Hello from Newbie and Best Budget Laptop for video editing and playback ?

[markallen5]

Hello from Mark in Wales,
Hi, I have just joined this forum in the hope that I can get some good advice on which Laptop, if any on my budget, is best for basic HD video editing and viewing.
My budget is around £250 but I don't mind buying a used machine. At present I have been trying to edit my videos, recorded on my Sony Hx400 camera on my old Dell Dimension PC with it's Intel(R) core (TM) 2pcu, using windows movie maker, but the video only plays in short bursts and the screen keeps going green !
I have to admit that I am not the sharpest pencil in the case when it come to matters of a computer nature.
Any advice would be most welcome,
Regards, Mark.

[redwudz]

I think you would be looking at a refurbished laptop for that amount of money. Amazon might be one place to look.
Or look to Dell or similar companies for refurbs.

If you don't need the portability, a desktop may be a better choice.
Low end laptops are usually limited by the CPU speed, which can be important for HD video work.

Laptops aren't easily upgradable, while desktops usually are.
Sometimes, the addition of a couple of internal hard drives and maybe a faster video card
can make a huge difference in workflow. And some editing programs may make better use
of limited CPU power.

But others here may come up with some better options.

And welcome to our forums.

[jagabo]

Laptops usually have inadequate cooling too. They will overheat when running at high CPU usage (video encoding) for prolonged periods. If you're lucky it will only throttle down to a lower CPU speed. If not, it will lockup or BSOD.

[ezcapper]

If you want desktop, I would go with Inspiron 3650 used at 230 pounds, it has newest generation intel core desktop processor:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Inspiron-3650-Core-i3-6100-3-70GHz-1TB-HDD-8GB-DVD-RW-W...4AAOSwLF1X9ret

if you can wait, intel will release a new generation of processors in January.

[markallen5]

Hi Again,
Thank you for all the replies to my question.
I had hoped I could find a laptop .As a musician, I often work away from home, staying in my 12 foot long caravan which I don't always have hooked up to mains electricity and I thought I could use a laptop both to edit my videos and use it to watch them , but maybe I will have to accept that I need a new PC , and wait until I get home before editing any videos and just find a laptop to take with me to watch them on.
Regards, Mark.

[smrpix]

I second Redwutz' suggestion of a refurb. Very happy with mine. Newegg is a good place to search as well.

[usually_quiet]

I second Redwutz' suggestion of a refurb. Very happy with mine. Newegg is a good place to search as well.

Newegg may not be the best place for someone living in the UK to shop. Newegg has a UK website now, but lots of the items listed there are shipped from other parts of the world. For example, I recommended a powered 3.5-inch HDD enclosure listed at Newegg's UK website to someone in the UK last year. When the shipping fees were calculated, it became clear that this item would be shipped from the USA.

[ezcapper]

For laptop at your budget, I would go with this one new:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acer-Aspire-15-6-Laptop-Intel-Core-i3-6100U-Dual-Core-Proces...oAAOSw4f5YCRMM

and learn how to use quicksync h264 for editing. Programs like Handbrake, Staxrip and OBS will have to be your friend. It's a tough price range to hit right now. I personally do not like that processor, but I think it's the best you can do.

It would be a good idea to look up on youtube lossless editing with Avidemux. This will keep your original file quality in a new mkv file and be easy for these slow laptops to do. I don't think you will have a problem with overheating or anything like that as long as you stay with lossless or quicksync h264 editing, both of which you can look up on youtube.