Anyone buy a PC laptop lately?

[Bartman]

Been struggling with a crashing laptop lately and am probably going to buy a new PC based one today. Has anyone been shopping the market lately? What's the minimum needed to run smooth HD video? Who's got the best displays these days? It's been about five years since buying my current Dell so I'm clueless! My desktop is an iMac and I can't see being without a PC when most of our software relies on Windows.

Anyone want to weigh in?

 

[15crewdawg]

If you are going to do any video editing or running full HD video, you will want a machine with a dedicated video card (GeForce type) not the onboard (usually called HD something video). And stay away from the "switchable video" which uses a onboard video and a dedicated video card. They work, to a point, but are not desirable for anything more than watching youtube.
I would recommend a Dell XPS at the least. The Inspiron line is their low-end and are basically throw-away level now. It pretty much depends on your budget.

 

[Bartman]

that's good info, thanks!

 

[DucktileMedia]

Here's my answer to PC laptops!

 

[MombasaFlash]

I have one small ASUS piece of crap that was bought to take into the field for parameter changing instead of my 17" Macbook Pro. But, the Macbook Pro and two iMacs ALL have Parallels with Windoze XP and I use them in preference when setting up or configuring with MK Tool, Picloc Toolz, CARVEC, DJI Wookong, GH2 Hacks .... well everything PC ... and I never suffer from com ports not being recognised or known and previously connected dongles suddenly not working - unless I use the ASUS.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to what I think.

By the way, whilst you are here Bart. Why can I not edit a listing (two actually) in the For Sale section? I made a small error and cannot change it because the EDIT button doesn't show.

 

[Droider]

Bart just stop ****ing around with winDOWZ and go mac. It will also run winDOWZ for your requirements either via Parallels or Bootcamp the later being my choice.

FCPX is great for us guys although the Pros may disagree. All my stuff is done on either my iMac or MacBookPro www.vimeo.com/aerialvue.

I just got an iPad for filling in flight ops records with signatures and pre made forms that can be sent to the HS departments at the tap of the screen.. no brainier.

I just finished a three week assignment with the Natural History Unit of the BBC and guess what.... yup from the Grips to the Commissioner all had macs in various guises!

Dave

 

[multirotorxy8]

Throwing my hat in on Mac as well. I run mk tool through VMware fusion within the Mac OS, so no need to even use bootcamp. Also run the Martinez GUI as well as the alexmos through windows 7 via fusion with no issue. Now that I am running everything adobe, I could really go pc, but for my needs the MacBook Pro is still killing it.

 

[PeterLester]

You will find that the Hero GoPro3 Black will record videos in HD resolutions well beyond what most computers can handle.
That means you will need at least two computers....
1) a high performance desktop for video editing and
2) a lower video resolution Notebook PC to take with you to the field.

IMHO - It is likely cheaper to get one of each than to buy one size fits all gaming Notebook PC that will run hot and eat up battery power too quickly.

For video editing I would recommend a MacPro with a very high resolution video monitor and video card. 1920 x 1080 falls far too short now.

My son and I buy parts from Memory Express and make our own gaming PCs that can keep up with the Hero GoPro3 Black. I really like the ASUS PC products.......

BTW - My son's gaming computer also serves to heat the entire upper floor of our house...... must keep all windows and doors open...... it is getting ridiculous..... must charge he for the extra electrical utility costs now!!!!

 

[Bartman]

i've got a 27" imac that i use at home and i'm chasing a good deal on a 2012 macbook pro with a few installed software items that might make it worth doing. not a retina display, 2.2 ghz quad core processor, 15", maybe 1gb video card and SSD hard drive.

still trying to work out a deal but I need something right away.

bart

 

[DucktileMedia]

I use a mbp 13" i5 and it runs everything fine except for things like rendering. But for viewing and being portable its been flawless. You can find these for %700-800. You dont need a retina display.

 

[Bartman]

the retina display is a moot point here since it's not available from the guy I'm talking to. the one we're discussing is an i7 and it already has the adobe creative suite on it so that alone is worth the money i think.

 

[Droider]

the retina display is a moot point here since it's not available from the guy I'm talking to. the one we're discussing is an i7 and it already has the adobe creative suite on it so that alone is worth the money i think.

That depends if the title of the CS is being handed over to you. If it aint then the next time you click upgrade it will crash and you wont be able yo use it again as your computer wont be a registered authorised unit!
Dave

 

[Bartman]

Here's my answer to PC laptops!

can't do it, i had that song in my head for two weeks last time i watched it!

 

[15crewdawg]

Hmmm. MAC or PC?
Here's the big question. How much do you want to spend?
Dell XPS 15
I7 3.2GHz (Boosted), 12GB of 1600MHz RAM, 1080p true-life display, 750GB HDD, Dedicated NVidia GeForce w/2GB memory, and tech support that comes to you. - $1500
or upgrade to 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD - $2000
Plus you can increase the warranty up to 4 years and get accidental damage which will cover the system from just about anything.
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-15-l521x/pd

MACBook Pro 15
I7 3.4GHz (Boosted), 8GB 1600MHz RAM, Retina display, 256GB SSD, Switching video - Intel HD Graphics 4000/NVidia GeForce w/1GB memory, and tech support where you take it to them. - $2000
or upgrade to 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD - $2800
Plus you have to buy all software updates.
http://store.apple.com/us/mac/family/macbook-pro

As for Adobe, if you don't want to spend the full price they now are offering Creative Cloud for $50 a month for the annual plan. But they also offer different plans at different rates.
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativecloud.html?promoid=JQPEQ

BTW, a gaming machine would not be the way to go. (Alienware) Those are tweaked and over-clocked for gaming performance.

 

[Bartman]

thanks for the info crewdawg. that's a pretty good summary of what I'm looking at although I thought the Dell would be more. I might have a good used Mac lined up with software for under $2000, we'll see.

bart

 

[15crewdawg]

Yeah, most people don't look close enough to see what the real deal is. Apple computers have always been several hundred more for somewhat similar systems.
And the battery life argument is also moot. My XPS 15 lasts for around 6-7 hours depending on what I am doing.
Also, I can open my laptop up and change hardware if I feel the need. Not so with a MAC.

 

[tstrike]

View attachment 13502
a simple memory upgrade went really strange for me, I'll stick to my macbook for everything except invoicing and rc related programming and those duties go to a cheap HP winbook. Don't need to worry about a juggernaut of an editing machine.

 

[jfro]

I configured, consulted, built, and installed mac editing system for years and they worked fine if your willing to spend the money up front.

However, today, I don't think it matters much. Apple abandoned the pro market with fcp and many went to Premier and other programs which run on PC's and Mac's. IMO, they are more a consumer based phone and ipad company than a computer company these days.

I sold my mac laptop couple years ago and am happy as can be. I was running win 7 on it most of the time anyway. I now run Vegas Pro and Adobe Production studio 5.5 on a base HP i7 laptop. I installed a 480gb SSD drive so it boots in 15 seconds which is fine. It's slower at editing than my workstation, but it edits anything I can record when I'm traveling. Plays back anything I can capture from my Black Magic camera, 5D mark II and hacked GH2's and GH3.

$800 range when on sale for black friday and back to school deals. Just got to be vigilant and watch the sales. A base system with hdmi & esata would work for me at the under $1000 price point.

 

[15crewdawg]

Yep. It all depends on what you want and how much you are willing to spend.
It still stands that if you do any serious editing, or anything that needs real horse-power, you still need a decent workstation. Mobile systems just can't get there.

I think you are dead on jfro. Apple is now a consumption device only company. Their computer lineup has been shrinking for the past several years and looks to be on a path to disappear completely over the next few.


Something I forgot to mention in the price comparison; The XPS system comes with an internal DVD burner at no extra charge. And you can upgrade that to a BLU-Ray player if you wish. In case you feel the need to install software from a disk or maybe watch a movie. It also has a VGA port, a HDMI port, a mini display port, 3 USB 3 ports, a SD card reader, and a RJ-45 network port. Just in case you want to connect something to your computer.
Apple has removed all optical drives from their machines. Instead you have to purchase an external "SuperDrive" for an additional charge if you want that ability.
Along with the remaining slew of adapters and cables that are available for purchase if you need to actually connect something to a MAC that doesn't use a thunderbolt connection. All sold separately.

 

[rotorvista]

i use a toshiba gosmio great pc laptop and runs my editing software no problem http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/qosmio/x870