new laptop

DJ T-BONE · Feb 28, 2012

ok i am looking to upgrade my laptop.. i am moving towards into video mixing, and my current lappy is already outdated. i am a dell guy buy open for suggestions. i went to the dell website and built one and here are the specs.is this a good one for video mixing? what do you all use?
XPS 15 XPS 15
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Processor 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM processor (2.40 GHz, with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz)
Memory 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
Keyboard Standard Keyboard - English
LCD 15.6 in HD WLED TL (1366x768) with Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam
Video Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
Hard Drive 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Color Elemental Silver Aluminum
Integrated Network Adapter Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
CD ROM/DVD ROM 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
Sound JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3
Wireless Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000

steve149 · Feb 28, 2012

One option is to build one of their business laptops .. I got an Latitude for less than the equivalent Inspiron model with better features. Also, for video, I would go with the HD display (1920x1080) as well at the GT 540 card .. big difference.

Hank Davidson · Feb 28, 2012

If you're going to work with large video files, I would look into a quad processor. Perhaps look at some of the gaming laptops or like Steve says, have one built to specs.

DJ T-BONE · Feb 29, 2012

so instead of an 17 or 15 . i should get a quad core?

steve149 · Feb 29, 2012

There are dual-core and quad-core i7s (all i5s are dual-core if I recall). So look at the specs. Quad core is nice for heavy video as you can run multiple processes a little faster. If you are just playing and mixing video, the laptop will be great. If you are editing video, I would opt for a desktop, as the processors are faster still and you can get better graphics and more memory for the same price.

DJ T-BONE · Mar 1, 2012

yes I will only be plaging videos and mixing that's about it

Scott Hanna · Mar 1, 2012

Hank Davidson said:
If you're going to work with large video files, I would look into a quad processor. Perhaps look at some of the gaming laptops or like Steve says, have one built to specs.

According to Wikipedia at least, it says the processor listed in the OP is quad core

I7 processors

DJ T-BONE · Mar 1, 2012

how about this one?

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-RAI-LBS11-LIST

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

Dual-core and pricey for what you get.

DJ T-BONE · Mar 1, 2012

ok i just went to dell and did another customized lappy.. so here are the specs.. what do you think?

PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor (2.20 GHz, with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook edit
MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus edit
HD DISPLAY 15.6 in HD WLED TL (1366x768) with Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
3G/4G MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broad Band Selected edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit
SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 edit

Personalize

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

Very good specs .. only change I would make is the next higher resolution screen (1600xwhatever) if available. Full HD is a bit overkill on a laptop, but if you have multiple processes, the 1366x768 is limiting (that's what I have).

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

And on Dell, I would go to their small business section and work up a Latitude .. better build in my opinion.

DJ T-BONE · Mar 1, 2012

thanks stevie..let me go back and check that out...

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

Microsoft store has some decent buys .. here is an Acer with good specs: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...ferralID=28f09d0c-63e5-11e1-8e16-001b2166becc

DISPLAY | 18.4 in Full HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit (1920 x 1080) PROCESSOR | Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz MEMORY | 8 GB DDR3 1066 MHz HARD DRIVE SIZE | 750 GB SATA 5400 RPM OPERATING SYSTEM | Windows 7 Home Premium PC TYPE | Notebook OPTICAL DRIVE | 4x Blu-ray Disc/DVD SuperMulti double-layer drive MEDIA DRIVE | 6-in-1 memory card reader AUDIO | High Definition Optimized Dolby Advanced Audio VIDEO | NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M with 2 GB graphics memory PORTS | 1 USB 3.0 • 3 USB 2.0 • 1 USB 2.0/eSATA combo • HDMI • Headphone output • Microphone input • VGA (15-pin) • RJ-45 (10/100/1000) • FireWire (IEEE 1394) BATTERY | 8-cell lithium-ion 6000mAh (5.5 hours)* CAMERA | 1.3 MP HD webcam WIRELESS | 802.11b/g/n • Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) capable (separate adapter required) BLUETOOTH | Yes DIMENSIONS | 17.34 x 11.62 x 1.21-1.51 in (440.43 x 295.14 x 30.73-38.35 mm) WEIGHT | 8.38 lbs (3.80 kg)

DJ T-BONE · Mar 1, 2012

wow that is the same price as the dell i customized.. also is acer a good brand as far as dependable ?

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

Not sure, I've only owned HP (used to work for them) and Dell. Haven't heard anything bad about them.

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

According to a few reliability reports, I might stay away from the Acer. Top 4 are Lenovo, Toshiba, Samsung and Apple (and Lenovo was far ahead) .. those used to be the IBM laptops, thought I don't see many DJs using them.

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

From PCWorld

Apple Leads in Laptop Reliability

BRANDProblem on arrivalAny significant problemAny failed component replacedDead PCOverall satisfaction with reliability
Apple

Samsung

Toshiba

Asus

Acer

Digital Storm

MSI

Compaq

Gateway

HP for Business

iBuyPower

Lenovo

Micro Express

Sony

Dell for Business

HP for Home

Dell for Home

Better than average

Average

Worse than average

steve149 · Mar 1, 2012

well that didn't format well, but they are in order based on reliability. This shows Acer above middle, so not sure who to believe.

SoftJock Rick · Mar 1, 2012

My Acer rocks and rolls

It's almost 2 years old now, and never gets turned off. It's an i5, which with hyper-threading, is essentially mimicking a quad core (Windows shows 4 cores).

I can mix videos all day, while chatting here, having my compiler up, and a separate editor, and look at pics on Paint Shop Pro.

4 gig of RAM, and an NVidia 330M.

Doesn't even get warm

new laptop

DJ

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