Looking for a new Laptop computer

[Macinfo]

I would highly recommend that you watch this video from one of my favorites teachers- Colin Smith of Photoshop Cafe. Essentially, he makes a point that now, because Apple has started to make it's own chips (the M1 chip) instead of using Intel chip technology, that they are amazingly fast and powerful without any heat generated. Watch this 14 minute video. Actually, Colin Smith advises NOT to buy the Apple Mac Book Pro 13 inch now because it is a first generation chip and there will most certainly be improvements within the year in all MAC products including the iMAC, and Mac Book Pro 13 inch. I certainly intend to follow his advise.

Dale
Miami

There will be improvements, how fast they arrive is another question.. Still even the 1st generation M1 is very fast and as Developers improve their software, the performance of editing tools is likely to improve even more..

There are always people that advise to wait, and then the next gen comes out and they go, wait for the next one, it might be or will be better... If one goes for the M1 Mac Mini, and not the M1 Based laptops, your initial outlay for the step up is minimal, as there are some good deals popping up now.. And then When the M2 or whatever it maybe called comes out perhaps later in 2021 in an iMac or other laptop models, your Mini will still be worth the cost of entry..

 

[Dale D]

I'm still using a 2010 iMac and a 2013 MacBook Pro. The iMac is limited to High Sierra but I'm still running the newest Catalina on the MacBook (waiting a little on Big Sur until the kinks get ironed out). They do last longer than most Windows machines. I just added SSDs to both of them and they run fine. I also use Macs for work as I'm in graphics and imaging instead of number crunching...

I cannot rave enough about MAC computers! I was a long time Dell PC user- and my computer support guy was at miy house about 6 times a year. With the PC it was always something! Once I switched to a MAC I would never go back to the hell of a PC operating system. The MAC is geared toward creativity. It is intuitive. It is trouble free. It is made for photography and video! It is the creator's dream! I was so happy with the MAC Book Pro 13" inch ,I bought the desk size 27 inch iMAC with retina screen. What a gorgeous piece of technology. I do most editing on the the more powerful iMAC and cannot wait to trade in my 2020 Mac Book Pro for a M1 chip endowed faster laptop.

 

[Northern_Ranger]

My old desk top computer is giving it up. I'm looking at getting a new Laptop and would appreciate any suggestions on brand, CPU, RAM and storage capacity needed I've got over 300 GB of photos and video now and do some video editing from time to time.

Thanks

This is the one I use and it's awesome.

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-P65-Creator-1084-Ultra-Thin-i7-9750H/dp/B07TN4C5VZ#:~:text=5%20stars%20276-,MSI%20P65%20Creator%2D1084%2015.6%22%204K%20UHD%20Display%2C%20Ultra,Glacier%20SSD%2C%20Win10PRO%2C%20VR%20Ready

 

[arcticfrost]

My old desk top computer is giving it up. I'm looking at getting a new Laptop and would appreciate any suggestions on brand, CPU, RAM and storage capacity needed I've got over 300 GB of photos and video now and do some video editing from time to time.

Thanks

What do you or will you use to edit? Moviemaker, iMovie, Adobe premier, Final Cut Pro, Davinci Resolve?

What footage are you editing? 1080? 4K? 8k?

Editing just for fun? YouTube? Company videos?

Seems like a 16gb RAM, i7, and a 1TB SSD drive is the minimum now.

 

[terradriller]

So I was all set to get the MacBook Pro with the M1 chip 8 gb RAM 512 gb ssd$1,499, very highly rated by Consumer Reports.
Also very highly rated Samsung Book Flex with Intel I-7 processor, 12gb RAM, 512 gb, several USB ports, USB-C port and a built in mini card reader for $999 @ Best Buy.
In the end i bought the Samsung.. for the difference in the money it was hard to pass up. Great graphics, very light weight, touch screen and 360 convertible.
Thanks again for all your input

 

[John Gowland]

I did not wait. I got a MacBook Air fully specked out.
I made the two videos, yesterday.

And it was a breeze, an absolute pleasure.
Why? Three years ago, I bought a specked out MBP and I struggle to render large 4K videos especially in the height of summer. Yesterday when I rendered those videos, I could not have done it with my MBP, it reached 40c outside and I do not have an a/c unit. Not even with two fans underneath the machine and two pedestal fans on me and the MBP, it would have taken an age and would have just stalled with overheating. I also have a fast 5700 XT eGPU on the MBP.
I did not time it, but it was around about 3 times as fast. No overheating and no throttling.
I made the right choice. Why the Air? Because for me it is the most elegant, light and so many aesthetic and practical reasons. I think the MBA M1 is the best laptop, no, best computer ever made. I do a lot of traveling, only in Western Australia at the moment.
But imagine all that gear with the MBP as opposed to a tiny little rocket machine on my lap?
For me it is a no brainer.
Even at the entry level you will have no problems with the MBA M1.

 

[Sayen_CroWolf]

My old desk top computer is giving it up. I'm looking at getting a new Laptop and would appreciate any suggestions on brand, CPU, RAM and storage capacity needed I've got over 300 GB of photos and video now and do some video editing from time to time.

Thanks

I have two as I work both in iOS and Windows. I have a Macbook and MS Surface Pro X, both fully loaded. For me, the Pro X is better with Adobe, but the downside on this one (for now) is Adobe hasn't caught their software up to working on ARM processors so what I do have is in beta. It's all supposed to be final downloads next month.

 

[KJack91986]

You have plenty of recommendations now for a replacement PC, so I won’t add to that. What I would encourage you to consider is investing in a couple of external hard drives, each in the range of 4+ TB. Use one as a primary data store and the 2nd as a backup. This approach gives you better flexibility by not being tied to a specific pc -and- a good way to guard against data loss. External drives are now available as “wireless” devices, so I’m thinking it’s likely you can access and display the data on them directly to your Smart TV.

 

[AeroMoPho]

So is it a big deal to transfer from my Dell desktop to a Apple laptop computer? My USB ports are dead so I would have to have someone do the transfer

Macs are great, I used to be a Mac guy. But I guess I am a rare ex-Mac person who has removed myself from their ecosystem. I did this because I am trying to simplify life and be engaged in electronic ecosystems and stuff at my business is all windows/google/android. As for laptop, I purchased a dell vostro 7500 at beginning of year and it is a true beast with video editing (using adobe premiere elements 2021). For last few years I had been using a macbook pro (mid 2015) with an upgraded samsung 1Tb ssd. It was great, but I sold it for about $550 on craigslist and bought the dell laptop on sale for about $999. I think this laptop blows away that 5 year old classic macbook pro when dealing with anything video. I love it. Vostro 15 Inch 7000 Small Business Laptop with 10th Gen Intel® | Dell USA

 

[mrcurlywhirly]

You have plenty of recommendations now for a replacement PC, so I won’t add to that. What I would encourage you to consider is investing in a couple of external hard drives, each in the range of 4+ TB. Use one as a primary data store and the 2nd as a backup. This approach gives you better flexibility by not being tied to a specific pc -and- a good way to guard against data loss. External drives are now available as “wireless” devices, so I’m thinking it’s likely you can access and display the data on them directly to your Smart TV.

This is great advice, and often neglected. I suggest anybody serious about retaining, securing, or serving up their data purchases a NAS, there are many cost effective off the shelf units out there now, or if you have an old desktop with RAID capability you could run freenas or similar on it. I use a 4 bay Synology NAS and three 4 TB USB drives as the NAS backup, each gets a rolling monthly backup from the NAS. The laptop query is covered to some extent, though I would add a few things: #1 - Check user forums before purchasing. There are many options available in Windows, Mac (or other such as Linux..) systems providing they will run the software you want to use, and you have not committed too much to one OS specific software. There are two major issues that tend to be glossed over in most hardware reviews, coil whine and poor cooling. The former is prevalent due to component level cost cutting, and whether it impacts you depends on the hardware you choose, and how sensitive you are. The cooling issues are the downside of the fashion for ultra slim, and tend to negate hardware specifications, as thermal control will step the CPU frequency down significantly. As far as longevity is concerned, I have one Windows laptop (XPS1330) circa 2007, heavily updated running WIN10 now and still very usable, it has been thrashed mercilessly for the past10 years, though user mileage always varies. The main governing factor on how long they will last is software and interfaces, if you have an old IDE based system, or a desktop pre USB, it may run with an old OS - but with limited use, mainly as a curio. BTW - Nobody can predict whether WINxx or IOSxx will have a minimum hardware spec that precludes the use of your new hardware 5-10 years from now. Its not actually possible to fully upgrade much of the eqipment on the market, even batteries require hardware disassembly, and many laptops have soldered RAM. Good luck!