Laptop predicament

[barefoot]

Hi, guys, I'm a current owner of an ageing Macbook Pro, and I'd like to upgrade to a new laptop that'll support editing work on the move. I'm a photographer by trade, but I'm planning to get into video work this year too. 

Option A 
Go the expensive route: 

USD 1900 | Macbook Pro 15.4" (Mid 2014 model)

2.5 GHz i7 (Crystalwell)
16GB RAM
512GB SSD 
NVIDIA GT 750M (2GB)

Option B 
Get a similar spec'ed Windows gaming laptop at half the price, spend the money saved on camera equipments (it comes with the fairly affordable option of upgrading RAMs and SSD too):

USD 1000 | Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition

Intel Core i7-4720HQ (2.6 GHz)
8 GB RAM
1 TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (4GB)

With the Macbook Pro, the downfall is the price and graphic card. Otherwise, it's a system I'm familiar with, and it has great battery life.

The Windows route is attractive as it saves me a lot of money, but I'm not sure how good the screen is on a gaming Windows laptop for colour (video and photography). And since I like editing on the move, an external monitor isn't an option. Am I overthinking it, would the PC screen (most of which are matte IPS) suffice? Is there a good USD 1000 Windows laptop alternative to a Macbook that you guys can recommend (keeping in mind the color coverage of the screen)?

[Don Kotlos]

The quality of the monitors varies a lot between different models. 

Matte screes are always preferred for color sensitive work such as grading. 

You can find tests on this site : http://www.notebookcheck.net/

There are quite few thin and light latops (Dell XPS 15, Asus g501jw, Gigabyte P34/35 v2/v3,...).

But if you insist on a latop I would suggest you look into workstation models such as the lenovo P50/P70, Dell M4800/M6800, HP Zbook 15/17 (dreamcolor). These are meant for heavy work and will not sound like a turbine while thermal throttling when you want to process a 4K video (Macbook inlcuded) . Plus they allow for much more RAM and expandable storage. 

About the prices you can always find very nice deals at ebay. 

[jonpais]

barefoot - I don't think these two laptops are similarly spec'd at all. You will need the 16GB RAM if you plan on doing serious video editing, and the 5400 RPM HDD in the Acer is way too slow. From what I've read, the screen on the Acer is dim and battery life is dismal. You can upgrade, but that would bring the price up to around $1,500 or more - not worth it, in my opinion. I still fail to understand why working professionals are ready to spend $3,000 or more on a camera body but skimp when it comes to the computer and storage. I'm sure you can buy the MacBook and still afford to buy more lenses if you're a working pro.

The quality of the monitors varies a lot between different models. 

Matte screes are always preferred for color sensitive work such as grading. 

You can find tests on this site : http://www.notebookcheck.net/

There are quite few thin and light latops (Dell XPS 15, Asus g501jw, Gigabyte P34/35 v2/v3,...).

But if you insist on a latop I would suggest you look into workstation models such as the lenovo P50/P70, Dell M4800/M6800, HP Zbook 15/17 (dreamcolor). These are meant for heavy work and will not sound like a turbine while thermal throttling when you want to process a 4K video (Macbook inlcuded) . Plus they allow for much more RAM and expandable storage. 

About the prices you can always find very nice deals at ebay. 

I didn't check prices for the other laptops, but the Lenovo P70 will run around $2,000, so the OP wouldn't be saving any money. The P70 weighs over 7.5 pounds, so it is hardly  'portable'. However, it appears to have quite good specs!

[Don Kotlos]

I didn't check prices for the other laptops, but the Lenovo P70 will run around $2,000, so the OP wouldn't be saving any money.

You don'the want to skimp when buying a computer for professional work  

Also the xps15 has the same specs as the macbook pro and can be had for less than $1000.

The P70 weighs over 7.5 pounds, so it is hardly  'portable'. However, it appears to have quite good specs!

Can't change physics: Thin & light laptops come with thermal throttling, worse gpu and little storage. 

[jonpais]

The Dell XPS weighs in at 11 pounds, or double the weight of the MacBook 15", and again, it is only $500 less than the MacBook. But yes, I think at $1,000 you get what you pay for, and Don's suggestions should point you in the right direction. You will regret buying a low-spec'd machine every time you boot it up: buy the very best you can afford.

[Don Kotlos]

The Dell XPS weighs in at 11 pounds, or double the weight of the MacBook 15",

Nope they are exactly the same. 4.4 pounds. 

and again, it is only $500 less than the MacBook.

$1000 less... 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/DELL-XPS-15-9530-I7-4712HQ-16GB-1TB-GT750M-WIN8-QHD-TOUCH-/321873987730?nav=SEARCH

 

[barefoot]

The quality of the monitors varies a lot between different models. 

Matte screes are always preferred for color sensitive work such as grading. 

You can find tests on this site : http://www.notebookcheck.net/

There are quite few thin and light latops (Dell XPS 15, Asus g501jw, Gigabyte P34/35 v2/v3,...).

But if you insist on a latop I would suggest you look into workstation models such as the lenovo P50/P70, Dell M4800/M6800, HP Zbook 15/17 (dreamcolor). These are meant for heavy work and will not sound like a turbine while thermal throttling when you want to process a 4K video (Macbook inlcuded) . Plus they allow for much more RAM and expandable storage. 

About the prices you can always find very nice deals at ebay. 

I had checked out that website: http://www.notebookcheck.net/The-Best-Notebook-Displays-As-Reviewed-By-Notebookcheck.120541.0.html

But I think I came off more confused. Since they rated the Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition within the top ten screens. My workload is primarily photography, with light video on the side. I'm sure eventually I'd get a desktop if there's a steady flow of video work. For now, gaming laptops like ASUS GL551JW (16gb ram, better graphic card than the Macbook's 750m) seemed a good compromise and alternative, price wise. The only worrying thing was the screen. If colour reproductions would be accurate enough on a $1000 laptop. I don't have much experience with the PC laptops. 

 

 

[Cinegain]

Throwing another player into the mix: http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/PE60-2QE.html .

[barefoot]

barefoot - I don't think these two laptops are similarly spec'd at all. You will need the 16GB RAM if you plan on doing serious video editing, and the 5400 RPM HDD in the Acer is way too slow. From what I've read, the screen on the Acer is dim and battery life is dismal. You can upgrade, but that would bring the price up to around $1,500 or more - not worth it, in my opinion. I still fail to understand why working professionals are ready to spend $3,000 or more on a camera body but skimp when it comes to the computer and storage. I'm sure you can buy the MacBook and still afford to buy more lenses if you're a working pro.

A lot of the $1000 gaming laptops seem to have the 16GB RAM, 7200RPM 1TB HDD, with a better graphic card than the Macbook's 750m option (which is definitely a plus), including the Acer and ASUS GL551JW. But I have read reviews of Acer's dim screen, too. That's the only thing that is missing: A better screen at that price point. I suppose I'm looking to see if anyone has positive experience with one of these laptops and the screens.

By the way, I haven't spent $3000 on a camera body yet. =) I still work with an old secondhand Canon 7D for photography (no complaints yet) and would rent cameras for video. But I'd definitely take your advice and get a real workhorse computer, when video work is plenty. 

Throwing another player into the mix: http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/PE60-2QE.html .

Looks promising. Claims to have close to 100% sRGB.

[jgharding]

Second hand Alienware PC laptop is a good option.

you can put three (!) HDD/SSD in the m14 for example: one msata SSD then the main system drive and replace the optical with a cradle for another.

so you can have an msata SSD for your caches, 1tb or 512SSD for system and 2TB for storage, plus 16GB RAM a fast GPU

good screens too!

[sandro]

I suggest waiting for skylake laptops that have HEVC support in hardware!

[barefoot]

Second hand Alienware PC laptop is a good option.

you can put three (!) HDD/SSD in the m14 for example: one msata SSD then the main system drive and replace the optical with a cradle for another.

so you can have an msata SSD for your caches, 1tb or 512SSD for system and 2TB for storage, plus 16GB RAM a fast GPU

good screens too!

I suggest waiting for skylake laptops that have HEVC support in hardware!

Alienware Skylake laptops seem to be out: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-15-r2/pd

I'll have a month to decide. Hopefully other companies will have something out by then, too.

[barefoot]

Hi, guys, I had long chat with Dell's customer service and I found out that their 4k panel actually covers 99% Adobe RGB, which I double checked with a few reviews and it seems true. 

According to one reviewer:

One note to graphics pros: yes the 4K display has an ideal 99% Adobe RGB color gamut, but be warned the saturation or color intensity is very high. It reminds me of a Samsung Super AMOLED phone display with much more intense colors than what you'd see in pro photo sRGB 100% coverage. This can make it difficult to judge photo and video saturation in production environments since everything looks more vivid than normal. For content producers, this is a challenge. For content consumers, it's lovely looking.

Does anyone have any experience dealing with this kind of color saturation when doing video editing and how I could possibly deal with it (if I do buy it)?

[DBounce]

Why not just get a Microsoft Surface Book?

[barefoot]

Why not just get a Microsoft Surface Book?

I am on a tight budget (trying to get an NX1, too). And I think a similar setup from Surface Book would run up to at least $1000 more (with glorious SSD). 

[Mat Mayer]

Microsoft haven't revealed what the graphics card is in the Surface Book. My guess is that it will be too weak and just 1GB or so, which is nowhere near enough for 4K video editing. My Macbook Air has 1.5GB GPU and has no chance of editing 4K, it does FHD slowly but fine. It will also cost around $3000 for the top spec Book model, which is too much for a machine that will barely,  if at all, be good enough. Their sales pitch was all about being the fastest and newest in the world at various things: they can't do that with graphics; so have conveniently decided to be vague about it. If they had said the GPU/keyboard could be swapped in future then it could be worth considering.

Next week there should be a new 21.5 inch iMac announced with 4K screen and (hopefully) good enough graphics card/s. Then next month the lenovo P50 and P70 laptops will be released (with UHD screens and awesome specs), just in case Apple under powers the iMac. I am probably going for an iMac as I love their screens so much and am happy to do no editing with the Macbook Air when on the move. These options will all be around $3k. There are certainly no laptops where I live available for $1k, even if there was the screen would surely be poor.

A friend who does weddings told me he just bought a PC for $7K+ yesterday, which makes me feel OK about the $3k options.

[barefoot]

Microsoft haven't revealed what the graphics card is in the Surface Book. My guess is that it will be too weak and just 1GB or so, which is nowhere near enough for 4K video editing. My Macbook Air has 1.5GB GPU and has no chance of editing 4K, it does FHD slowly but fine. It will also cost around $3000 for the top spec Book model, which is too much for a machine that will barely,  if at all, be good enough.

 

Yea, it's strange there isn't any information on the GPU, even on the page where you preorder it. If I had to guess, it's probably some variation of the 950M as the future Macbook Pro most likely will be. I'll most likely get a future iteration (or if the prices drop on this version), as it really seems to be the ultimate portable hybrid.

 

A friend who does weddings told me he just bought a PC for $7K+ yesterday, which makes me feel OK about the $3k options.

Definitely. I myself will most likely switch to a permanent system within a year (iMac perhaps, or a newer Surface Book). For now, I need something that will work well as a transitional system.

 

 

[DBounce]

Microsoft haven't revealed what the graphics card is in the Surface Book. My guess is that it will be too weak and just 1GB or so, which is nowhere near enough for 4K video editing. My Macbook Air has 1.5GB GPU and has no chance of editing 4K, it does FHD slowly but fine. It will also cost around $3000 for the top spec Book model, which is too much for a machine that will barely,  if at all, be good enough. Their sales pitch was all about being the fastest and newest in the world at various things: they can't do that with graphics; so have conveniently decided to be vague about it. If they had said the GPU/keyboard could be swapped in future then it could be worth considering.

Next week there should be a new 21.5 inch iMac announced with 4K screen and (hopefully) good enough graphics card/s. Then next month the lenovo P50 and P70 laptops will be released (with UHD screens and awesome specs), just in case Apple under powers the iMac. I am probably going for an iMac as I love their screens so much and am happy to do no editing with the Macbook Air when on the move. These options will all be around $3k. There are certainly no laptops where I live available for $1k, even if there was the screen would surely be poor.

A friend who does weddings told me he just bought a PC for $7K+ yesterday, which makes me feel OK about the $3k options.

You need to watch the presentation for the surface book. They are pushing it as perfect for editing 4k video. They transfer a 3gb file in like 4 seconds, then edit it in Adobe premiere pro. They showed it driving 3 4k screens at once. Plus it can handle 4k h.265 files without transcoding as it uses Skylake.

Microsoft claim it is twice as fast as the MacBook pro.

[Mat Mayer]

Interesting, will check it out now. Might be pretty cool editing with the pen on my lap, then use it like a tablet whilst it renders footage. Would still want a big monitor and the dock though, which will probably make it $4k ish. On the other hand it could replace my tablet and it is super light/thin for travel. Only other issue is the battery just lasts 3 hours when not connected to the keyboard.

[DBounce]

Interesting, will check it out now. Might be pretty cool editing with the pen on my lap, then use it like a tablet whilst it renders footage. Would still want a big monitor and the dock though, which will probably make it $4k ish. On the other hand it could replace my tablet and it is super light/thin for travel. Only other issue is the battery just lasts 3 hours when not connected to the keyboard.

I recently checked one out at a Microsoft store; it is build very well and is super light in tablet mode. Microsoft claims the screen is color accurate as they are aiming this device at photographers and videographers. The models on display are still prototypes and there were a couple driver related hickups, but these issues should be sorted by the official release.