Laptop advice - good for streaming/simple photo and video editing.

ExEstateAgent · 27 July at 7:32PM

Hi, as above I need a new laptop and it's come at a time when finances don't allow a brand new top of the range model!

I use it for general browsing, streaming from apps like Sky and Youtube, photo editing and now want to start making short videos.

I am happy to use a Windows or Apple machine and an older Apple model with enough spec. to do the job is fine as long as it can still get updated apps etc.

I'm reading that (if a Windows laptop) I need at least 16 GB Ram and an intel i7 processor or better. I'm confused about graphics cards - seems a typical graphics card will suffice? I don't see many advertised with anything different to be honest!

Any advice welcome, thanks.

Neil_Jones · 27 July at 10:46PM

Budget?

Why do you think you need an i7 for that?
Depending on the definition of "video editing" it may be overkill.

If we're talking 4K video and hours of footage, a desktop is probably a no brainer.
If the videos are just the of the cat knocking things off a table that you filmed on a mobile phone and want to stick on YouTube, well you probably don't need to do anything as YouTube will do the bulk of that work.

What videos are we talking about here?

ExEstateAgent · 28 July at 5:37PM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82083198#Comment_82083198

Thanks. I have recently bought a DJI Osmo thing to do travel vlogs etc. Probably no more than 30 mins long at most and basic editing and adding some titles and music I guess. Photo editing with Photoshop (which my current rather old laptop copes with easily enough).

Vitor · 28 July at 7:20PM

You probably do not need a top-of-the-range laptop, but I would not buy solely on the “i7” label. A recent i5 or Ryzen 5 can outperform a much older i7, so the processor generation matters.

For travel videos, I would look for:

• 16GB RAM as a sensible minimum
• 512GB SSD minimum, preferably 1TB or an external SSD for the video files
• a reasonably recent Intel Core i5/i7, AMD Ryzen 5/7, or Apple M-series processor
• a decent IPS screen, ideally with good sRGB colour coverage

I'd edge towards a Mac as they are noted for speed of video editing. For a used Mac, I would look at an Apple-silicon MacBook Air or Pro with an M1 or later processor and 16GB memory. I would avoid buying an older Intel Mac unless it was extremely cheap.

Adobe currently lists 8GB RAM as the bare minimum for Premiere but recommends 16GB unified memory on Apple silicon and substantially stronger graphics for more demanding work. That supports treating 16GB as the practical starting point rather than an extravagance.

forgotmyname · 29 July at 1:24AM

You can make a video on an old dual core CPU machine and 4GB of RAM. It will just take a bit longer.

I was doing photogrammetry on a dual core AMD machine with 8GB of RAM, that is taking hundreds of individual
photo's and stitching them together to create a 3D object that can be made.

That took some processing power but where a very expensive i7 at the time could do it in 40 minutes my machine
would take about 2 hours. But it still did the job. Unless time is absolutely essential then a mid tier machine will be
more than adequate for making video content.

A Ryzen 5 3600 is more than enough for most jobs.

What content are you creating and are you time limited? I went mad on my last build with AN AMD 3950X what has
16 cores and 32 threads and I added 64GB of RAM and a 3080Ti. Total overkill and a big downside currently is the
heat it chucks out… The underside of my desk is roasting.

The R5 3600 system with a RTX2060 Super which works the same as the 3080 but runs a bit slower and a LOT cooler.