Laptop Advice - Editing Specs

The_Fitz

Need to source a laptop that will be used quite heavily for video and photo editing.

Currently using a Toshiba Satellite i7, 16GB ram, 1T + 8SSD, Geforce GTX graphics card and it's ballixed (near 5 years old). Everything is slow, opening windows explorer can take 15 seconds.

Have been having a look at PC specialist , has anyone used these folks?

Is the brand of PC their own? Does this affect their reliability? For €1549 I can make the below specs:

15,6" OPTIMUS PRO

i7 processor 10875H 2.3GHZ

64Gb Corsair 2666 MHZ (2 x 32GB)

NVidia Geforce RTX 2060

1TB Intel M.2 NVMe SSD

Arctic MX4 Extreme Thermal Paste

Windows 10 Home

Would I be mad not to custom build, or should be be looking at a reputable brand, like the Lenovo Legion?

Cheers

the Tongfang laptops are very well regarded and might suit your needs

PCSpecialist sell them but so do other vendors like XMG (with UK keyboard option)

Some long lead times depending on where you order

They provide the 2060 refresh 2020 model with more power

For video editing check the colour accuracy specs on the screen

AMD 4000h cpus have more grunt for video editing on the cpu side (which is more important than gpu for many video edit tasks)

A list here

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops/comments/himoym/all_of_the_vendors_that_are_offering_the_tongfang/

might be worth going through the different european vendors there to see who has availability and best price on uk keyboard options.

The_Fitz

glasso wrote: »

the Tongfang laptops are very well regarded and might suit your needs

PCSpecialist sell them but so do other vendors like XMG (with UK keyboard option)

Some long lead times depending on where you order

They provide the 2060 refresh 2020 model with more power

For video editing check the colour accuracy specs on the screen

AMD 4000h cpus have more grunt for video editing on the cpu side (which is more important than gpu for many video edit tasks)

A list here

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMDLaptops/comments/himoym/all_of_the_vendors_that_are_offering_the_tongfang/

might be worth going through the different european vendors there to see who has availability and best price on uk keyboard options.

Ah so the Optimus Pro is Tongfang?

120Hz FHD Panel (1920 x 1080), 45% NTSC is the screen, how does that sound?

probably desirable to have a higher colour accuracy value maybe if you're doing colour grading

65% NTSC + or 100% + sRGB

something like the Asus g14 has a more colour accurate screen (at/near 100% sRGB) and it's portable if you need that.

full metal case build also.

lovely machine.

you probably don't need beyond a 1650 card really tbh

the 4600h outperforms the equivalent intel 10750h

add in 16gb or 32gb more ram for 24gb or 40gb total (check that it will take a 32gb stick - may not)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zephyrus-G401IA-Gaming-GeForce-Windows/dp/B08696C4GK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3K3NKAGYM26GG&dchild=1&keywords=asus+g14+zephyrus&qid=1603573304&sprefix=asus+g14%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1

lovely machine (only the highest spec version has the lcd matrix thing on the cover)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTO7959ySss

jenneyk19

you would be better getting a desktop to edit video etc better cooling the cpu will not be trottled down.better screen better video card you can add alotmire memory

jenneyk19

jenneyk19 wrote: »

you would be better getting a desktop to edit video etc better cooling the cpu will not be trottled down.better screen better video card you can add alotmire memory

How many times have you been banned this month?!

Going for the record?

The_Fitz

glasso wrote: »

probably desirable to have a higher colour accuracy value maybe if you're doing colour grading

65% NTSC + or 100% + sRGB

The Proteus VIII has 144Hz FHD Panel (1920 x 1080), 72% NTSC

Might look at that instead then. Cheers for the heads up regarding the screen. This is a total minefield.

The_Fitz

If I was going for 32Gb ram, is it better to get 2 x 16gb or 1 x32gb? I assume 1x 32gb as I could then modify it at a later date and just buy 1 more x 32gb ram?

The_Fitz

The_Fitz wrote: »

The Proteus VIII has 144Hz FHD Panel (1920 x 1080), 72% NTSC

Might look at that instead then. Cheers for the heads up regarding the screen. This is a total minefield.

these are gaming laptops first and foremost where screen response time is the focus over colour accuracy

only more expensive models usually have more colour accurate panels

more "creator" laptops like the dell xps 15 have that but are big money (too much imo for what they offer)

that's why the g14 is such a good deal

you don't need a really powerful card for vido editing

it's more cpu as I said

and even a 6-core cpu like the 4600h and a 1650 card will do a good job- will take 32gb ram stick so could have 40gb ram if you want

The_Fitz

glasso wrote: »

these are gaming laptops first and foremost where screen response time is the focus over colour accuracy

only more expensive models usually have more colour accurate panels

more "creator" laptops like the dell xps 15 have that but are big money (too much imo for what they offer)

that's why the g14 is such a good deal

you don't need a really powerful card for vido editing

it's more cpu as I said

and even a 6-core cpu like the 4600h and a 1650 card will do a good job- will take 32gb ram stick so could have 40gb ram if you want

Taking it all on board, also trying to make sure I get longevity out of it.

G14 looks great, and will cost say €1,080 versus €1,448 for the Proteus.

G14 vs Proteus
Amd 6 Core 3GHZ v i7 8 core 2.3 GHZ
8GB Ram DDR4 vs 32GB Ram DDR4
GTX 1650 vs RTX 2060
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD vs 1TB PCS SSD
14.0" (16:9) LED-backlit FHD (1920x1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel with 72% NTSC vs 15.6" 144Hz FHD Panel (1920 x 1080), 72% NTSC

Not saying that money is no issue here, €370 is a lot of money. It looks like it could be around €120 for 32Gb of RAM, plus labour to get someone to stick it on. I'd have to improve the RAM anyway, and I may as well get the 32 if I had to buy one.

Speaking to a friend, he said to look out for M.2 NVMe SSD which, the G14 has. Is this far superior to other types?

Going by the above comparison, do you think it would still be best to go for the G14? How do the screens compare?

Thanks for your advice by the way!

The_Fitz

glasso wrote: »

these are gaming laptops first and foremost where screen response time is the focus over colour accuracy

only more expensive models usually have more colour accurate panels

more "creator" laptops like the dell xps 15 have that but are big money (too much imo for what they offer)

that's why the g14 is such a good deal

you don't need a really powerful card for vido editing

it's more cpu as I said

and even a 6-core cpu like the 4600h and a 1650 card will do a good job- will take 32gb ram stick so could have 40gb ram if you want

How does this one look?

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/asus-ryzen-7-4800h-8gb-512gb-ssd-geforce-gtx-1660ti-15.6-inch-windows-10-ga-ga502iu-al014t/version.asp#specs

you can put in the ram yourself - if you can change a ligthbulb you can click a ram stick in.

seriously. paying someone to do that is just stupid. no offence meant.

literally just taking out some screws and clicking the stick in.

nvme is a faster connection type for ssds but most ssds are now nvme. the other type is sata. many m.2 connector shapes can take nvme and sata ssd types nowadays. they can vary in nvme amongst how fast they are (2 vs 3 vs 4 pcie) but that just complicates it further and not really worth worrying about.

tbh most people wouldn't notice the difference much between even sata and nvme in usage. would help for really big video files tho I suppose.

The_Fitz

The_Fitz wrote: »

How does this one look?

https://www.laptopsdirect.ie/asus-ryzen-7-4800h-8gb-512gb-ssd-geforce-gtx-1660ti-15.6-inch-windows-10-ga-ga502iu-al014t/version.asp#specs

nice except for the screen letting it down

https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLaptops/comments/ftcifo/according_to_reviews_the_g15_144hz_screen_only/

The_Fitz

glasso wrote: »

you can put in the ram yourself - if you can change a ligthbulb you can click a ram stick in.

seriously. paying someone to do that is just stupid. no offence meant.

literally just taking out some screws and clicking the stick in.

nvme is a faster connection type for ssds but most ssds are now nvme. the other type is sata. many m.2 connector shapes can take nvme and sata ssd types nowadays. they can vary in nvme amongst how fast they are (2 vs 3 vs 4 pcie) but that just complicates it further and not really worth worrying about.

tbh most people wouldn't notice the difference much between even sata and nvme in usage. would help for really big video files tho I suppose.

None taken. Would try my hand at most things, but would worry about an expensive laptop.

Leaning towards the tongfang at the minute. Higher spec may not be totally necessary but I'm so disheartened with my laptop at the minute that the difference of 200 yoyos isn't bothering me.

it's better to have the two ram slots occupied to get the benefit of dual-channel ram.

not a viedo editing expert but I would have thought that the benefit beyond 32gb is not so high unless you were editing 8k video or something.

The_Fitz

The_Fitz wrote: »

Taking it all on board, also trying to make sure I get longevity out of it.

G14 looks great, and will cost say €1,080 versus €1,448 for the Proteus.

G14 vs Proteus
Amd 6 Core 3GHZ v i7 8 core 2.3 GHZ
8GB Ram DDR4 vs 32GB Ram DDR4
GTX 1650 vs RTX 2060
512GB M.2 NVMe SSD vs 1TB PCS SSD
14.0" (16:9) LED-backlit FHD (1920x1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel with 72% NTSC vs 15.6" 144Hz FHD Panel (1920 x 1080), 72% NTSC

Not saying that money is no issue here, €370 is a lot of money. It looks like it could be around €120 for 32Gb of RAM, plus labour to get someone to stick it on. I'd have to improve the RAM anyway, and I may as well get the 32 if I had to buy one.

Speaking to a friend, he said to look out for M.2 NVMe SSD which, the G14 has. Is this far superior to other types?

Going by the above comparison, do you think it would still be best to go for the G14? How do the screens compare?

Thanks for your advice by the way!

Out of interest Glasso, if both laptops were the same price, which one would you plump for out of the above comparisons?

Proteus if I was a gamer as well as a video editor.

G14 if I needed a solid metal build (is Proteus all-metal? could be) and nicer design, battery life and more portability

Screens from point of view of video editing are the same. higher refresh rate is of no real use to video editing. it's for gaming.