Administrator Marc Posted May 20, 2015 Administrator Share Posted May 20, 2015 Thought I would reach out to our techy types here for some laptop advice. I myself use Venom's Blackbook, but they're expensive and out of the budget for this application. My nephew (15) has just discovered YouTube and gaming walk-throughs. He's an exceptional gamer, really exceptional. He is autistic and I believe he has a very special view/perspective of these games. He's really keen to start doing his own walk-throughs. Trouble is, his 6-7 year old laptop is not cutting it for processing the videos he's capturing. So I've been contacted to best advise on what to buy, for a budget of $600 - $1000, which I appreciate is not a lot. Any advice on the minimum spec that might be needed for basic video editing, or a suggestion from the current brand name offerings would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Pity he's not in Sydney. In the process of moving I've tossed out about 10 desktop systems. He could have had one with a decent graphics card! (I know you said laptop but the half dozen of them I tossed out were older than his current one) Desktop will kill the laptop every time but I guess you want portability. I'll see what's around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted May 20, 2015 Author Administrator Share Posted May 20, 2015 I could build him a desktop on the cheap easily. Unfortunately it must be a laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 This is pretty good for the price............wrong end of the scale though. http://www.harveynorman.com.au/asus-f555ld-xx555h-laptop.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) Any advice on the minimum spec that might be needed for basic video editing, or a suggestion from the current brand name offerings would be greatly appreciated. Cheers. Brand is not that relevant, if you stick with the big names you be fine. There are always people saying to stay away from this brand, but eventually every brand will be mentioned. Ram and the processor influence how the computer will handle video editing. Slow ram and not so powerfull processor will stil get the job done, only slower. Ram is not a big concern when buying a laptop , as it is easily accessible, and easily replaced with better ram. As long as the laptop is compatible , for around $100 you can buy 2x4gb ram, making the laptop 8gb ram. (based on the assumption the laptop has originally 2x2 ram, if laptop has 1x4 ram, only 1x4 ram is need to get 8gb of ram) http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=186_929&products_id=26587&zenid=639b7127ba29f3f356e9945f13b84007 Hard drive is also not a big concern, as external hard drives are cheap too. So just look at the processor, and the video card. Buy the best within your budget , and done. For example, the following will do ; http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1538_1539&products_id=31397 Edited May 20, 2015 by Damhooligan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 SSD drive would be quicker too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 MSI are good bang for buck 'gaming laptops'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I have both laptop and desktop, the lappy is an i7 with 8gb ram a 1gb graphics card with a 1tb hdd, the desktop is an i5 with 2gb graphics, 8gb ram a120gb SSD and 1tb HDD and is way quicker than the laptop. THe only other difference is lappy has win 8.1 desktop has win 7. my point? desktop wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 the above is for new laptops. If you are not against buying second hand I can recommend a seller on ebay ; "redpc" http://stores.ebay.com.au/RedPConline He refurbs and sells laptops. I bought mine a year and a half ago, and it's stil up and running. Downside, it does not come with a warranty as you would get when buying new, but you can get 60% of the rrp. I bought a laptop worth 3k for only 1k. Linky to the model I currently got ; http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ASUS-LAMBORGHINI-VX7-GAMING-LAPTOP-16GB-RAM-GeForce-GTX-460M-i7-2630QM-/271863539591 The price varies a lot depending on how many people are bidding, but you can easily get a 30-40% discount, meaning you can get a really good specced laptop for a budget price. I found the seller easy to deal with , and he has a 30day return. Mayby something to consider ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 my point? desktop wins. Desktop always wins. No argument there, but marc has clearly mentioned it needs to be a laptop. So desktop is still out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 True Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 SSD drive would be quicker too. true, but will also drive the price up. If budget is important a ssd might not be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) 240Gb SSD drives are not expensive these days. edit, just checked on MSY website, can be had for under $120 Edited May 20, 2015 by Batty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 true, but will also drive the price up. If budget is important a ssd might not be needed. It's always a 'compromise'! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jventer Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) @@Marc I have a soft spot for people/kids with Ashbergers/Autism. Truth be told I think we should support them in their skills as they have the brains to take us forward. Graysonline always have some sort of auction on laptops, being refurbished etc. or being new at a discounted price. Online I have bought refurbished from the Apple shop and Dell. (I get a small discount buying from the Apple shop.) Now. I am willing to do donate $100 to a laptop for him. Marc let me know the details of where I can transfer funds. SNA members. if everyone donate say $5 - and Alistair matches us $1 for $ - SNA could make a massive conribution to a very nice machine! Edited May 20, 2015 by Jventer 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 240Gb SSD drives are not expensive these days. fair enough. I have a small experience fiddling with with laptops. But not yet had a chance to explore ssd drives. Are they easy to add to a laptop ?? And what requirements does a laptop need to run a ssd ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) they are just sata drives. A friend at work just swapped the drive in his atom powered notepad for an SSD, zooms along now. Edited May 20, 2015 by Batty 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 (edited) fair enough. I have a small experience fiddling with with laptops. But not yet had a chance to explore ssd drives. Are they easy to add to a laptop ?? And what requirements does a laptop need to run a ssd ? I added a SSD to my new lappy. Easy enough to fit, but not always easy to load OP system on, unless you have a fair idea of what you're doing. Edited May 20, 2015 by surfpurple 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 MSI are good bang for buck 'gaming laptops'! Yeah..........but I've found the ASUS build quality to be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Marc Posted May 20, 2015 Author Administrator Share Posted May 20, 2015 @@Marc I have a soft spot for people/kids with Ashbergers/Autism. Truth be told I think we should support them in their skills as they have the brains to take us forward. Graysonline always have some sort of auction on laptops, being refurbished etc. or being new at a discounted price. Online I have bought refurbished from the Apple shop and Dell. (I get a small discount buying from the Apple shop.) Now. I am willing to do donate $100 to a laptop for him. Alistair let me know the details of where I can transfer funds. SNA members. if everyone donate say $5 - and Alistair matches us $1 for $ - SNA could make a massive conribution to a very nice machine! I appreciate your very generous gesture @@Jventer - that's amazing. I'd love to buy him a super machine as I know it will be something that he ends up doing career wise. The budget is what it is however for now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 @@Marc I have a soft spot for people/kids with Ashbergers/Autism. Truth be told I think we should support them in their skills as they have the brains to take us forward. Graysonline always have some sort of auction on laptops, being refurbished etc. or being new at a discounted price. Online I have bought refurbished from the Apple shop and Dell. (I get a small discount buying from the Apple shop.) Now. I am willing to do donate $100 to a laptop for him. Alistair let me know the details of where I can transfer funds. SNA members. if everyone donate say $5 - and Alistair matches us $1 for $ - SNA could make a massive conribution to a very nice machine! Alistair has to sell that Fender first! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedom Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Yeah..........but I've found the ASUS build quality to be better. That was my old lappy. (ASUS). And excellent build, lasted me 7 years and still going strong.....except for a spilt Wild Turkey over the keyboards resulting in them sticking so I had to but an external keyboard. The other issues were the CD burner (I've virtually worn it out with hundreds of burns), and a dicky head out SFIDA socket, again from years of abuse! I paid a reasonable amount for it but I reckon it's more than paid for itself with the specd up hardware I got first up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damhooligan Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Must say, I'm also a proud owner of an asus. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fury Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Hey Marc, Check out Dell's factory outlet store online. Hitting the top end of your budget but there were 'as new' latest generation i7 laptops w/ 8gb and 1080p screen for $1049 last week when i was looking. Represents very good vfm if you ask me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LogicprObe Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Hey Marc, Check out Dell's factory outlet store online. Hitting the top end of your budget but there were 'as new' latest generation i7 laptops w/ 8gb and 1080p screen for $1049 last week when i was looking. Represents very good vfm if you ask me. The graphics processor will be the most important thing in this computer. What are they offering? From the link I posted ...................... Graphics Card Type GeForce GT 820M Graphics Card Memory 2GB Graphics Card Memory Type Dedicated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts