New System Advice needed

BKWDR

Looking at a new system, like others I am mixed between a laptop or a all in one PC.

What I need it for:
At present I am looking for a system that will easily handle photo and video editing, specifically;

Photos : Use with Adobe Ligthroom / photoshop and would handle working and processing with RAW files easily.

Video : shoot 4k video on phone and also use my Canon DSLR to shoot some video , looking to edit and encode handily enough , just don’t want the dreaded hanging or egg timer. Looking at running the likes of Cyberlink Vid editor

Otherwise, just streaming , checking email, uploading photos , watching and casting stuff

How much?

I am looking at a price range of 500-700e on this.

I haven’t bought a laptop in years, and what im noticing looking at some models out there are things that have been done away with, like the Ethernet cable port, reduction in USB ports, ideally I would like to have these.

Have looked at the Lenova Yoga range? Would this range have enough to handle video comfortable ?

Am I better looking at an all in one system (desktop with all in one screen etc))

Any help or recommendations appreciated

BKWDR

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/300-series/Ideapad-320-15-AMD-ABR/p/80XS0063UK

Would the likes of this handle adobe lightroom or video edit?

4k encoding will not be great on a 700 euro laptop.

this is probably your best option within your budget if you want something a bit portable

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-330s-15-6-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-grey-10180850-pdt.html

or this if you can make do with a heavier laptop

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/NX.GP8EK.003-Acer-Aspire-7-A715-71G-57YT_2156569.html

(has a dedicated graphics card so more poweful and probably easier to add ram if necessary)

uk site but a good trustworthy site. delivery to ireland.

BKWDR

BKWDR wrote: »

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/300-series/Ideapad-320-15-AMD-ABR/p/80XS0063UK

Would the likes of this handle adobe lightroom or video edit?

no

BKWDR

glasso wrote: »

4k encoding will not be great on a 700 euro laptop.

this is probably your best option within your budget if you want something a bit portable

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-330s-15-6-amd-ryzen-5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-grey-10180850-pdt.html

or this if you can make do with a heavier laptop

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/NX.GP8EK.003-Acer-Aspire-7-A715-71G-57YT_2156569.html

(has a dedicated graphics card so more poweful and probably easier to add ram if necessary)

uk site but a good trustworthy site. delivery to ireland.

Thanks very much for that, the first one looks decent enough , does the processor look decent, in all reviews ive seen i5 is the big boy to go for.

I say 4k but in all honesty , im shooting HD at a lower standard more than suffices.

I just dont want an unresponsive machine if im working with RAW files etc.

BKWDR

BKWDR wrote: »

Thanks very much for that, the first one looks decent enough , does the processor look decent, in all reviews ive seen i5 is the big boy to go for.

I say 4k but in all honesty , im shooting HD at a lower standard more than suffices.

I just dont want an unresponsive machine if im working with RAW files etc.

the integrated graphics of the ryzen are a good bit better than those with the intel i5.

so it should be better for video work. the new ryzen mobile amd chips are good. the ones like those you linked in the one that you had linked are not.

BKWDR

glasso wrote: »

the integrated graphics of the ryzen are a good bit better than those with the intel i5.

so it should be better for video work. the new ryzen mobile amd chips are good. the ones like those you linked in the one that you had linked are not.

Looking at a refurb pc as is below...

Would this be ok to run Adobe suites of photo editing and video editing software? Premiere / lightroom comfortably?

Asus Vento Gaming Desktop 1TB AMD Radeon Win 10 Pro

Intel Core i5-2600 - 3.50GHz
8GB Memory RAM
1TB Hard Drive
Windows 10 64bit
3GB AMD Radeon HD 7970 Graphics
8 USB ports 6 x 2.0, 2 x 3.0
2x HDMI, VGA, DVI
DVD-RW
6 Months Warranty


Make: Other
Monitor: Other
Graphics Card Memory: 2GB or more
Memory (RAM size): 8GB
Hard disk capacity: 1TB or more
Processor: Intel
Operating System: Windows 10

should do the job yes.

maybe get an ssd drive to replace the old spinning hd in there as will make loading and editing much quicker.

or if it has a spare m.2 slot could add one in but that is probably an old motherboard so may not have a spare m.2 slot

could also think about adding some more ram

BKWDR

glasso wrote: »

should do the job yes.

maybe get an ssd drive to replace the old spinning hd in there as will make loading and editing much quicker.

or if it has a spare m.2 slot could add one in but that is probably an old motherboard so may not have a spare m.2 slot

could also think about adding some more ram

Thanks glasso

Old pcs like this for sale on done deal anything I should be wary of. Has it up for 180e

TerrorFirmer

If that's going for 180 get it immediately before it's gone, that's insane value. It's older but still very capable.

BKWDR

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

If that's going for 180 get it immediately before it's gone, that's insane value. It's older but still very capable.

OK thanks for reply.

The main thing I'm looking to get into is using lightroom or dable in Adobe premiere and I know they are very heavy programs and above I was looking at laptops but wanted to get better bang for buck off a desktop

TerrorFirmer

To get a laptop that soundly beats an i7-2600 you would be looking at about €600 or so. And even at that it will have way weaker graphics. That PC for 180 (if it's not some sort of wind-up or faulty) would still run the latest new games at pretty decent levels too.

Are you sure you linked the right PC with the DoneDeal comment? The fact it says '6 month warranty' and you're describing it as a refurb would suggest not and you saw that elsewhere. I genuinely find it hard to believe someone would sell that for 180 on Donedeal.

The i7-2600 was a very heavy duty CPU in its day which is why it has lasted so long and so well. For 180 that PC would be an absolute bargain for editing/gaming.

If you're open to desktops, forget altogether about laptops or all-in-one machines, because your uses are pretty demanding. Maybe a 2nd hand workstation? If you're not interested in self-building.

One here for €600 - E5-1650, 32GB Ram, 256GB SSD with one year warranty. Depending on your software adding a better GPU would show benefits too.

A requirement of wanting to edit 4K video with minimal delays is very heavy duty so I don't think a simple casual laptop or cheap desktop is what you're after.

Best option wuold be to self build and get something like a Ryzen 1600, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX1060, would be achievable in the upper end of your budget and would be best balanced.

BKWDR

Yeah that was the text of the pc advert, I got onto him as he withdrew the ad and he said he sold it for 220 in the end.

https://www.adverts.ie/desktops/gaming-pc-190/16817621

Above is another PC he is saying would do the job. Is this on par with the previous one ? Apologies, I really used to be up on all this stuff and sadly my knowledge has dwindled as tech has moved on.

TerrorFirmer

Nope, not even remotely close. But not entirely unrealistic for €190, the other one was worth way more than €220.

But not suitable at all for what you want it to do, would be pretty painful.

BKWDR

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Nope, not even remotely close. But not entirely unrealistic for €190, the other one was worth way more than €220.

But not suitable at all for what you want it to do, would be pretty painful.

Thanks TF, appreciate that very much.

Alanstrainor

Just to chime in here. Photoshop and Lightroom really are quite light in use. You don't need huge spec to run either. A modern Core i5 and at least 8GB of RAM are about all that is needed. More is better in terms of RAM, but it all depends on what you're doing in these programs as the sky is the limit in terms of what spec you'll need. Edting photos from your camera would for the most part be on the lower end of the scale.

4K video editing is a whole other beast. It will stress even the best of machines, so I would think it would be wise to limit your expectations here a bit. I think you could expect to be waiting quite a while encoding 4K. But it does depend how much footage, and what editing you're doing obviously.

A desktop would blow any laptop out of the water, so if that is indeed an option then perhaps that is the way to go.

BKWDR

Attached Spec of a pc ive been offered


Im thinking its not a bad machine and he says its new enough.

Obviously im thinking it might need a better graphics card but is there anything else standing out as an issue. 8 GB RAM is nice,how much is extra ram for this kinda PC

Also if I buy an SSD drive, do I have to install windows ON that drive etc and start from scratch?

BKWDR

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Just to chime in here. Photoshop and Lightroom really are quite light in use. You don't need huge spec to run either. A modern Core i5 and at least 8GB of RAM are about all that is needed. More is better in terms of RAM, but it all depends on what you're doing in these programs as the sky is the limit in terms of what spec you'll need. Edting photos from your camera would for the most part be on the lower end of the scale.

4K video editing is a whole other beast. It will stress even the best of machines, so I would think it would be wise to limit your expectations here a bit. I think you could expect to be waiting quite a while encoding 4K. But it does depend how much footage, and what editing you're doing obviously.

A desktop would blow any laptop out of the water, so if that is indeed an option then perhaps that is the way to go.

Thanks very much and appreciate your post.

I guess im obsessing about the video where in reality it will be photo editing primarily and I want to begin to dabble with adobe premiere too but have been told it really is a beast to run.

The above post with the attached spec is what I might go with so. It’s i5 processor and 8gb ram and if needs be I can install more ram then and maybe invest in a better graphics card that would suit its m/board (or are all graphics cards more or less plug n play)

TerrorFirmer

Depends on the price. You could get that on Ebay for about €130 so as long as you're not paying more than about €200-ish locally it's respectable.

Spec wise it's capable enough but not very powerful, I would say as above, grand for photoshop, but have realistic expectations with the 4K editing. There are people who spend 1k+ on what would be considered mid-range 4K editing builds.

2nd hand DDR3 ram is pretty cheap, so not much to upgrade. Can't say about graphics card as have no clue what sort of machine it is. Putting aside power requirements, even low-end cards that don't need extra power will not always physically fit in some PC's. Would need the exact model number to find out what the ugprade potential is.

BKWDR

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Depends on the price. You could get that on Ebay for about €130 so as long as you're not paying more than about €200-ish locally it's respectable.

Spec wise it's capable enough but not very powerful, I would say as above, grand for photoshop, but have realistic expectations with the 4K editing. There are people who spend 1k+ on what would be considered mid-range 4K editing builds.

2nd hand DDR3 ram is pretty cheap, so not much to upgrade. Can't say about graphics card as have no clue what sort of machine it is. Putting aside power requirements, even low-end cards that don't need extra power will not always physically fit in some PC's. Would need the exact model number to find out what the ugprade potential is.

Thanks , he says its a HP Prodesk 400 G 2.5 machine.