Have you used an editing software or platform like the Adobe premiere pro? If you have, it is known that memory of a laptop is very useful in making tasks run faster. Whether film making, a simple video for your vlog, or just a musical, footage needs a laptop that can process the editing job fast.
So many qualities and reasons applies to why your system or laptop needs to be equipped with necessities like a large memory in RAM and storage, a high processor and maybe suitable screen size with quality colour output.
Yes, your laptop can be very fast to you, but editing tools and programs could make it look like the slowest device you ever used, fact! A snail can get to its destination before you finish copying a 4k file that can take hours into your average system.
So, what kind of laptop computer do you need for editing? We recommend the following specs:-
Large Memory (RAM/ROM)
I have had the privilege to be occasionally available on a movie or even musical set. One of my experiences made me realize the importance of a RAM larger than the usual we would naturally have in a laptop. Trust me! I was bragging a 6 GB RAM laptop which I believed was averagely okay can copy 4k footage of over 200 GB into the laptop within a reasonable amount of time. It actually paused our shoot for over an hour. Why? Why should it take almost 1 hour 30 minutes to copy this?
A computer uses the RAM to store files and access them when needed in a short time, the more and heavier the programs and file you access or run, the more memory your computer will need to store and access such files as you work.
Having a project involving multiple shots and audio, especially handling 4K to 8K video quality, a bigger RAM is much needed to make the project doable and rendering in a shorter time. You need to take this into consideration, if you don’t want to use a entire day or more to render that documentary, movie or video you just made.
Graphics Card Quality
A graphic card is a hardware that produces the image on your monitor, converting the data to a signal that is understood by your monitor, hence presents the image on it. It contains thousands of processing cores that will help exporting your videos faster than a CPU can, since the better it is, the higher image quality displayed and better speed of reflection.
The best graphics cards suitable for video editing are the AMD Radeon RX 5700 for Apple Mac and for Windows devices, Nvidia Geforce RTX 2060 Super. With 8GB VRAM, memory bandwidth of 448GB/s, giving an excellent performance in running tasks.
Frankly, with a large storage and RAM and an excellent graphics card, you have earned the basics you need to run your video editing. Other attributes should be just a top system in screen size for better picture view, a colour quality system, with an optional card reader and multiple ports.
See also:
* Best Multipurpose Laptops of 2020
* Why Filmmakers still use expensive cameras when smartphones can shoot 4K
Movie makers desire 4k resolution for quality video. With even above that resolution used to achieve the highest quality pictures, like 8k resolution. While the standard of cinematic movies and feature films are 4k resolution, some films happen to still be shot with lesser resolution.
Nevertheless, the video quality, length of video, with several multiple shoots is put into consideration when editing a movie.
Below are some of the best laptops for video editing
Apple MacBook Pro (2019)
- Graphics card: ADM Radeon Pro 5300M-5500M
- RAM: 64 GB
- Storage: 8TB
- CPU: 6/8 – Core Intel Core i7 – i9
- Screen size: 16-nch, 3072 x 1920 IPS
- Thunderbolt3 available.
Cons
- No SD card slot
- Very expensive.
Acer Concept D7
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080
- RAM: 32 GB
- Storage: 1TB
- CPU: Hexa-core Intel Core-i7
- Display: 15.6 Inch and 3840 x 2160 IPS
- Thunderbolt3 available.
Cons
- No SD card reader slot
- Very expensive.
Razer Blade 15
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB
- CPU: Hexa-core Intel Core i7
- Display: 15.6 Inch and 3840 x 2160 OLED/LCD
- Thunderbolt3 available.
Because of its OLED display, the view of 4k images is unarguable top-notch.
Cons
- No SD card reader slot
- Very expensive.
Microsoft Surface Book 2
- Graphics card: Intel HD Graphics + optional Nvidia graphics up to GTX 1060
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 256 GB – 1 TB
- CPU: Dual-core Intel Core i5 – Quad-core Intel Core i7
- Display: 15.4 Inch and 3240 x 2160 IPS
- SD card reader available
Cons
- Thunderbolt3 not available
- Mild Expensive
HP ZBook Studio X360
- Graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro P2000
- RAM: 64 GB
- Storage: 2 TB
- CPU: Quad-core Intel Core i5 – octa-core Intel Core i9
- Display: 15.6 Inch and 3840 x 2160 IPS
- Thunderbolt3 available
- SD card reader available
Cons
- GPU not so great
- Very Expensive
Asus ROG Zephyrus G15
- Graphics card: GeForce RTX 2060
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 1 TB SSD
- CPU: Octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS
- Display: 15.6 Inch and 1920 x 1080
- Thunderbolt3 available
Cons
- SD card reader not available
Dell XPS 15
- Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
- RAM: 32 GB
- Storage: 2 TB SSD
- CPU: Octa-core Intel Core i9
- Display: 15.6-inch and 3840 x 2160
- Thunderbolt3 available
- SD card reader available
Cons
- GPU not so great
- Mild Expensive
- Poor Battery life
While the price range of the laptops here falls between $1000 – $2500 USD, do not be carried away that a lesser purchase won’t get the job done. The basic specifications needed is simply having a good Graphic card, a suitable RAM and storage, with a good processor. Many low priced laptops can still come with slightly above average or considerably good of such specifications.