Recommendation for video editing laptop?

The Asus ProArt StudioBook 17 is worth a look: https://www.newegg.com/asus-proart-studiobook-pro-w700g3t-xh77-workstation/p/N82E16834235304

Very nice screen - 1,920 by 1,200 instead of 1,920 by 1,080 pixels - and plenty of power for video editing. Its Quadro RTX 3000 is equivalent to an RTX 2060 and shouldn't have a problem with any game at the laptop's native screen resolution.

There's also a 15.6-inch model with a 4K screen for the same money: https://www.newegg.com/asus-proart-studiobook-15-h500gv-xs76-gaming-entertainment/p/N82E16834235468

Charles

 

actually charles is right your better off with 1920 x 1200 and the color accuracy is a bit better, but I guess you can always calibrate but you will lose contrast

 

Thanks for the suggestions. How dyou think the Asus proart studio book 17 stacks up next to the XPS 17 (that's soon to be released) in terms of specs? I'm pretty torn between the two.

 

Looks like they stack up pretty evenly so you might be between two good choices.

The new XPS 17 is supposed to start at $1,499, though the real question is how much it will be when equipped like the StudioBook 17.

Charles

 

Take a look at your workflow now, look at the CPU and GPU... how often does said CPU and GPU go to 100 percent and how long does it stay up there?

Reason I say this is that while your current Alienware17 is heavy, its heavy because it has a good thermal solution. Simple physics, heat has to go somewhere. Having more mass to absorb and dissipate heat is why that laptop is so good at keeping the CPU and GPU at 100 percent for a long period of time.

Technology has gotten better these past couple of years but a thin and light is not capable of maintaining continuous high loads on the CPU and GPU. They are meant for quick sprints of high usage and not hour long rendering sessions.

PS.
I have repaired and done warranty work on A LOT of thin and light laptops with bloated batteries and other thermal damage.

 

Good point. I don't have a desktop or anything so this laptop would be my workhorse. Long hours of editing and of course rendering. You think this would damage the longevity/life of the laptop quickly? The thinness of the xps 17 and the asus pro art studio book are VERY appealing after years of lugging around heavy Alienwares. But you do have a point. Comparing something like the new Alienware m17 R3 to the Asus pro art studiobook whats your thoughts aside from the ventilation? I assume I'm getting more power for the money with the Alienware but at the cost of size etc.

 

Any workstation should have more than adequate cooling to do the kinds of projects you are involved with including ECC. All the suggestions here are solid ones, if you're doing video editing the question is going to be more of how for me. If you need it on the go (didn't see any mention of this) then you absolutely want to buy a pre-calibrated display like the ones mentioned so far or a Dreamcolor panel from the Zbook line which I would recommend and I haven't seen it mentioned yet.

What everyone has said is accurate that heavy GPU usage is going to cause undue stress on the laptop. You may want to consider an eGPU or a similar external setup so that you have the flexibility of adding an external video card or a RED capture card etc and shift the work load to it rather than your internal components.

I personally would stay away from Alienware and look exclusively at workstations as that is the use-case for what you do even if that means buying used/refurbished. They offer repair and warranty options that have far quicker turn-around times than say a consumer machine.

Also I would never trust Alienware for *ANY* kind of mission critical application. They just are not reliable in all sorts of comical ways.

 

Thanks for the input. I've been using alienware for the last 7 years. It's been alright, gotten the job done with few issues. I was going to just get another one from their newer line but I'm obviously looking at other options purely for the weight aspect. I do need it on the go since I travel constantly. I usually do any kind of coloring work with an external calibrated monitor at home. But it would be really nice to be able to do that kind of work accurately on the road with a laptop. I'm not super keen on using an external setup at the moment.
What's your reasoning for staying away from the alienwares? Just reliability or because they're not geared towards video editing?

 

I've used a variety of laptop at work (data-center technician) and by far my favorites are Zbooks, least being a toss up between Dell and Lenovo. I'll go through the issues I've had with both to give you a better idea.

Dell:
Had an Alienware 13r3. First one I bought had a bad speaker, Dell wouldn't repair it and told me to send it back. 3 weeks later I got another, this one was fine but it had to be re-pasted as all Alienware do. Worked great for a year and mysteriously died. Began the repair process with Dell and the first tech destroyed the chassis broke multiple clips, cracked the monitor and the new motherboard didnt work. 2nd tech was sent to replace the monitor, the chassis and motherboard. "New" monitor from Dell had wireless antenna leads that were damaged and could not be repaired. Dell could not do a full replacement for some reason as mine was an OLED and they offered a 15". I specifically, and I repeat *SPECIFICALLY* said no gsync. What did I get? Gsync. Asked to send it back and was told no gsync units were available. 5 weeks later a 17" with a 1080, 4k, and no gsync was available. Got it and everything was great!....for a bit. It had the Tobii camera with a known issue where it heats up the monitor frame and it slowly becomes unglued and separates from the screen. Tried everything including replacing the upper frame and nothing would kept it held together. Eventually used automotive tape and it appeared to hold up. Kept it another week and was so annoyed at Dell that I parted the unit out and sold it.

Lenovo.
Purchased a X1E 1st gen. First one I received seemed OK but the chassis was so flimsy that it wouldn't hold it's shape when held by a corner leading the screen to separate from the chassis like this < when held by it's left side or > from the right. The thing felt like a wet noodle despite being made from "Carbon Fiber". Plus when you opened the screen it made a horrific creaking groan "eeeerrrrrreeee" like a old squeaky door every time the lid was opened. Sent it back. Ordered an X1C figuring that it would run cooler, be less loud. First unit arrived with 6 bright red stuck pixels on the display. Sent it back. Waited another month for one to be built after I complained and did a return exchange. New unit was great! Some point later down the road I banged the lower chassis lid. I had bought accidental damage coverage and figured I'd get a replacement. My unit was black, I told them it was black and they sent me a silver lid. A little bit later some issue came up where I would constantly hear from the device manager a faulty device kept disconnecting and reconnecting like a usb drive and it drove me insane. At random you'd hear be-bop, dun-bip from the device cycling. I looked EVERYWHERE and could never figure out what device was cycling and figured it was the motherboard. Sent the unit in was told there was a 3 month parts back order. No loaner would be provided and was told I'd have to wait. After multiple escalations they finally "found" the replacement part I needed. I received the unit back and it felt slow and wrong. Checked the config and they sent me a base model i5 and not the top end i7 I purchased. Livid I called them back and escalated again and finally got back to yet another escalation exec like I had at Dell the last time I replaced a laptop. The gentleman was wonderful and within a week I sent the unit back and a refund was issued. I had this laptop a total of maybe 5 months and bought a used MBA.

That laptop ran flawlessly until school moved to google classroom requiring I go back to Windows. I purchased this Zbook Studio 15" G5 and it's been very good so far. It was relatively cheap on ebay, has a color correct and calibrated Dreamcolor display, Xeon/ECC and a Quadro P1000. The telco company I work for uses HP exclusively and recently dropped Dell. My work PC is a Elitebook 745 and I love it, it just doesn't have Thunderbolt 3 otherwise Id buy it.

That said does this help better explain why I'd never buy Lenovo or Dell ever again?

 

+1 for ZBooks. They've gone down somewhat in build quality over the years, but are still reliable machines.