Best laptop for video editing

[davongs]

Hi

I need to be able to edit HD/AVCHD video using the software called Powerdirector 8. Could anyone advise on the best laptop to buy?

Without spending megabux, I'm finding it hard to determine which graphics card and CPU i can get away with - although the makers of Powerdirector give you an idea on their website.

Powermacs don't have memory on their graphics cards, so the laptop I am thinking of getting is the Asus N61JV-JX081V; at about £900 it seems to tick most of the boxes but the graphics card isn't one of the recommended ones.

The main thing for me is to run the software and do my editing without crashing or glitching. But long battery life would be good too, as would a blu-ray burner. Oh, and I don't really wanna go higher than £1,000!!!

I would be most grateful for any recommendations y'all may have!

Thanks

[davongs]

Thanks!!

[Lourdes]

The fastest i7+nVidia GPU you can afford really. If you get one with space for a second HDD then all the better.

[davongs]

Very many thanks, Lourdes.

I was thinking of an ASUS with 2-hdd and a Radeon® HD 5730 card - do you think it's wise to go with Radeon?

It's hard to find a good Nvidia card within my budget (£1100).

Cheers


Davongs

[Lourdes]

It's not that big a difference. More applications support CUDA than ATi's stream for GPU acceleration and the nVidia cards are also a bit quicker for this but not too dramatic.

[davongs]

Brilliant - thanks Lourdes!

[dirky]

Can the software do GPU rendering? if not push more money into the cpu power. I assume it needs to be a laptop for portability?

[davongs]

Hi dirky - thanks for the advice.

I'm not sure if the editing s/w can do gpu rendering. They have a specs page at http://www.cyberlink.com/products/po...nce_en_US.html

The laptop i'm considering is i7 with 4gb ram (Asus N61JQ-JX021V) at £1,050.

OR i'm thinking of a sony e-series (i5) with 4gb ram, since it has a bluray burner - all for £850.

Looking at the graphics card ratings on www.notebookcheck.net, it seems i can only afford a compatible radeon gpu - the only way to get a compatible Nvidia gpu is to spend £1600+ on an alienware machine!

i'd prefer nvidia as i trust their brand more - not sure if that's unfair bias, but from experience they do seem to work with more applications that radeon.

Hope to hear your views soon.

very many thanks


dan

[dirky]

Depending on how much of a rush you are in it might be worth keeping an eye out for an i7 Dell Studio XPS. Apparently they have started popping up on the outlet now, guy at work got one for ~600. Also consider screen size (and hence portability).