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Need help picking a new laptop

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404404
Posts: 11358 - Karma: 21,033
Hello,

I need some help picking a new laptop.

My price range is $800-1100.

I'm looking for a computer that can run Adobe Premier Pro CS6 decently well.

I think I know what I want/need.

I7
12+ gig RAM
Some kinda SSD drive
2gig + video card

So my questions are....

do I really need a video card that is on Adobes approved list? Or can it be a somewhat equivalent card?

http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html

Can I buy an external SSD drive and use that for when I'm editing?

Would it be worth buying a laptop with 8 gig of ram and add more myself? Same goes with the SSD drive?

Any help would be great.
Aug 20 2014 4:53PM
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.MASSHOLE.
Posts: 7408 - Karma: 11,040
I imagine M&A will be more helpful, but if I had to guess equivalents also work in regards to cards.

I bet eheath would know best.
Aug 20 2014 5:00PM
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.FRY.
Posts: 5620 - Karma: 22,852
an old macbook off of ebay
Aug 20 2014 5:02PM
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Good_Deed
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 1,321
use that money to put money down on an macbook pro 17" from best buy then take a card out and pay off the rest you get something like 2 years with 0%apr.
Aug 20 2014 5:02PM
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.FRY.
Posts: 5620 - Karma: 22,852
Good_Deeduse that money to put money down on an macbook pro 17" from best buy then take a card out and pay off the rest you get something like 2 years with 0%apr.


who the fuck would want a 17 inch laptop? the whole point of a laptop is to be portable.
Aug 20 2014 5:04PM
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Good_Deed
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 1,321
Good_Deeduse that money to put money down on an macbook pro 17" from best buy then take a card out and pay off the rest you get something like 2 years with 0%apr.


15" they dont make the 17" any more.
Aug 20 2014 5:06PM
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Good_Deed
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 1,321
.FRY.who the fuck would want a 17 inch laptop? the whole point of a laptop is to be portable.


For working on videos a bigger screen is the best.
Aug 20 2014 5:08PM
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,947
.FRY.who the fuck would want a 17 inch laptop? the whole point of a laptop is to be portable.


And it's not a 17" width, it's 17" measured diagonally across the screen. So it's less.
Aug 20 2014 5:11PM
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404404
Posts: 11358 - Karma: 21,033
I really should have added I'm look for a 15.6" screen. I have one now and really like it. If I need to I can hook up my 23" monitor.

I also dont want to pay the price for the Mac name. I have always been a PC person and considering its all the same hardware I can justify spending double for a Mac. Not only that but if I want to upgrade anything I will be shit out of luck.
Aug 20 2014 5:16PM
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Good_Deed
Posts: 1260 - Karma: 1,321
ParryWithAnAI really should have added I'm look for a 15.6" screen. I have one now and really like it. If I need to I can hook up my 23" monitor.

I also dont want to pay the price for the Mac name. I have always been a PC person and considering its all the same hardware I can justify spending double for a Mac. Not only that but if I want to upgrade anything I will be shit out of luck.


must be a gamer, just go to http://www.newegg.com and click off everything you want in a computer and they will show you what your options are.
Aug 20 2014 5:18PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
ParryWithAnAI really should have added I'm look for a 15.6" screen. I have one now and really like it. If I need to I can hook up my 23" monitor.

I also dont want to pay the price for the Mac name. I have always been a PC person and considering its all the same hardware I can justify spending double for a Mac. Not only that but if I want to upgrade anything I will be shit out of luck.


newschoolers hive mind suddenly collapses
Aug 20 2014 5:26PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
ParryWithAnAHello,

I need some help picking a new laptop.

My price range is $800-1100.

I'm looking for a computer that can run Adobe Premier Pro CS6 decently well.

I think I know what I want/need.

I7
12+ gig RAM
Some kinda SSD drive
2gig + video card

So my questions are....

do I really need a video card that is on Adobes approved list? Or can it be a somewhat equivalent card?

http://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/system-requirements.html

Can I buy an external SSD drive and use that for when I'm editing?

Would it be worth buying a laptop with 8 gig of ram and add more myself? Same goes with the SSD drive?

Any help would be great.


IT guy here.

you do not need a video card on Adobe's approved list.

you can buy an external SSD card, but what I would do is buy a laptop with a HDD and an external enclosure. swap the HDD for the SSD, and throw the HDD in the enclosure. you can buy the laptop with 8 gigs of ram and add more yourself, but i don't think you'll be saving too much cash with this method.

you don't need an i7.
Aug 20 2014 5:28PM
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HARVERSACE
Posts: 763 - Karma: 372
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317542
Aug 20 2014 5:31PM
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404404
Posts: 11358 - Karma: 21,033
Good_Deedmust be a gamer, just go to http://www.newegg.com and click off everything you want in a computer and they will show you what your options are.


No gaming really.

Did that and I know what I want but its finding it for cheap as possible. To do that I asked a few important questions that hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

My concern is spending the money and not getting a machine that will work well.

Right now I'm on a 4 year old laptop I got a great deal on. I spent $850 and got:

I7 quad core 2.0
8 gig ram
7200 HD 5400 rpm
512 dedicated card

Adobe really has a hard time running on what I got now.

I think I have found some decent deals but will they run CS6 well?

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/K0B71AV?HP-ENVY-15t-Slim-Quad-Laptop-Best-Value

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z50/?sb=:000001C9:00012127:#techspecs
Aug 20 2014 5:31PM
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404404
Posts: 11358 - Karma: 21,033
wepresidentnowIT guy here.

you do not need a video card on Adobe's approved list.

you can buy an external SSD card, but what I would do is buy a laptop with a HDD and an external enclosure. swap the HDD for the SSD, and throw the HDD in the enclosure. you can buy the laptop with 8 gigs of ram and add more yourself, but i don't think you'll be saving too much cash with this method.

you don't need an i7.


Humm...

So no I7? Do I still want something that is a quad core? Should I be focusing more on the GHz of the processor, number or cores, SSD storage space, or the video card GPU?

I know the clear answer is a combination of them all but I was under the impression that a quad core I7 was a good starting point.
Aug 20 2014 5:35PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
ParryWithAnANo gaming really.

Did that and I know what I want but its finding it for cheap as possible. To do that I asked a few important questions that hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.

My concern is spending the money and not getting a machine that will work well.

Right now I'm on a 4 year old laptop I got a great deal on. I spent $850 and got:

I7 quad core 2.0
8 gig ram
7200 HD 5400 rpm
512 dedicated card

Adobe really has a hard time running on what I got now.

I think I have found some decent deals but will they run CS6 well?

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/K0B71AV?HP-ENVY-15t-Slim-Quad-Laptop-Best-Value

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z50/?sb=:000001C9:00012127:#techspecs


either or those would work. i would cop the i5 though, i7 are wayyyy overkill
Aug 20 2014 5:37PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
ParryWithAnAHumm...

So no I7? Do I still want something that is a quad core? Should I be focusing more on the GHz of the processor, number or cores, SSD storage space, or the video card GPU?

I know the clear answer is a combination of them all but I was under the impression that a quad core I7 was a good starting point.


yes, get something in the i3/i5/i7 series....it really doesn't matter which. the i7 is a decent processor but it is way way way too much.


get the best possible GPU: http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ i compare/contrast GPUs on this site...it's usually pretty complete and accurate
Aug 20 2014 5:39PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
trip post dgaf i would highly recommend the SSD as the operating system/primary drive though
Aug 20 2014 5:40PM
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Mag
Posts: 8155 - Karma: 14,809
ParryWithAnAShould I be focusing more on the GHz of the processor, number or cores, SSD storage space, or the video card GPU?


Well which one was causing adobe to struggle to run? There's your answer.
Aug 20 2014 5:42PM
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Japaneezy
Posts: 1039 - Karma: 4,267
I was looking for the same kind of laptop two months ago and went for the Macbook retina with all the bells and whistles. Now I know that it seems stupid to buy a mac just for its name but I did it anyways for a couple of reasons. Anyways, the most important thing to have is a quad core since cs6 heavily relies on both cpu and gpu. Now some people have pointed out that having a decent gpu helps a ton, but this is not always the case. There are specific gpus for such things, like the Nvidia quadro or AMD firpros, which are designed for graphical computing. Gpus like Nvidias geforce do fine, but its definitely not the best thing to have for such programs. What I would do is to get a laptop with at least more than 12gigs of ram, depending on what kind of footage you edit. (4K, prores, raw etc.) SSDs are definitely needed for footages with more intensive codecs, and trust me, quad core is a must. So go with an i7. Again folks, Andy is not trying to game or anything. i5s will do completely fine on games, but not so much on cs6.

heres a list of good laptops, check it out.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/167156-the-best-laptops-for-video-editing

This is not a must, but it would be a huge advantage if you could get a laptop with Nvidia quadro/ firepros.

TL;DR:

Just dont skimp on the i7.
Aug 20 2014 5:53PM
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Japaneezy
Posts: 1039 - Karma: 4,267
Sorry about the dubpost, but I completely forgot that your budget was under a grand... which makes things a lot harder. There is no way that you can get more than 8gigs of ram with that budget, so consider some gaming laptops from this list.:

http://pcgamerhome.com/gaming-laptops-under-1000/

I know that it says "gaming"laptop, but gaming laptops are pretty much laptops with better components so dont worry about it too much.
Aug 20 2014 6:02PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
If you don't need it to be a laptop you can definitely build a desktop that will suit your needs and more. Though with traveling circus stuff and traveling I bet that's out of the question.

MSI gaming laptops contain components that would be good for graphics rendering and such.
like this for example.

I'd skip an SSD. They're too costly for the amount of data they can store. Especially if you're dealing with lots of HD footage. Get higher RPM regular kinds of drives and connect through USB 3.0 or other. Ideally you'd have the computer run off an SSD and store data that's not accessed constantly on a regular drive. You'll probably be super fine with 8gb ram.
Aug 20 2014 6:50PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
Adobe programs do hyperthread right? You could use an i7 then, but you don't need it if you can't afford it.

Also whatever you buy is probably going to be able to boil water.
Aug 20 2014 6:55PM
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413Crew
Posts: 1636 - Karma: 5,612
Aug 22 2014 9:40PM
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ZachAndCheese
Posts: 816 - Karma: 5,116
Here are some sweet laptops in that price range:
1. ThinkPad W530 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312354R
2. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 15 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1XV-0001-00005
3. Acer TravelMate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA24G1E39048
4. Acer Aspire http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314594
5. ASUS N56JN-EB71 Gaming Laptop http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231974
6. ASUS ROG http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231975
Aug 22 2014 10:16PM
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cydwhit
Posts: 5065 - Karma: 42,823
Interesting that you are having trouble running CS6 with that. I am running CC on a macbook with 8gb of ram and a ssd and it handles red epic footy fine. That said I have had some crappy experiences with RAM and Adobe not being compatible. I would say go for something with an SSD internally since that makes the boot up and programs run a lot faster. I really appreciate my internal SSD more than I thought I would. I think either buying it with 8gb of ram and upgrading or buying with 12 should work as long as you do your homework on the ram you buy. As far as the mac vs PC crap, I buy mac because I like metal computers and I like the UI, as simple as that. If you like Windows then just save the money and go for it. You should be able to find something with those specs in your range.

Good Luck!
Aug 23 2014 2:09AM
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