Laptop Recommendations?

L

Lee87

Member
I'm looking at buying a laptop but I'm feeling a little out of my depth with regards to specs. It will be used for gaming but also for 4K video editing and sound recording/production; my budget is £1500-£2000. I was considering the Vortex IX but a review I read had me a bit concerned about the volume of the fan noise, and I'm just generally unsure about the specs. I'm also due for some spinal surgery in the near future and a review on one of the older models mentioned they are particularly heavy, though this might have changed with the new models, but ideally I'd like whatever I buy to be on the lighter side since I'm advised not to lift anything heavier than 5lbs for 6 weeks. They are being overly cautious with that advice but if the laptop weighs closer to 10lbs then it might be a genuine problem.

Aside from that I couldn't decide on a graphics card, specifically whether the Geforce RTX 2070 was worth the quite large price jump over the RTX 2060. I've also had conflicting advice on RAM, with some people saying 32GB is complete overkill and others saying it'll be a requirement for editing 4k videos. I was mainly considering the Vortex IX because I couldn't find many other laptops at PC Specialist with 4k screens, but I might be barking up the wrong tree. Any advice on models or specs would be appreciated.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Vortex is a branding by PCS. But it covers different kinds of laptops and desktops too.

The 17.3" Vortex was a giant beast, more powerful than most desktops, sporting 2 GPUs and needing 2 power bricks to feed it. It + the power adapters weighed a metric shedload.

But, the 15.6" Vortex is a more conventional laptop. If you go into one of the laptop configurators, and click the "Detailed Specification" tab at the top, it tells you about the laptop's size and weight. For the 15.6" Vortex, this is:

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT:
Dimensions (w x d x h) 359mm x 258mm x 29.9mm
Weight 2.5KG

There are some lighter laptops in this class, but that's pretty typical. (plus a single power adapter of course)

This is apparently 5.5lbs for the laptop itself. But you then have the adapter + whatever else you need on your person, so I guess you won't be carrying it all together while recovering. A wheeled case could be an option if you need to transport it all together while restricted in what you can pick up at once.

If you want to edit 4k videos, you need fairly powerful hardware. This hardware produces heat, which needs to be gotten rid of. So typically the more powerful the hardware, the larger the laptop, due to the cooling solution (heatpipes and fans) needed. If you get a very thin and light laptop, the chances are it will be less powerful by a long way, or will melt.

For 4k video editing, 32gb RAM would be recommended, as far as I know.

Whether a 2070 is worth the jump over a 2060 depends on your workloads and whether the extra GPU horsepower will make a difference - and of course, what that extra performance is worth to you in £, which is ultimately subjective.

If you need a 4k screen to view your 4k footage at native res, then the 15.6" Vortex is your best option. If a 4k screen isn't essential as you will be working with external monitors most of the time anyway, the Recoil has similar hardware and is lighter, and has typically managed temps well.
 
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