Best Laptops for VideoStudio Pro X8

[bubbs]

My ancient laptop has finally died on me and need to buy a replacement, preferably one that will compliment my VideoStudio x8 software.

Will probably need to look at refurbished laptops as can only stretch to about £400-£500. Haven’t really got much clue when it comes to the technical side of computers so need good advice of names of laptops I should be looking for.

I used to work off a 15.6 screen but have read in places that 17.3 would be better. Is that true?

Any advice will be very much appreciated, thank you.

[asik1]

If you struggle with 15" then you should indulge yourself to 17" now.
VS X8 is not fancy, it will work just as basic on any 400-500 refurbished laptop
* Laptops are bad for video editing.

[tletter]

My ancient laptop has finally died on me and need to buy a replacement, preferably one that will compliment my VideoStudio x8 software.

Your profile is entirely mute on the hardware that you current have. This information would have been useful.

I've used a laptop for years to edit video in VS without issue. That said, the key is the hardware, i.e. the more capable the hardware, the better.

The minimum system requirements for X8 are:

• Intel Core Duo 1.83-GHz Processor or AMD Dual Core 2.0-GHz Processor
• 2 GB of RAM
• Minimum display resolution: 1024 × 768

While this hardware will allow X8 to work, the experience will be painful.

X8 was released in 2015, so hardware has become more powerful since then. For ability to upgrade to a newer version of VS in the future, I'd suggest that you aim at meeting the minimum system requirements for VS2021 which are:

• Processor: Core i3 or AMD A4 series for standard videos. Intel Core i7 or AMD Athlon A10 for HD and UHD videos
• RAM: 4 GB or higher, 8+ GB highly recommended for HD and UHD videos
• Graphics Card: Minimum display resolution: 1024 x 768, minimum 512 MB VRAM or higher recommended for hardware acceleration

Note: I'd suggest that the minimum acceptable display resolution for editing is FHD (1920 x 1080), that you try for an SSD rather than a HDD, and Windows 10 64-bit.

I used to work off a 15.6 screen but have read in places that 17.3 would be better. Is that true?

What is true in my experience, is that the bigger the screen size, the easier it is to edit as long as its screen resolution is commensurate, i.e. a 17" screen running at a 1024 × 768 resolution would not be better than a 15" screen running at a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Now if you need to carry a laptop from place to place, then a 17" laptop is certainly not as practical as a 15" one. So if you need a 15" laptop then you could look for an inexpensive FHD external monitor that could be connected to your laptop when your editing at home. This would give you two screens to work off of which you might find better. Currently you can buy a new Lenovo 23.6 Inch FHD Monitor on Amazon UK for £74.57.

Will probably need to look at refurbished laptops as can only stretch to about £400-£500.

By all means look at the used laptop market, however, also look at the new laptop market. I don't live in the UK, so don't know the tax regime there, however, currently you can buy a new ASUS VivoBook X515JA 15.6" Full HD IPS Screen Laptop (Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD, Windows 10) on Amazon UK for £399.99, while one with an Intel i5-1035G1 is £499.75.

Happy shopping!

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

[bubbs]

Thanks so much for taking the time to pass on such great advice - gratefully received.