Laptop for editing ...

deabur

Active member
Hi All,

Happy new year :)

I am in the process of sourcing a new laptop which will mainly used for editing films in HD. My camera is a Sony EX1 (XDCAM EX FULL HD) however I may now be changing that (Canon XF305?) I am coming from a MAC background using Final Cut Pro however I now wish to move to Windows OS as I have been tempted by ADOBE CS5.5 or Edius

Please have a look at my initial specs and tell me what you think? I am not very 'tech' minded so plain brain English please :winkiss:

Specs for Laptop:

Chassis & Display Optimus II: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM) 4GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 2GB)
Graphics Card nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - 1st Hard Disk 750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE
(7200 rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£79)
Memory Card Reader Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6230 (300Mbps) +
BLUETOOTH
USB Options 4 PORT USB 2.0 EXTERNAL HUB + STANDARD USB PORTS
Battery Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)
Power Lead & Adaptor 1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Office Software Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (1 License Product Key Card) (£82)
Anti-Virus BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard & Mouse INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Mouse INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM


I will be using External 1TB HDD's for storage/back up so I hope the one HDD will suffice?

I also will be editing off 2 ext screens so will my Laptop be okay???

Thanks in advance for any help and Idea's

Dean
 
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Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Looks good, you may want more RAM though and I wouldn't get the 16oomhz stuff, it is a lot more for little performance, in fact you won't notice the performance increase. Other than that ot looks solid, that HDD is a very good one. Finally, I am not sure whether your laptop will take 2 screens, definately one. Someone else will have to check this for me though! Also, have you considered the 17.3" version, I think it is only about £20 more.
 

deabur

Active member
Cheers Music Guy...

I have changed some specs:

17.3" matte screen

Memory: 8GB Samsung 1333hz 2x4GB

Graphics: Gforce GT555M 2GB

120GB Kingston Hyperx SSD 6GBs 555 Mbs

What are opinions on SSD vs 750GB WD Scorpio Black 7500 as I'm a newbie and in two minds???

Cheers

Dean
 

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Ssd = fast but slightly unreliable and a little expensive per gb.

Hdd= slow (although that is a fast drive) but more reliable and a lot cheaper per gb.

I would recommend getting an SSD as a boot and primary drive then choose a secondry hdd over the odd. Get the 750gb Scorpio black. Then get an external odd. That would be my recommendation, otherwise, it looks like a very solid spec, enjoy it!
 

deabur

Active member
Thanks again

Will look at the Ext ODD option...

I have also read about SDD's being unreliable!? Do you think it would be wiser having The Scorpio Black as the Main and maybe another HDD as second ?

Dean
 

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Unless it is for space, the Scorpio black should be fine on it's own. For SSDs, they can be unreliable. The Kingston ones are pretty reliable and there have been very few problems with them. The intel ones are very reliable, I haven't hears of any problems with them but there probably have been one or two. The OCZ ones are pretty unreliable that is why pcs stopped stocking them. SSDs are really personnal opinion, I love them but some people don't.
 

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Err, I really wouldn't do that! Sorry TheKeir! Firstly for the cpu, I would definately go for the quad core, especially for media editing, well worth it! Also future proofs the laptop a little more. I agree with getting the bigger screen size if you can afford it, i'd recommend getting the matt screen. RAM, don't get the 1600mhz stuff, no point, it is a lot more for virtually no performance increase, I even think it is clocked at 1333mhz but maybe wrong. You can get the 540 but if you are going to be gaming, get the 555. The 2GB on the 540 could help with additional screens. Definately get the thermal paste, worth more than the £9. don't get a soundcard, spend the money somewhere else. We have already talked about the SSD drive, your choice! I'd get it and get an external odd but others would disagree.
 

TheKeir

Bright Spark
I'm afraid I'm not too knowledgeable of video editing :/ sorry! Its just that in the little experience that I have had of video editing, a dual core was fine. Ignore what I posted!!!

*Edit: I've deleted the post to avoid confusion for the OP :)
 

deabur

Active member
One more concern that hopefully someone can advise me on please... I have read that the Optimus laptops have Audio problems as in the Speakers are underneath the unit ... If so would it be worth installing a 5.1 soundcard and using my old Creative soundblastyer 5.1 speaker set up ... Or just headphones ???

Oh sorry one other does or can the Optimus 2 come with HDMI out for connecting to my Sony Bravia for editing

Dean
 

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
The optimus does come with hdmi out. It probably would be worth installing a 5.1 sound card if you have a 5.1 setup. however, you could just put a 2 channel sound into your 5.1 setup and it will be fine. Headphones will be fine as well.
 

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
Try out the sound as it is,if your not happy with it
you could then purchase the 5.1 sound card.
 

deabur

Active member
Sorry but I have just noticed a thread on the 'Laptop' section concerning the colour Space (gamut) on the 17" being lower than the 95% of the 15" screen I think it said it was about 75% ... Is this a major problem ??? I'm not really worried about screen size as I will be outputting to my Sony for space but the Colour representation is pretty important

Dean
 

deabur

Active member
My New Set up option ... Views please


Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£69)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 130MB/sW)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ADVANCED-N 6230 (300Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
4 PORT USB 2.0 EXTERNAL HUB + STANDARD USB PORTS

Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)

Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£89)


Its about £1265 ...

Dean
 

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Nice, a couple of things, if you can afford to lose Bluetooth, upgrade the wifi card one notch. I would definately upgrade the ssd to a sata 3 one, the Kingston one will be fine. Finally do you really need win professional? Otherwise looks like a solid spec, enjoy it!
 

deabur

Active member
Nice, a couple of things, if you can afford to lose Bluetooth, upgrade the wifi card one notch. I would definately upgrade the ssd to a sata 3 one, the Kingston one will be fine. Finally do you really need win professional? Otherwise looks like a solid spec, enjoy it!

Damn it!!! time for a re think lol ... The Intel ssd is a sata 3? I;ll change to Windows Premium 64bit
 
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deabur

Active member
Thats the thing coming from a MAC background I have no knowledge of decent Windows OS ... I was told 64bit was useless by some and a 'must' by others... And the Pro version was the way to go???

Dean
 
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