Best Laptops For Video Editing

It’s the classic dilemma. Whether you just started out on your editing journey, you’re upgrading your NLE, or you need a replacement for your wheezing and rattling i3 processor computer (it’s ok, sometimes you need to let things go), you need to make sure your next computer matches your NLE’s minimum system requirements. In this article, you will find out what those system requirements are, and which laptops would make an excellent fit in terms of specs and price.

What Specs Will You Need for Video Editing?

In this article, we won’t discuss Mac computers or Final Cut Pro X. That’s a topic for another article. So, let’s discuss the PC system requirements that’ll let you run Adobe Premiere Pro, CyberLink PowerDirector 365, Pinnacle Studio, Corel Video Studio Ultimate, and Blackmagic’s Da Vinci Resolve.

Let’s assume you’ll want to edit 4K high-quality stock footage. The key factors that will influence your purchase are processing power, screen size and resolution, and storage space. You’ll want at least an i7 processor running on Windows 10 with a minimum of 16 GB RAM (though 32 GB RAM would be recommended for 4K and higher), and 4GB of GPU (AMD or NVIDIA). You’ll also need a minimum of 256 GB of available space on your hard disk (preferably SSD). Screen size is not a dealbreaker, per se, but you don’t want to be squinting at a 13-inch screen.

These are the recommendations for a 4K workflow. You could potentially run Premiere Pro or similar NLEs on a 6^th generation Intel processor, 8GB of RAM, and 2 GB of GPU. But, as a former shoestring freelance editor, I can tell you that working with the absolute minimum requirements will ultimately cost you much more money than what you will save on your computer purchase. You’ll spend hours staring at your rendering bar, instead of taking on more projects.

Let’s look at 3 laptops around the 2000 USD mark that will run your video editing software like a breeze.

Dell XPS 17 9710

Dell’s XPS 17 9710 is a robust and beautiful workhorse. It has one of the best CPUs in its category and you can expand the memory to up to 4000GB SSD (from 512) and 64 GB RAM (from 16). This laptop has the largest display of the three recommendations in this list, with 17 inches.

Asus Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED (UX582)

Asus will give you a bit more bang for your buck. This laptop runs on an equally good CPU but offers more and better features for the same price point as the Dell XPS 17 9170. You can increase your SSD hard drive memory to 8000GB, but your RAM is expandable to a “mere” 48GB. The display is 15.6 inches (OLED).

Razer Blade 14 (mid-2021)

The brand new Razer Blade 14 gaming laptop runs on a very powerful AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, while the other two contenders sport an Intel Core i7 or i9 processor. All three have an NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics card. The Razer Blade 14 comes with a non-expandable 1000GB SSD drive and 16GB RAM. The display is quite small at 14 inches. Because of the small screen and non-expandable RAM, this laptop model gets third place in our list.

I hope this quick roundup on PC system requirements for video editing will help you make an educated decision. Good luck and happy editing!