I need a new laptop to replace my faulty one, and it needs to cope with editing video from my GoPro HD, which this one doesn’t. (it does need to be a lappy, my old PC gets used about once a month and the current laptop needs replacing anyway)

Budget is small, £500 is really pushing it unless a small amount extra will see a significant performance improvement, such as jumping up a processor model.

Websites and computer forums are bleating on about needing top spec machines but I know people are managing with average laptops…I don’t need super fast rendering times etc, just smooth playback whilst editing so I can pause accurately to cut the video and sync music.

I have a safe option which is a £379 Acer 5552, safe because it says suitable for HD video editing on the box and I can get it in Sainsburys. (top three laptops http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/technology/computing_and_gaming/laptops_and_netbooks/list.html?SRC=LPCOMPUTER&POD=COMPUTER1) If it doesn’t cope then I can just walk back in and get my money back. Can’t help thinking the Sony Vaio or Samsung RV510 would be better but I haven’t seen the box so don’t know if they have the same promises re. hd video. (ignore the £100/£200 off, they are cheaper online anyway, its the ability to take it back that is the draw)

Or, tell me what you are using spec wise if it copes with HD editing, it would at least give me some sort of minimum level to shop for.

Thanks guys

I just bought a new Apple 13inch 5i Mac Book Pro comes with a fab video editing software
Not tested yet but check out Apples web site.
Best £ 999.99p i have spent on a computer

You need a fast Processor for video editing

I know your budget but they maybe doing 0% intrest.

Thanks, although looking to stick with Windows. The credit is mounting up due to wedding/mtb honeymoon/gopro/getting the bikes sorted, if I’m not careful I’ll have to start juggling the money around in 9 months when my interest free deals end!

TBH the three options you’ve suggested will possibly struggle a bit on HD editing and playback at full screen.

Have a look at : http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/acer-aspire-5552-942429/review

Reading the review it doesnt look like it will really cope with HD editing.

Yo need to look for a decent Core i3 or better processor (I dont really know what the equivalent AMD ones area though) and a bit more Ram and most importantly video card ram as you will be shunting a lot of data round. Actually it might be worth having a look on Dell website or similar and seeing what you can spec up.

Getting something pretty good for under £500 is not impossible but you are probably better off steering clear of Sainsburys or Tescos stock as they tend to just sell very basic machines.

Oh, and dont try taking your laptop apart on the living room carpet again… 😉

basic points you will need
Multiple Cores 2 Min 4 Probably best
Good Video Card
Lots of RAM!! 32bit system will limit you to 4GB a 64bit system will get you over 4 Prob 8Gb would be good but you can upgrade later

Would also push for Apple … final cut express will set you back £99 but a very worthwhile investment.

Have a look at the refurbished apple website

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/13?mco=MjEwNzM4MTE

They often have several impressive priced items, all with one year warranty etc.

Failing that one of my colleagues recently picked up a Medion P series (I think model 6627), and while a bit “chunky” in appearance it certainly has some grunt under the hood for the price.

best way to improve HD video editing is to put the content on a fast external drive (firewire 800 or eSata) with a decent 7200rpm drive.

this tends to be the major limiting factor. careful with processor speeds as most video editing packages (even the pro ones) are useless at multithreading (using more than one processor at a time) whereas mac tends to be a lot better. adding another core to the processor will make no difference if it’s not used, better to have less faster cores than more slower ones if you get my drift. For instance, put my vaio next to a macbook pro and mine will sit with 2 processors running at 80-90% whilst rendering and the MBP will run all 4 at 100%.

like i said, HD read/write speeds really does tend to be the major problem with editing on laptop, most other problems stem form this.

I use a Sony VPCEC1S1E (huge) but only really because it has a huge full HD screen and loads of video memory.

best way to improve HD video editing is to put the content on a fast external drive (firewire 800 or eSata) with a decent 7200rpm drive.

the new thunderbolt interface is the way forward, way faster than usb3/fw800/e-sata and only really limited by the drive speed. the macbookpro chipset utilieses SATA III that has bandwidth with up to 380 MB/s
the new 4core apple macbookpro’s are the only ones available with lightpeak/thunderbolt at the mo.
external HD’s and peripherals are just starting to appear from lacie and others so it’s not going to be a dead end interface.

Guy, it went back together again, just a shame the fault didn’t turn out to be the bit I replaced 🙂

I did notice the laptop I was looking at only had a 5400rpm drive which is the same as my current machine (Core 2 Duo, 2Ghz, 2GB Ram)

I’m happy editing in a tiny preview window, but after the first 5 minutes with this machine it starts getting choppy.

Not completely against a Mac, its just sticking with what I know I suppose. Not really got much software to worry about, Office 03 which I will prob replace anyway and thats about it. Off to look at the refurb site.

the refurbs (2010 models) are not such a deal at the moment because the new laptops are so good, there were 2 2011 one there last week (a 13 and 15in) but they don’t hang around for long.

i was thinking of buying a macpro but the macbook(pro) and new imac are now that fast that it’s just not worth spending the extra, i already have a 13in that i hook up to a monitor when retouching and use as a capture machine shooting on location, a 4-core 15in with 8gb of ram and external scratch disk via lightpeak is just as fast as a current macpro but half the price.

might you reconsider a desktop…

bearing in mind you can get a pretty powerful CPU for 80 quid like this

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/AMD+Phenom+II+X4+Quad+Core+955+Black+Edition+125W+C3+(Socket+AM3)+Processor+-+Retail+?productId=39930&source=googleps

and 6GB of RAM for about 60/70 quid

you will get a better spec for the same money going desktop route

if you are viewing images critically a laptop display might not cut it either..

i have a 13in macbookpro 2.53 250gb 8gb ram that i may be interested in selling.

mac2sell prices it up at £650 so i would want £600
(i’m in that london)

Sounds to me that what you need there is a desktop.

Laptops are either relatively low-grunt, or expensive. All this talk of multi-cores, fast hard disks, Thunderbolt, 8Gb, good video card, video RAM etc are all well and good, but if you can get that lot for £500 I’ll have one myself. You’re going to have to compromise on one of either price, performance or form factor.

What’s up with the old one?

I’ve just got back home with a Packard Bell Easynote TS11;

Intel Core i5-2410M (apparently the just released 2nd gen i5 with dedicated graphics thingummy)
4GB Ram
500Gb HDD (only 5400rpm I believe)
£479

The salesman spent the best part of an hour trying to get one of my files loaded of my SD card as the computers have various restrictions to avoid meddlesome customers. We had to use an Apple computer to copy the file from my SD card to his USB stick, then uninstall the instore demo from the laptop to enable the USB ports (software not installed for the card reader), before copying the file on to the laptop and then waiting for MovieMaker to import the file. However, the end result was once MM had done its stuff, I could zig and zag all over the 17 minute file and it would still play smoothly without any lag.

Will be trying it out properly later so will report back.

I’d like a desktop but it would be a real pain, this was our first laptop a few years back and I should’ve got one years ago, much more convenient than being stuck upstairs on the PC.

Cougar, the trackpad on the old laptop has become insensitive and erratic. I bought a new palmrest/trackpad on ebay and replaced it, but the symptoms remain, so either this trackpad has the same fault (brand new but B-grade as it has a tiny scratch) or the problem is with the motherboard. I’d already done a factory reset to check it wasn’t a software problem.

Plug a mouse in. (-:

Glad you got it sorted, anyhoo. Happy new toy.

Have you tried using a mouse whilst lounging on the sofa?!

Yes, the mouse mat slips off the armrest of the sofa.Now get on and edit that Afan/Brechfa video 😀

In progress. Sally is very upset I’m not editing her horse doing cross-country and she has just agreed its impossible at 1 frame per 10 seconds on the old laptop 🙂