Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? at DVinfo.net

Bill Edmunds · August 12th, 2011, 10:15 AM

I might be looking at a PC laptop to run Premiere on (for location editing). My budget is $1100. It is borderline impossible to find one that fits Adobe's requirements, especially the firewire port, 7200rpm HD, Intel Core 2 Duo, etc. What are you using?

Adam Gold · August 12th, 2011, 11:48 AM

A desktop.

Seriously. There are very few laptops that will give you any joy running Premiere, especially if you plan to edit AVCHD. Especially at that price point.

Fast, good, cheap. Pick any two.

If you're not capturing from or exporting to tape you probably don't need FW, but that doesn't change much. A core 2 Duo chip will leave you crying these days.

Lots of existing threads on this in this forum: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/non-linear-editing-pc/. Even if you ignore all my posts the general consensus is you need at least an i7 chip with Premiere. And a couple of HDDs. And a couple Grand.

Bill Edmunds · August 12th, 2011, 11:59 AM

Really? Currently I'm running FCP on a Macbook that I bought for $1100 and it is screamingly fast and reliable. I thought a PC at that price point could surely duplicate that reliability with Premiere (?).

Anyways, I just read that the Intel Core i-series work as well, so I can drop the whole Core Duo thing.

But even with an i7 processor and 6 gig RAM, you're saying that Premiere won't do well with a sub-$1100 laptop?

BTW, I'll be editing DVCPro HD.

Adam Gold · August 12th, 2011, 12:00 PM

Actually, if you do a search right in this forum on "laptop" there's a thread that recommends a Dell in your price range:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-cr...ware-m11x.html

No one said anything about reliability, only speed. And remember, I'm the only guy here who isn't trying to sell you on Premiere. I love it and wouldn't switch for anything, but I'll be the first to tell you it's a huge program and a notorious resource hog.

DVCPro HD is a different compression scheme than AVCHD and thus won't be as big a burden on your processor so less worries there. But laptops are inherently less powerful for the same $$ as a desktop.

There are also several threads on this issue here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/search.php?searchid=4700643 if you do a search on "laptop."

Brian Tori · August 12th, 2011, 01:29 PM

This system should work well with Premiere and fit within your budget. Also, it has a graphics card that will allow you to enable hardware MPE in Premiere for realtime effects. It seems like an incredible value for what you get.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/789580-REG/Acer_LX_RCF02_139_AS5750G_9463_Notebook_Computer.html

Randall Leong · August 12th, 2011, 07:05 PM

Except for the screen. The built-in screen has a resolution of only 1366x768 - but Premiere Pro can only display properly on a display whose vertical resolution is 900 pixels or higher. With a vertical resolution of only 768 pixels, part of the work area will be cut off with no way at all whatsoever to display that area. Therefore, an external stationary monitor of 1600x900 or 1920x1080 resolution is required if you're going to run Premiere Pro with that laptop.

Robert Young · August 12th, 2011, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam Gold

...but I'll be the first to tell you it's a huge program and a notorious resource hog.

Amen...
In my experience, it seems like the minimum system for PPro 5.x to edit AVCHD and run stable, smooth, & fast is:
Intel i7, 8-12GB RAM, 7200RPM media drive, MPE compatable nVidea CUDA GPU.
There are laptops that will provide these specs, but they are more in the $2K+ range

Charles W. Hull · August 13th, 2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randall Leong

Except for the screen. The built-in screen has a resolution of only 1366x768 - but Premiere Pro can only display properly on a display whose vertical resolution is 900 pixels or higher. With a vertical resolution of only 768 pixels, part of the work area will be cut off with no way at all whatsoever to display that area. Therefore, an external stationary monitor of 1600x900 or 1920x1080 resolution is required if you're going to run Premiere Pro with that laptop.

Randall, I don't think this is right. My Alienware laptop has a 1366x768 screen, and Premier Pro arranges itself so all of the work area can be displayed. You may need sliders to get to some things but it's all there. I run CS5.5 - don't know if there was a work area problem with previous versions. Chuck

Andre Bernet · August 14th, 2011, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randall Leong

Premiere Pro can only display properly on a display whose vertical resolution is 900 pixels or higher. With a vertical resolution of only 768 pixels, part of the work area will be cut off with no way at all whatsoever to display that area.

I've been using Premiere on 1280x720 and 1366x768 screens for quite some time and never had an interface problem.

Last year I bought an HP dv8-1190ez for editing, 1.6GHz quad-core i7, 6GB RAM, and it's perfectly fine. Ran for about $1700 one year ago, so you should find something very decent now for $1100. I also have a Macbook Air with a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo and 4GB RAM (running Windows) which isn't at all a machine that's made for this, but I've already done a couple of "emergency" video work on it and it's useable. Not convenient, but useable.

August 12th, 2011, 10:15 AM	#1
Bill Edmunds Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Conway, NH Posts: 574	Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? I might be looking at a PC laptop to run Premiere on (for location editing). My budget is $1100. It is borderline impossible to find one that fits Adobe's requirements, especially the firewire port, 7200rpm HD, Intel Core 2 Duo, etc. What are you using?

August 12th, 2011, 11:48 AM	#2
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Re: Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? A desktop. Seriously. There are very few laptops that will give you any joy running Premiere, especially if you plan to edit AVCHD. Especially at that price point. Fast, good, cheap. Pick any two. If you're not capturing from or exporting to tape you probably don't need FW, but that doesn't change much. A core 2 Duo chip will leave you crying these days. Lots of existing threads on this in this forum: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/non-linear-editing-pc/. Even if you ignore all my posts the general consensus is you need at least an i7 chip with Premiere. And a couple of HDDs. And a couple Grand. __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

August 12th, 2011, 11:59 AM	#3
Bill Edmunds Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Conway, NH Posts: 574	Re: Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? Really? Currently I'm running FCP on a Macbook that I bought for $1100 and it is screamingly fast and reliable. I thought a PC at that price point could surely duplicate that reliability with Premiere (?). Anyways, I just read that the Intel Core i-series work as well, so I can drop the whole Core Duo thing. But even with an i7 processor and 6 gig RAM, you're saying that Premiere won't do well with a sub-$1100 laptop? BTW, I'll be editing DVCPro HD.

August 12th, 2011, 12:00 PM	#4
Adam Gold Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Woodinville, WA USA Posts: 3,467	Re: Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? Actually, if you do a search right in this forum on "laptop" there's a thread that recommends a Dell in your price range: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/adobe-cr...ware-m11x.html No one said anything about reliability, only speed. And remember, I'm the only guy here who isn't trying to sell you on Premiere. I love it and wouldn't switch for anything, but I'll be the first to tell you it's a huge program and a notorious resource hog. DVCPro HD is a different compression scheme than AVCHD and thus won't be as big a burden on your processor so less worries there. But laptops are inherently less powerful for the same $$ as a desktop. There are also several threads on this issue here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/search.php?searchid=4700643 if you do a search on "laptop." __________________ "It can only be attributable to human error... This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

August 12th, 2011, 01:29 PM	#5
Brian Tori Major Player Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Detroit, MI Posts: 408	Re: Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? This system should work well with Premiere and fit within your budget. Also, it has a graphics card that will allow you to enable hardware MPE in Premiere for realtime effects. It seems like an incredible value for what you get. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/789580-REG/Acer_LX_RCF02_139_AS5750G_9463_Notebook_Computer.html

August 12th, 2011, 07:05 PM	#6
Randall Leong Major Player Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Melrose Park, Illinois, USA Posts: 936	Re: Can anyone recommend a PC laptop for Premiere? Except for the screen. The built-in screen has a resolution of only 1366x768 - but Premiere Pro can only display properly on a display whose vertical resolution is 900 pixels or higher. With a vertical resolution of only 768 pixels, part of the work area will be cut off with no way at all whatsoever to display that area. Therefore, an external stationary monitor of 1600x900 or 1920x1080 resolution is required if you're going to run Premiere Pro with that laptop.