Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum at DVinfo.net

Jeff Wisener · May 10th, 2011, 09:17 PM

I am in the market for a new lap top & since I do plan to do surfing video photography, need to edit on my lap top while on vacations. I do not want to be penny wise & pound foolish but would like to keep the price as low as is wise to do editing without regrets. I am really hoping to keep it under $800 or less if possible.

I have been running Vegas platinum 9 on my desk top & Neoscene/cineform & both have worked great thus do not plan to upgrade to Vegas pro. Typically my videos are from 5-15 mins in duration.

If you can recommend a specific lap top great! Video cards, processors, amount of ram would be helpful. Should I run 32 or 64 bit? I assume Windows 7 is no issue is it?

I really do not want to spend money & find out it does not do what I want it to do or spend too much on high end video cards or processors etc that I really do not need.

Thanks in advanced. You guys have always been really helpful!!!

Gerald Webb · May 11th, 2011, 04:00 AM

hey Jeff,
Something to think about,
i have a laptop that is a cpl of years old, toshiba 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4gb ram with 2 x500Gb drives.
It runs Vegas, After Effects, bit of 3d Max.
With Neoscene its all good for basic editing and a few FX,
If I try multicam, forget it (not that I would normally)
Something like this is cheap and about all you NEED when you're away from your desktop.

You could spend way more but TBH I cant see the point if you have your main PC at home.
When I get a new one it will prob be something like this..
MSI GT780R Gaming Laptop

but i like toys, lol.

Seth Bloombaum · May 11th, 2011, 10:24 AM

Setting an $800 ceiling is not a bad way to go.

Get the most advanced processor you can, with a minimum of 4GB ram, and yes, Win7 is great and so is 64-bit.

Vegas doesn't benefit (much) from advanced video cards. The exception is render to AVC, then, Vegas 10pro takes some advantage of some video cards. This is fairly new, and results have been uneven.

If you're a careful shopper, you'll be able to find a good i5 or i7 based "value" laptop for $800. These processors are very good for editing, and are what you want to spend the money on, as Vegas is very processor-dependent when it comes to preview quality and render speeds.

An internal second hard drive is de rigeur for desktop machines, but not as easy to get internally in a "value" laptop. External second drive is OK. A modern high-speed interface for external is nice, but many of us are OK with USB2 for casual work. Better would be USB3 or eSATA. Although not a best practice, when you gotta' edit off one drive, just do it and it will take longer and not preview as well, but it works!

Firewire is becoming way less common on laptops, but is worth looking for if: you work with tape like DV or HDV, or, you want to have an external audio interface for recording or playback.

The new cool stuff is USB3 on a laptop, and, if available, is something you should get, even if you don't use it today. It will be increasingly important for external connectivity of drives, interfaces, etc.

Jeff Wisener · May 11th, 2011, 11:12 AM

It appears I can get an i5 processor in the same price range as the older dual cores. Anyways, here is where I think I am heading (unless someone can tell me it is not the wisest choice):

*Most likely i5 processor unless I get lucky & get a great price on a better i7

4GB ram

500+ GB hard drive. I see many are running at 5400rpm. Is 7200rpm needed for editing?

I am still clueless on video processor

Andy Wilkinson · May 11th, 2011, 11:19 AM

For video I would definitely go for 7,200 rpm drive speed if your budget can afford it. Wherever possible having 2 drives is important for video work (even if one has to be a plug in external one). Media on one (the external) and OS and Vegas on the internal has worked well for me from past experience with Vegas Pro - and I'm pretty sure the same would be true even with Vegas Platinium.

Jeff Wisener · May 11th, 2011, 11:56 AM

Andy:

So far, the only lap tops I have come across with 7200rpm HD speed seem to be about $1400+ If you know one in my price range, let me know!

Andy Wilkinson · May 11th, 2011, 12:03 PM

OK, looks like you're going for 5,400 rpm then! It will work, it's just not going to be as zippy!

Ken Plotin · May 11th, 2011, 12:24 PM

What media are you shooting on? If it is a file based workflow (CF, SDHC, etc) you'll be ok with a card reader. If you're shooting on DV, you will need a way to get the video from the camera into your laptop...usually Firewire (1394).
"Newer" laptops have eliminated firewire ports, so you'll need an adaptor card to transfer the video.
Hope this helps.
Ken

Jeff Wisener · May 11th, 2011, 02:41 PM

SDHC, shooting with a Canon 7D. No adapter card needed, thanks!

Jeff Wisener · May 11th, 2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

OK, looks like you're going for 5,400 rpm then! It will work, it's just not going to be as zippy!

My goal is to keep the computer from freezing & hoping if I have to go with a 5400rpm, it will not do that. I am also worrying about video cards not be good enough as well but it appears guys on the forum claim it is not an issue.

Edward Troxel · May 12th, 2011, 06:44 AM

A 5400 will be fine. If you have a lot of disc access at once, it will be slower. But it will all still work fine.

The video card - when using Vegas - is really NOT an issue unless you plan to use the newer GPU rendering options. I've been editing on laptops for YEARS now.

Stan Harkleroad · May 12th, 2011, 04:54 PM

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749437-REG/Acer_LX_RCB02_010_Aspire_AS7741G_6426_17_3_Notebook.html
Here's the one I bought a while back. One of the USB ports on the right side of the machine died after 5 days and B&H replaced it quickly. Now I've had it for about a month and a half and no issues so far. I think it was just a fluke on the first one.

The only weird issue I've seen is that I leave a 2GB SD card plugged in using for the Ready Boost feature and occasionally the window will pop up as is it has just been inserted and Windows asks what you want to do.

I've seen the same issue one time with an external drive I had plugged in for a day or two. So far I haven't seen it happen again with an external drive.

Jeff Wisener · May 12th, 2011, 11:23 PM

For those interested, I was thinking of going with an i5 chip & 5400rpm HD etc then finally decided to just go higher end knowing I would have less problems/knowing upgrading after buying is not a good idea. The problem was lap tops around $700 seemed to all have 5400rpm HD's, i5 processors, & inferior video cards & then of course a lot of other things I was not happy about.

Here is what I got:

Dell XPS 17 ( (1920x1080) )
Core i7-2620M processor 2.70 GHz
6GB,DDR3,2 DIMM
NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M 1GB graphics with Optimus
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

Thanks for all of your help. It did help me decide & as I learned, became aware of why it was in my interests to pay more then I posted this thread.

PS: I have owned Dell's before but it seemed this time the buying process was more frustrating. Long story short it took me 5+ hours to get it ordered & was so frustrating I almost did not order it. I hope I do not have problems fearing Dell will be a nightmare to service the Lap Top.

May 10th, 2011, 09:17 PM	#1
Jeff Wisener Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oceanside Ca & Bali Indonesia Posts: 158	Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum I am in the market for a new lap top & since I do plan to do surfing video photography, need to edit on my lap top while on vacations. I do not want to be penny wise & pound foolish but would like to keep the price as low as is wise to do editing without regrets. I am really hoping to keep it under $800 or less if possible. I have been running Vegas platinum 9 on my desk top & Neoscene/cineform & both have worked great thus do not plan to upgrade to Vegas pro. Typically my videos are from 5-15 mins in duration. If you can recommend a specific lap top great! Video cards, processors, amount of ram would be helpful. Should I run 32 or 64 bit? I assume Windows 7 is no issue is it? I really do not want to spend money & find out it does not do what I want it to do or spend too much on high end video cards or processors etc that I really do not need. Thanks in advanced. You guys have always been really helpful!!!

May 11th, 2011, 04:00 AM	#2
Gerald Webb Trustee Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Central Coast Australia Posts: 1,046	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum hey Jeff, Something to think about, i have a laptop that is a cpl of years old, toshiba 2.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 4gb ram with 2 x500Gb drives. It runs Vegas, After Effects, bit of 3d Max. With Neoscene its all good for basic editing and a few FX, If I try multicam, forget it (not that I would normally) Something like this is cheap and about all you NEED when you're away from your desktop. You could spend way more but TBH I cant see the point if you have your main PC at home. When I get a new one it will prob be something like this.. MSI GT780R Gaming Laptop but i like toys, lol. __________________ http://vimeo.com/livewebvideo

May 11th, 2011, 10:24 AM	#3
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum Setting an $800 ceiling is not a bad way to go. Get the most advanced processor you can, with a minimum of 4GB ram, and yes, Win7 is great and so is 64-bit. Vegas doesn't benefit (much) from advanced video cards. The exception is render to AVC, then, Vegas 10pro takes some advantage of some video cards. This is fairly new, and results have been uneven. If you're a careful shopper, you'll be able to find a good i5 or i7 based "value" laptop for $800. These processors are very good for editing, and are what you want to spend the money on, as Vegas is very processor-dependent when it comes to preview quality and render speeds. An internal second hard drive is de rigeur for desktop machines, but not as easy to get internally in a "value" laptop. External second drive is OK. A modern high-speed interface for external is nice, but many of us are OK with USB2 for casual work. Better would be USB3 or eSATA. Although not a best practice, when you gotta' edit off one drive, just do it and it will take longer and not preview as well, but it works! Firewire is becoming way less common on laptops, but is worth looking for if: you work with tape like DV or HDV, or, you want to have an external audio interface for recording or playback. The new cool stuff is USB3 on a laptop, and, if available, is something you should get, even if you don't use it today. It will be increasingly important for external connectivity of drives, interfaces, etc. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

May 11th, 2011, 11:12 AM	#4
Jeff Wisener Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oceanside Ca & Bali Indonesia Posts: 158	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum It appears I can get an i5 processor in the same price range as the older dual cores. Anyways, here is where I think I am heading (unless someone can tell me it is not the wisest choice): *Most likely i5 processor unless I get lucky & get a great price on a better i7 4GB ram 500+ GB hard drive. I see many are running at 5400rpm. Is 7200rpm needed for editing? I am still clueless on video processor

May 11th, 2011, 11:19 AM	#5
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum For video I would definitely go for 7,200 rpm drive speed if your budget can afford it. Wherever possible having 2 drives is important for video work (even if one has to be a plug in external one). Media on one (the external) and OS and Vegas on the internal has worked well for me from past experience with Vegas Pro - and I'm pretty sure the same would be true even with Vegas Platinium. __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

May 11th, 2011, 11:56 AM	#6
Jeff Wisener Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oceanside Ca & Bali Indonesia Posts: 158	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum Andy: So far, the only lap tops I have come across with 7200rpm HD speed seem to be about $1400+ If you know one in my price range, let me know!

May 11th, 2011, 12:03 PM	#7
Andy Wilkinson Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Cambridge UK Posts: 2,853	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum OK, looks like you're going for 5,400 rpm then! It will work, it's just not going to be as zippy! __________________ Andy K Wilkinson - https://www.shootingimage.co.uk Cambridge (UK) Corporate Video Production

May 11th, 2011, 12:24 PM	#8
Ken Plotin Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 254	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum What media are you shooting on? If it is a file based workflow (CF, SDHC, etc) you'll be ok with a card reader. If you're shooting on DV, you will need a way to get the video from the camera into your laptop...usually Firewire (1394). "Newer" laptops have eliminated firewire ports, so you'll need an adaptor card to transfer the video. Hope this helps. Ken

May 11th, 2011, 02:41 PM	#9
Jeff Wisener Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oceanside Ca & Bali Indonesia Posts: 158	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum SDHC, shooting with a Canon 7D. No adapter card needed, thanks!

May 12th, 2011, 06:44 AM	#11
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum A 5400 will be fine. If you have a lot of disc access at once, it will be slower. But it will all still work fine. The video card - when using Vegas - is really NOT an issue unless you plan to use the newer GPU rendering options. I've been editing on laptops for YEARS now. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

May 12th, 2011, 04:54 PM	#12
Stan Harkleroad Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Gautier, MS Posts: 175	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/749437-REG/Acer_LX_RCB02_010_Aspire_AS7741G_6426_17_3_Notebook.html Here's the one I bought a while back. One of the USB ports on the right side of the machine died after 5 days and B&H replaced it quickly. Now I've had it for about a month and a half and no issues so far. I think it was just a fluke on the first one. The only weird issue I've seen is that I leave a 2GB SD card plugged in using for the Ready Boost feature and occasionally the window will pop up as is it has just been inserted and Windows asks what you want to do. I've seen the same issue one time with an external drive I had plugged in for a day or two. So far I haven't seen it happen again with an external drive.

May 12th, 2011, 11:23 PM	#13
Jeff Wisener Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Oceanside Ca & Bali Indonesia Posts: 158	Re: Recommendations for Lap Top Specs to run Vegas Platinum For those interested, I was thinking of going with an i5 chip & 5400rpm HD etc then finally decided to just go higher end knowing I would have less problems/knowing upgrading after buying is not a good idea. The problem was lap tops around $700 seemed to all have 5400rpm HD's, i5 processors, & inferior video cards & then of course a lot of other things I was not happy about. Here is what I got: Dell XPS 17 ( (1920x1080) ) Core i7-2620M processor 2.70 GHz 6GB,DDR3,2 DIMM NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M 1GB graphics with Optimus 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive Thanks for all of your help. It did help me decide & as I learned, became aware of why it was in my interests to pay more then I posted this thread. PS: I have owned Dell's before but it seemed this time the buying process was more frustrating. Long story short it took me 5+ hours to get it ordered & was so frustrating I almost did not order it. I hope I do not have problems fearing Dell will be a nightmare to service the Lap Top.