]

You really can't ask members to recommend a specific laptop computer, everybody has different requirements when selecting a new computer, what suits me would probably not suit you.
You need to assess each computer, does it have the right OS, how much ram is available and can it be increased, what GPU is installed then check the model number and compare the benchmark tests for that particular card, higher end spec cards do cost more but are normally worth the extra cost, especially for video editing, what hard drive is installed and can it be upgraded later if required.
Remember, with most laptops, upgrading components is not always possible or can be very expensive compared to upgrading a desk top.
Don't spend money buying a laptop with all the bells and whistles if you are not going to use all the available features, you can save a lot of money with a system that suits your needs without all the fancy features that you will not use.
Have you thought about going to your local computer shop and having them build a laptop for you to your specifications, also that way you will not get all the crap apps that most off the shelf system have preinstalled.

Good luck with your search, for me it would be easy, but then I know exactly what I want ( if only I could afford a new laptop)

Robert

[Terfyn]

Sound advice. I did not realise that there were laptop kits! There is so much hype about laptops and they seem to be aimed at games or apps but for anything serious they are limited to business use.
I still believe that video editing is a relaxing, contemplative process. I sit in a quiet corner with my two screens and a large cup of the cheering liquid! scrapping most of the rubbish I have filmed and looking for that gem of never to be repeated video. I could not do this on a train or in a cyber café!

I still suggest you use the System Spec supplied by Corel as a starting point. At least whoever builds your laptop will know where to begin.

[yuna1971]

Fair enough. The reason I asked for links on good machines was so it could get an opinion from people who use Corel videostudio on them. I'm my own person but I thought it would be helpful to have somewhere to start - ie this is the sort of thing you need.
I find it a bit mean that you say, Robert, oh it's unfair for anyone to do that? Why? There no contract being signed, I'm not going to be led astray. I just want somewhere to start of which (for the video studio package) would be hey this is the sort of thing you're needing.
If I can't even get that type of advice or opinion on this forum then what type of forum is being run for new people who want to make sure they're machine will be adequate for Corel program's if no one will advise - rather the notion - it's your laptop you figure it out.
Cheers

[rwernyei]

http://www.xoticpc.com/
Check out their base models, benchmark score configurations or customize your build. Just suggesting this place because they have some good MSI offerings. They also offer discounts when placing an order.

Hope this helps.
Robert

[yuna1971]

Thank you robert. I will have a look

[yuna1971]

I'm in the UK, Robert..
The site you linked to above is an American site.
Thanks anyway