Quote I'm thinking my chromebook may not be an effective tool for editing videos. Perhaps a windows 10 machine would be better. But would a low priced laptop work as long as it had sufficient storage?

Appreciate any recommendations, thank you.

Ian

You also need a good processor and a good graphics processor. Perhaps the old Windows Video program would be better for you.

Look at the minumum specs and DO NOT go less than those preformance specs. Look here.

welcome back.

you didn't tell us how much you're willing to spend...
you have to do some homework. after stevek's link go here Notebook Check.net Tech Cpu List . on the right side of the web page is the Top 10 lists. Top 10 under 300$/E, 500$/E, 1000$/E, etc.

pick the one you want and come back to us and we'll further guides you.
ebay, Amazon got good used workstation laptops might fit your purpose and or budget...

if you have $1000+ then iYAAOSw-ghcIrda:rk:2:pf:0" target="_new" rel="nofollow">eBay Dell G5 15 5587 I7-8750H 16GB GTX 1060 6GB . this is what i wanted for Christmas but i guess i was a bad boy... ^^

my laptop is 7+ years old and desktop is 4+ years old...

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

For Christmas, I wanted a Gopro 7 black. But realizing with no good way to edit the videos it might be best I didn't get one yet.

I have started a little research when looking at laptops, I google: Is (processor) good for editing videos?

I'm looking at laptops with 8 gb ram but if 4 gb will work okay and a hundred or two cheaper I might go that route. But I do greatly appreciate guidance.

My budget is low, I was looking at a $130 laptop and just hoping it could edit videos even if it wasn't the greatest. But now thinking maybe I should spend more for a better performing machine. I can't do a thousand. I hope to find something $300 or lower but might go up to $500 if it made a great difference.

I found this one on amazon with two criteria, 8gb ram and intel core i7 processor: https://www.amazon.com/d/Traditional-Laptops/Acer-Aspire-Performance-15-6-Processor/B074TXHFX4/

Thoughts? Would the i5 processor and 4gb ram work as well?

Quote ... I found this one on amazon with two criteria, 8gb ram and intel core i7 processor: https://www.amazon.com/d/Traditional-Laptops/Acer-Aspire-Performance-15-6-Processor/B074TXHFX4/ ...

this Acer will make you go bald because you'll be pulling your own hair out. it is so slow that a slug will win any race...

too little RAM like 4GB will lock the computer up during heavy rendering.
recommend 16GB RAM. by the way this is my recommendations for a decent PC for video creation.

CPUcpubenchmark score ≥10000 for 1920x1080 FHD & 3840x2160 4K.
memory - ≥16GB RAM 2666MHz
GPU - ≥2GB VRAM; speed check it out at cpubenchmark ≥5000. ex. (GTX 1050Ti 2GB)
Best NVMe M.2 SSD -> https://www.pcgamer.com/best-nvme-ssds/ ≥ 500GB
Best SATA III SSD ->https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-ssd-for-gaming/ ≥ 500GB
HDD -> ≥7200RPM 128MB cache 6G SATA III 1TB or bigger
* Power Supply -> ≥450W

higher the CPU & GPU numbers less pain and higher the wattage means a hole in your wallet.
you will feel it especially if you're running under w10... ^^

found this on eBay Dell Precision M4800 i7-4900MQ 2.8 8/16/32GB 500GB SSHD/480GB 15.6" K2100M 5266 . little bit more and a lot faster than the Acer.

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garabge in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

Quote For Christmas, I wanted a Gopro 7 black. But realizing with no good way to edit the videos it might be best I didn't get one yet.
...
I found this one on amazon with two criteria, 8gb ram and intel core i7 processor: https://www.amazon.com/d/Traditional-Laptops/Acer-Aspire-Performance-15-6-Processor/B074TXHFX4/

Thoughts? Would the i5 processor and 4gb ram work as well?

If you're going to be working with 4k60p clips (like from a GoPro 7), you're going to have a frustrating editing experience with any inexpensive laptop.

As a comparison, this chart shows the CPU from the Amazon laptop you linked to vs. the 5-year-old desktop CPU I just upgraded from. My old CPU really struggled with 4k clips, and it's far more powerful than the one in the Amazon machine. If you go forward, an i7 is far better than an i5, and I'd prioritize that over everything else, although 8GB would be my 2nd highest priority.

With a limited budget, I think you'd probably be better off getting the camera and using the phone app for basic editing. Maybe later on you can save a little more and get a more powerful machine. The GoPro 7 can record in AVC/H.264 or HEVC/H.265, and you'd want to record in the first one because it's easier to work with if you don't have a powerful computer.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

I started editing video on a Dell Inspiron 3558 which had just 4gb of RAM and I was using the Shotcut freebie software. It was an absolute nightmare. Constant lockups and crashes! I bought 4gb of RAM off of Amazon ($30) bringing my total RAM to 8gb and it made a tremendous difference. Then I broke down and bought PD17 and that was again a huge difference. I'm still using that trusty old Dell and rendering is "go grab yourself some lunch" slow but there are no lockups and actual editing with PD is quite satisfactory.

Bottom line, though, is do NOT go below 8gb of RAM. That has got to be the bare minimum. If you don't take joy in the snow you'll have less joy in your life and the same amount of snow.

Based on the info I can understand so far, I found this sale: https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/107004/HP-Pavilion-Laptop-156-Screen-Intel/ and it looks like a really good deal for the price.

Please give your thoughts as if this is a good choice I am truly considering getting it and would like to purchase before the deal is gone.

Thank you!
Ian

Quote Based on the info I can understand so far, I found this sale: https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/107004/HP-Pavilion-Laptop-156-Screen-Intel/ and it looks like a really good deal for the price.

Please give your thoughts as if this is a good choice I am truly considering getting it and would like to purchase before the deal is gone.

Thank you!
Ian

This is a better laptop for editing. The i7-7500 CPU is 2x the power of the other laptop, it has 8GB of memory and it's on sale for a good price.

You will be able to work with and produce HD clips pretty easily, but for 4k clips you'll probably need to use shadow files (search the forum more more details on that).

The laptop should work great with all other software, so I think you'll only see it struggle for gaming and working directly with 4k clips. As long as you can be patient when creating shadow files and when producing, you'll have a good editing experience. Nice job on finding this HP!

Quote

This is a better laptop for editing. The i7-7500 CPU is 2x the power of the other laptop, it has 8GB of memory and it's on sale for a good price.

You will be able to work with and produce HD clips pretty easily, but for 4k clips you'll probably need to use shadow files (search the forum more more details on that).

The laptop should work great with all other software, so I think you'll only see it struggle for gaming and working directly with 4k clips. As long as you can be patient when creating shadow files and when producing, you'll have a good editing experience. Nice job on finding this HP!

Well, it looks to good to be true. Only available to buy on-line and pick up in store, but no stores have it available. And I looked it up on other sites like walmart (had it for $317) and Amazon and they are both out of stock.

I will keep looking.

Right now I'm only looking at laptops with i7 processors. Are there any other processors that would be acceptable to consider?

Thoughts on this laptop please? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-2-in-1-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-2tb-hard-drive-sandblasted-matte-black-aluminum/6077505.p?skuId=6077505

It would cost but might be worth it?

happy new year everyone. ^^

both your picks doesn't have any discrete video cards(gpu).

instead of Asus little more will get you the Dell which is a lot faster and comes with discrete gpu, GTX1060 6GB.
Dell will handle 4K with ease.

bestbuy asus i7-8550U benchmark 8313+ intel uhd 620 iGpu benchmark 1023= $823.99

dell i7-8750H benchmark 12448+ gtx1060 6GB Gpu benchmark 9046= $1084.99

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garabge in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

Quote happy new year everyone. ^^

both your picks doesn't have any discrete video cards(gpu).

instead of Asus little more will get you the Dell which is a lot faster and comes with discrete gpu, GTX1060 6GB.
Dell will handle 4K with ease.

bestbuy asus i7-8550U benchmark 8313+ intel uhd 620 iGpu benchmark 1023= $823.99

dell i7-8750H benchmark 12448+ gtx1060 6GB Gpu benchmark 9046= $1084.99

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garabge in garbage out'

Thank you for the info, please tell me the difference the gpu card makes? Is it very noticeable? Thank you

yes, it's noticeable. i am going to use Hankster65 expressions on the minimum RAM for the video rendering for your 4K projects 'It was an absolute nightmare. Constant lockups and crashes! ...

i forgot that i7-8750H comes with faster iGpu intel uhd 630.
dell i7-8750H benchmark 12448+ intel uhd 630 iGpu benchmark 1179+ gtx1060 6GB Gpu benchmark 9046= $1084.99

it is ultimately your decision which way you want to go and live with it. here's some past articles...
Hardware advice
7 hours to render 40 minute hd video, is this normal???
How much difference does a Core i7 make compared to a Core-i3?
Lagging computer while editing
Is it worth buying a new GPU to reduce render times in PowerDirector?
New PC for video editing; advice sought.
Upgrading my PC to edit 4K...

last one has links to Jeff's technical expertise on Hardware Acceleration and iGpu + Gpu usage in Powerdirector.

happy happy joy joy

PepsiMan
'garbage in garbage out' 'no bridge too far'

Yashica Electro 8 LD-6 Super 8mm
Asrock TaiChi X470, AMD R7 2700X, W7P 64, MSI GTX1060 6GB, Corsair 16GB/RAM
Dell XPS L702X i7-2860QM, W7P / W10P 64, Intel HD3000/nVidia GT 550M 1GB, Micron 16GB/RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note3/NX1

I was asking about "both your picks doesn't have any discrete video cards(gpu)." I am not sure what this means. Does it mean my picks are good, or bad?

I am looking at computers with only i7 processors.

Quote I was asking about "both your picks doesn't have any discrete video cards(gpu)." I am not sure what this means. Does it mean my picks are good, or bad?

I am looking at computers with only i7 processors.

I know this discussion has gotten pretty technical, and that's because the details of each machine matter a great deal. A GPU is a Graphics Processing Unit, and it's much more powerful at working with video than the main CPU (like an i7), which is why PepsiMan is pointing you to laptops that have a "discrete" (separate) GPU.

I realize that you're on a budget, and finding a machine that you can afford AND that will let you work with 4k videos smoothly is a really big challenge. This isn't about how good your video will look (there's no difference in the quality of the final product), but how easy or difficult it will be to do the editing, and also how long it will take to produce the video when you're finished.

It's hard for most of us experienced members to recommend anything that we know will struggle with 4k video, so we strongly recommend components that have the right amount of capabilities. Unfortunately the more powerful (and capable) things are, the more they cost.

You're the only person who knows how much you can comfortably afford, and you started hoping that a $130 laptop was going to work and now you're looking at $800+. That Best Buy ASUS would be clearly better than the HP laptop, but it's also $450 more.

Try this. Take a look at the Best Buy site and search for cheap i7 laptops.

That search is limited to under $500, but you may want to expand it as many of the listed items are no longer available. Be sure to keep the 7th and 8th gen boxes checked because you want a new i7 version, especially if you don't get a laptop with a discrete GPU (usually an nVidia GT or GTX xxxxM chip). Try entering your zip code or choose the nearest store as that might get you better results.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°

Have you considered a refurbed laptop? You may save several hundred dollars depending on your choice, and still get a reasonable warranty. HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Quote

I know this discussion has gotten pretty technical, and that's because the details of each machine matter a great deal. A GPU is a Graphics Processing Unit, and it's much more powerful at working with video than the main CPU (like an i7), which is why PepsiMan is pointing you to laptops that have a "discrete" (separate) GPU.

I realize that you're on a budget, and finding a machine that you can afford AND that will let you work with 4k videos smoothly is a really big challenge. This isn't about how good your video will look (there's no difference in the quality of the final product), but how easy or difficult it will be to do the editing, and also how long it will take to produce the video when you're finished.

It's hard for most of us experienced members to recommend anything that we know will struggle with 4k video, so we strongly recommend components that have the right amount of capabilities. Unfortunately the more powerful (and capable) things are, the more they cost.

You're the only person who knows how much you can comfortably afford, and you started hoping that a $130 laptop was going to work and now you're looking at $800+. That Best Buy ASUS would be clearly better than the HP laptop, but it's also $450 more.

Try this. Take a look at the Best Buy site and search for cheap i7 laptops.

That search is limited to under $500, but you may want to expand it as many of the listed items are no longer available. Be sure to keep the 7th and 8th gen boxes checked because you want a new i7 version, especially if you don't get a laptop with a discrete GPU (usually an nVidia GT or GTX xxxxM chip). Try entering your zip code or choose the nearest store as that might get you better results.

So when looking at gpu specs, what should I look for and what should I stay away from?

So when looking at gpu specs, what should I look for and what should I stay away from?

It's going to get really technical again

Ideally, this nVidia product matrix would have all the info you'd need to make that decision. I'd say make sure there is a YES in the first H.264 column (at a minimum) and (ideally, also) in the first H.265 column and you'll be in good shape.

Unfortunately, the laptop/mobile versions (which end in M or MX) are not even listed there. Looking at nVidia's mobile GPU page lists all of their models, but even digging deeply into the spec pages will only list whether that chip has an H.264 DEcoder, and has no info at all on whether it can ENcode H.264 or decode/encode H.265.

The best list I could find after lots of searching was this page, where #3 near the bottom of the page lists all of the nVidia laptop GPUs that support the 2 main video encoders. Make sure you get a laptop with one of these if you want to use it for editing and producing video.

Believe it or not, some people swear they would never edit video without a powerful GPU, and some people don't even bother and rely solely on the CPU (or with an i7, the built-in iGPU) - so there's a wwwwiiiiidddddeeee range of opinions here.

About the only thing I can say is that it's always going to cost more to have a discrete GPU, and almost all of the mobile chips are there for gamers, with us video editors mostly an afterthought unless we're willing to pay for the most powerful mobile chips. For anyone on a budget, I refer back to my earlier post where I believe that getting a new i7 is the most important thing. I will now also make 8GB my min recommended RAM.

Other people may have different opinions, but we're all trying to give you enough info to make an informed decision.

YouTube/optodata

DS365 | Win11 Pro | Ryzen 9 3950X | RTX 4070 Ti | 32GB RAM | 10TB SSDs | 5K+4K HDR monitors

Canon Vixia GX10 (4K 60p) | HF G30 (HD 60p) | Yi Action+ 4K | 360Fly 4K 360°