Windows Laptop recommendations at DVinfo.net

Ben Bruges · October 1st, 2021, 07:15 AM

Request for Windows laptop recommendation.

I'm UK based. Videographer. Shorts only. Budget £1-2k. HD only, not 4k. Some After Effects work, not much. Premiere, Audition, Photoshop.

My current PC laptop is falling apart (literally), so I need to replace it. I tend to travel to film, so it does need to be a laptop, and fairly rugged would be good.

Any minimum specs to look out for?
Any vendors to recommend?

Many thanks.

Andrew Smith · October 2nd, 2021, 04:57 AM

Be open to a refurbished model. They can be great value.

I managed to get a Acer Swift 5 (14 inch 1080HD display) touch screen notebook laptop with the previous i7 processor family for $1200 AUD. It came with 512GB of SSD and 16GB of RAM.

Looking at anything advertised as 'new' since, nothing comes close to the value of what I got. And for all intents and purposes the laptop felt as if it truly was brand new except for a little ageing on the battery.

Not bad for something I was principally buying for a machine to unload data to when filming a conference. I can quite happily use it for whatever task I throw at it, including running a PPT presentation to a data projector and doing a screen recording at the same time, making it easy to include PPT slides in a multicam edit.

Andrew

Ben Bruges · October 2nd, 2021, 05:29 AM

I'll look into that, thank you.

Donald McPherson · October 2nd, 2021, 06:42 AM

PCSpecialist put my laptop together a few years back.
My only problem was not being able to afford a better graphics card for it, and unfortunately mine is soldered in so no chance to change.

Pete Cofrancesco · October 2nd, 2021, 08:44 AM

I had a friend who wanted to buy the new version of a laptop I own that's not really a serious laptop (Dell XPS) and I was shocked how much it had gone up in price (2k). Must be pandemic related.

Paul R Johnson · October 2nd, 2021, 09:08 AM

If you can live with poor internal loudspeaker volume - the Panasonic tough books are amazing computers. Touch screen, expandable and available on the second hand market - often ex-National Health Service. Bomb proof and very tough. Google will find you some dealers who can do the memory and other enhancements you need, but the one here with windows 10 on it often gets me out of trouble as a backup for my Mac. I use both Mac and PC and for music and video editing my M1 is the leader for convenience and the PC for the sheer number of things it does in the studio.

October 1st, 2021, 07:15 AM	#1
Ben Bruges Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Hastings, UK Posts: 36	Windows Laptop recommendations Request for Windows laptop recommendation. I'm UK based. Videographer. Shorts only. Budget £1-2k. HD only, not 4k. Some After Effects work, not much. Premiere, Audition, Photoshop. My current PC laptop is falling apart (literally), so I need to replace it. I tend to travel to film, so it does need to be a laptop, and fairly rugged would be good. Any minimum specs to look out for? Any vendors to recommend? Many thanks. __________________ Sony EX1, teaching in Hastings. Video for independent journalism with Hastings Independent Press

October 2nd, 2021, 04:57 AM	#2
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,018	Re: Windows Laptop recommendations Be open to a refurbished model. They can be great value. I managed to get a Acer Swift 5 (14 inch 1080HD display) touch screen notebook laptop with the previous i7 processor family for $1200 AUD. It came with 512GB of SSD and 16GB of RAM. Looking at anything advertised as 'new' since, nothing comes close to the value of what I got. And for all intents and purposes the laptop felt as if it truly was brand new except for a little ageing on the battery. Not bad for something I was principally buying for a machine to unload data to when filming a conference. I can quite happily use it for whatever task I throw at it, including running a PPT presentation to a data projector and doing a screen recording at the same time, making it easy to include PPT slides in a multicam edit. Andrew

October 2nd, 2021, 05:29 AM	#3
Ben Bruges Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Hastings, UK Posts: 36	Re: Windows Laptop recommendations I'll look into that, thank you. __________________ Sony EX1, teaching in Hastings. Video for independent journalism with Hastings Independent Press

October 2nd, 2021, 06:42 AM	#4
Donald McPherson Major Player Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Aberdeen Scotland Posts: 815	Re: Windows Laptop recommendations PCSpecialist put my laptop together a few years back. My only problem was not being able to afford a better graphics card for it, and unfortunately mine is soldered in so no chance to change. __________________ A little knowledge goes a long way but not long enough.

October 2nd, 2021, 08:44 AM	#5
Pete Cofrancesco Inner Circle Join Date: May 2004 Location: USA Posts: 2,997	Re: Windows Laptop recommendations I had a friend who wanted to buy the new version of a laptop I own that's not really a serious laptop (Dell XPS) and I was shocked how much it had gone up in price (2k). Must be pandemic related.

October 2nd, 2021, 09:08 AM	#6
Paul R Johnson Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Lowestoft - UK Posts: 4,016	Re: Windows Laptop recommendations If you can live with poor internal loudspeaker volume - the Panasonic tough books are amazing computers. Touch screen, expandable and available on the second hand market - often ex-National Health Service. Bomb proof and very tough. Google will find you some dealers who can do the memory and other enhancements you need, but the one here with windows 10 on it often gets me out of trouble as a backup for my Mac. I use both Mac and PC and for music and video editing my M1 is the leader for convenience and the PC for the sheer number of things it does in the studio.