Laptop recommendations for portable video editing

Jonathan-Burnett wrote on 8/30/2022, 4:48 PM

My desktop configuration is beyond what most laptops can support but my 2014 Windows 10 laptop is not really up for the job of editing while on the road, nor is it long for this world given its unsuitability to upgrade to Windows 11. On the plus side, it's quite thin and at 3 lbs., very easy to travel with.

So, I'm starting to give thought to buying a replacement that's capable of letting me do some assembly, color grading and rendering while on the road. Probably wouldn't get used all that often but the one I have is barely able to open media files and rendering is not just painfully slow but terribly flawed (thanks to the Intel graphics processor).

I figure some of the Vegas Pro user community uses a portable machine and so I'm looking for recommendations to consider. Obviously, the more memory it supports the better and of course the most powerful GPU available as well as many CPU/cores/threads.

My first thought is that many "gamer" laptops might meet many of those requirements, but I'm not a gamer and don't follow those models like a gamer would. Since most gamer laptops only support HD display (at high refresh rates) and I would like something closer to my desktop 4K monitors, but maybe, my assumptions about this need are incorrect?

In any case, thank you for reading and for any suggestions you care to make.

Jonathan

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RogerS wrote on 9/5/2022, 1:11 AM

You can certainly do serious editing on a laptop- many of us do. With a system with a proper dedicated GPU and thermal management and an external monitor. I don't see what the difference is- same OS, same basic hardware, just smaller with lower power consumption.

addison-b wrote on 9/15/2023, 11:13 PM

My desktop configuration is beyond what most laptops can support but my 2014 Windows 10 laptop is not really up for the job of editing while on the road, nor is it long for this world given its unsuitability to upgrade to Windows 11. On the plus side, it's quite thin and at 3 lbs., very easy to travel with.

So, I'm starting to give thought to buying a replacement that's capable of letting me do some assembly, color grading and rendering while on the road. Probably wouldn't get used all that often but the one I have is barely able to open media files and rendering is not just painfully slow but terribly flawed (thanks to the Intel graphics processor).

I figure some of the Vegas Pro user community uses a portable machine and so I'm looking for recommendations to consider. Obviously, the more memory it supports the better and of course the most powerful GPU available as well as many CPU/cores/threads.

My first thought is that many "gamer" laptops might meet many of those requirements, but I'm not a gamer and don't follow those models like a gamer would. Since most gamer laptops only support HD display (at high refresh rates) HP Laptop for engineering students and I would like something closer to my desktop 4K monitors, but maybe, my assumptions about this need are incorrect?

In any case, thank you for reading and for any suggestions you care to make.

Jonathan

Hi! Looking to do some coloring work on 1080 full HD output. I live in a tiny apartment and prefer working outside in coffee shops and co-working spaces. Any recommendations on a laptop that would run Da Vinci adequately?

My options so far are:
Asus ROG GL502VM Gaming Laptop [GTX 1060][i7-7700HQ][16GB RAM][128GB SSD][1TB HD][GSYNC] Thunderbolt
Windows 10

or a

Acer Predator Helios 300
15.6” 60Hz FHD Display
Intel Core i7-7700HQ
NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB
16GB DDR4 RAM
256GB SSD

any other recommendations? Should I just pay the extra few bucks and go for the Dell XPS 15 with the 1050nvidia video card?

Thank you for your help!

RogerS wrote on 9/16/2023, 6:10 AM

These are low end machines in 2022. You can't get a more modern CPU? Resolve likes higher end GPUs with more VRAM than 4GB.

Avoid the XPS 15 at all costs. The cooling is inadequate when both CPU and GPU are used at once, which is normal for video editing (I have that model).