PCS Laptop for Photo and HD Vdeo Editing - for Christmas?

J

JayVee

Active member
Getting late now I know, but any thoughts on this spec?

I've separated it from its previous thread, so that can concentrate on an alternative desktop version.


Laptop for Photo and Video Editing

Chassis & Display
Vortex i7: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-620M (2.66GHz) 4MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
2GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 2GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 285M - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM -DirectX® 10.1
Memory - Hard Disk
250GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD2500BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
2nd Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE(£129)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 7 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/SD/Mini-SD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
4 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Bluetooth & Infrared Options
Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Firewire & Video Editing
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Carry Case
TARGUS XXL NOTEBOOK CASE TCC008EU (£46)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days

Price: £1,584.00 including VAT and delivery.


All advice gratefully appreciated - especially in view of the rapidly reducing timescale.

I'd also very much welcome feedback from anyone using a PCS Laptop in this way.
 
Phoenix

Phoenix

Prolific Poster
You need at least 4GB of RAM but apart from that it looks ok, it won't be anywhere near as powerful as the desktop alternative though.
 
J

JayVee

Active member
Has this one died the death then?

Has no-one used a PCS Laptop for mid-range Video Editing then?

If so, I'm amazed! And very disappointed.

I had hoped to hear for many satisfied enthusiasts in here, relating how satisfied they have been.

Have I posted this under the wrong heading, perhaps?
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Unfortunately I haven't been able to access the forums for several days, and therefore have only just noticed this thread now.

This laptop will be more than adequate for video editing, but it is designed more as a desktop replacement for gaming. Most customers who purchase this laptop will be using it primarily for gaming, not video editing.

However, here are some threads from other customers using the Vortex i7:

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?1570-My-new-Laptop&highlight=vortex

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?1102-New-Laptop-Dispatched-)&highlight=vortex
 
J

JayVee

Active member
...more than adequate for video editing?

Thanks PCS Superstar. Having not had much in the way of positive feedback in here on this Laptop spec. I have very disappointedly seen it die the death as it were and have reluctantly concentrated more on my Desktop alternative in:-
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?2535-Desktop-Laptop-for-Video-and-photo-editing

Your comment:-
PCS said:
...This laptop will be more than adequate for video editing, but it is designed more as a desktop replacement for gaming. Most customers who purchase this laptop will be using it primarily for gaming, not video editing...
Click to expand...
disturbed me a little. Do you see my above Laptop spec as being "too good" for HD Video and Photo Editing?

If so, in what way, and how could it be made more appropriate?

I have looked through the two Laptop Specs you gave links for, thanks. Neither of them seem to be wanting them for HD Video and Photo Editing though, and I'm afraid I don't have the expertise to evaluate the differences between them and my own.

If my Laptop spec is inappropriate, maybe my Desktop spec is too? Could you have a glance over it for and let me know please - ASAP if possible, since it has now been ordered.

Thanks
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Firstly, please do not be alarmed by my comments. Whilst I did say that the Vortex i7 is designed more as a desktop replacement for gaming than for video editing (which is true), I did not mean that it would not be suitable for video eidting also. However, most customers looking for high end laptops are more interested in playing games than editing photos.

I think the spec you've put together is a little under-balanced. You've select a great chassis, but not put a great deal of RAM in this, and given your (assumed) budget of £1.5k, you should be selecting the most powerful processor available to you. Here's a spec which I believe would be more suitable to your requirements, with the slightly faster i7-640M:

Chassis & Display
Optimus: 17.3" HD+ LED Backlit Widescreen (1600x900) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-640M (2.80GHz) 4MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLUE WD7500BPVT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8MB CACHE (5400 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Network Facilities
INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Bluetooth & Infrared Options
INTEGRATED BLUETOOTH ADAPTER (£6)
Battery
StyleNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (4,000 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,047.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimus/

I have checked your desktop PC on order as this looks very well balanced indeed. :)
 
J

JayVee

Active member
Thanks PCS. I'm now looking forward to my desktop, having decided to go that route.

The above Laptop spec looks interesting though. I would stay with a Blu-ray writer, and I would opt for adding a 120gb SSD as a primary HD too. With those changes it looks like a Laptop that I could have been tempted to go for :)

It would very useful to have such a spec as a reference build for a HD Video and Photo Editing Laptop, since there doesn't seem to be such an animal in your listings just now.

Thanks for your help.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Here's the revised spec with a Blu-ray writer and a 120GB SSD:

Chassis & Display
Optimus: 17.3" HD+ LED Backlit Widescreen (1600x900) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Mobile Processor i7-640M (2.80GHz) 4MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 425M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BD-5730S 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE(£119)
Network Facilities
INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD)
USB Options
3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Bluetooth & Infrared Options
INTEGRATED BLUETOOTH ADAPTER (£6)
Battery
StyleNote Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (4,000 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,260.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimus/
 
S

Sanjman

New member
I was browsing and find this thread. My 6 year old Pentium desktop is dying trying to edit HD camcorder movies and burn DVD's. It takes hours to convert a file, and then burn a dvd. The spec for the laptop looks great. What i am after is speed. Will this do it, or would something else be adequate?

I am not sure whether the desktop route is for me. I need portability.
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Sanjman said:
I was browsing and find this thread. My 6 year old Pentium desktop is dying trying to edit HD camcorder movies and burn DVD's. It takes hours to convert a file, and then burn a dvd. The spec for the laptop looks great. What i am after is speed. Will this do it, or would something else be adequate?

I am not sure whether the desktop route is for me. I need portability.
Click to expand...

Yes - I have created the above spec with the intention of photo/video editing. This laptop will butn CDs, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs.
 
S

Sanjman

New member
Thanks Super Star.
Can you give me an idea of how long the new spec would take to burn a) a DVD disc b) a blue ray disc?

And is the laptop at risk of overheating? What are the consequences, or preventative measures i should take?

Can i get HDMI output so i can link up to my HD TV?
 
Last edited:
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
No problem.

1. This is a subjective question - it depends on how much data you want to turn. It can burn discs at the following speeds:

24x (CD) / 8x (DVD) / 6x (BD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD±R DL) / 6x (BD-R) / 4x (BD-R DL) 10x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW) / 5x (DVD-RAM) / 2x (BD-RE) / 2x (BD-RE DL)

2. The laptop is not a risk of overheating - it's designed to handle the specification that it's fitted with, and dissipates heat out of the left-hand side rather than the bottom.

3. The Optimus laptop we're discussing come with a HDMI output by default.
 
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