# I need a video editing laptop! MacBook Pro Vs Windows-PC Powerhouse!



## mf2385 (Apr 5, 2014)

MacBook Pro or MSI GT70 (or comparable Windows-based Laptop)

I am looking for a good laptop for video production editing and projects. I have been doing some research and it looks like getting something like the new MSI GT70 laptops with 32GB RAM, GTX 870M 6GB, 256GB SSD/1TB 7200 Data drive is better hardware then the 2599$ MacBook Pro. I also have been using Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects and Photoshop mostly for my editing.

What do you guys suggest, I won't be doing anything like 4K editing anytime soon probably. Smaller jobs now 1080p and lower.

I know there might be a bias here for Windows based computing but I need honesty for freelance jobs and the best quality performance for video editing and I might do some game streaming on it as well (maybe!). Small amount of gaming, if any on this laptop, mostly for video work.

Thanks in advance!


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## Scatler (Apr 5, 2014)

You do understand that notebooks and even the so called "gaming" ones aren't really suited to the type of task you want them to perform. Although, if portability and work on the go is a must for you then i'd say your pick is quite reasonable.
Heck i might be wrong, maybe someone will prove me otherwise.


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## micropage7 (Apr 5, 2014)

if you wanna buy notebook for video editing, it will pretty expensive
i prefer pc i mean non mac. 
you need i5 minimal, mooore ram and big space
dedicated gpu is nice but you dont need like hardcore level gpu
btw how much you gonna spend?


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 5, 2014)

Mac. Anything other than gaming, a mac will win. You'll realise once you own one and see the functionality of it over a pc. Everything just works, really well.


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## oiTREV (Apr 5, 2014)

Look for a better storage configuration for premiere- SSD/large HDD is fine but if you want a machine is for video editing you may as well build it for that purpose. Look for a laptop with RAID options - ideally 3 or more drives for performance and redundancy. Also make sure it has USB3 / Thunderbolt connection for when you inevitably run out of local storage 

Do you have more experience with windows or mac? Go for that one


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## Fourstaff (Apr 5, 2014)

notApple. You are not using any Apple only program, so stick with Windows. Cheaper bang for buck. Also, the ability to swap in more storage when needed. However, if you truly use a lot of space (eg. more than 1Tb at any given time) Thunderbolt equipped MacBooks should hold an edge (Thunderbolt storage are not cheap though, keep that in mind).


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## buildzoid (Apr 5, 2014)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Mac. Anything other than gaming, a mac will win. You'll realise once you own one and see the functionality of it over a pc. Everything just works, really well.


I have a 5 year old MBP and for the last 3 years it's been nothing but a pain.

As for OP's requirments I'd go for the cheapest laptop with a 4 core i7 and 1080P display. I'd also buy a 2x8GB kit of laptop ram and replace whatever it came with.


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## kn00tcn (Apr 5, 2014)

yeesh, people still think laptops arent suited? desktops a few years ago ran slower than these modern 'gaming' laptops

all you need is cpu performance for rendering/encoding/processing, lots of ram for after effects, dedicated gpu for certain acceleration & general snappiness, hard drive.... like OP said, 1080p, that's not really that demanding

consider this, a bluray video stream would be ~25mbit on the disc, that's barely over 3MBytes/s!

i have an MSI 'gaming' laptop, i7-2670QM + gtx 570m + 8gb ddr3 + 750gb ST9750420AS, it's 1080p but that only matters if you're using it without a monitor, it's quiet, it's sturdy, it has an eSATA port & usb3.... i run cinema 4d, after effects, battlefield 3, no problem...

so my vote is certainly for an MSI or equivalent, the MBP is just not valuable at all to me other than its exterior design, retina, & the various perks of OSX (terminal, perl, ruby, various web dev tools)

OP, what are you currently using to do your videos? we can extrapolate a comparison


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## Devon68 (Apr 5, 2014)

Depending on your budget take a look at these:
http://www.adkvideoediting.com/laptop.asp
or
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=category_browse&selected_cat=13
but if you dont plan on moving the editing rig you might consider building a pc
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3mk9S
Here are some PC performance results I found you could take a look:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuE_AZZfskx3dHotTzVGamhiUkIySTUteGlzeG9xMEE#gid=2


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## mf2385 (Apr 5, 2014)

I can spend pretty much up to around $3,000 on this new video editing / work laptop. I would like to possibly use it to stream for some gaming too POSSIBLY. I want to keep it mostly work though, which is video production stuff / career-wise. I have a Gaming PC Desktop as it is already. I will be using programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, maybe Sony Vegas, and other effects / video editing software programs as well probably. I do small projects right now and hopefully may go more freelance with it soon enough as I feel more and more comfortable with what I'm using. I'd like it to be mobile in case I need to go and bring my work with me. I could also get an external hdd or usb drive as well if storage becomes an issue, which it probably won't. I was looking at something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152557


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 5, 2014)

buildzoid said:


> I have a 5 year old MBP and for the last 3 years it's been nothing but a pain.
> 
> As for OP's requirments I'd go for the cheapest laptop with a 4 core i7 and 1080P display. I'd also buy a 2x8GB kit of laptop ram and replace whatever it came with.



I've got a MBP, and ultrabook and a desktop, and when it comes to work I prefer the MBP. Dunno, probably just me.


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## mf2385 (Apr 5, 2014)

I just can't justify buying a Macbook Pro for just a very FEW programs like Final Cut Pro and some other exclusive MAC OSX programs. I have and will always be a Windows-PC person.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Apr 5, 2014)

mf2385 said:


> I just can't justify buying a Macbook Pro for just a very FEW programs like Final Cut Pro and some other exclusive MAC OSX programs. I have and will always be a Windows-PC person.


Well then you have narrowed it down to a windows machine now..Anything with an i7, 16GB ram, good cooling and storage will be good


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## mf2385 (Apr 5, 2014)

I just can't justify buying a Macbook Pro for just a very FEW programs like Final Cut Pro and some other exclusive MAC OSX programs. I have and will always be a Windows-PC person

*Update* Yeah, but I need a decent mobile GPU also for graphics.


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## Devon68 (Apr 5, 2014)

> I can spend pretty much up to around $3,000 on this new video editing / work laptop. I would like to possibly use it to stream for some gaming too POSSIBLY. I want to keep it mostly work though, which is video production stuff / career-wise. I have a Gaming PC Desktop as it is already. I will be using programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, maybe Sony Vegas, and other effects / video editing software programs as well probably. I do small projects right now and hopefully may go more freelance with it soon enough as I feel more and more comfortable with what I'm using. I'd like it to be mobile in case I need to go and bring my work with me. I could also get an external hdd or usb drive as well if storage becomes an issue, which it probably won't. I was looking at something like this:
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152557


Seems nice, just add another 8GB DDR3 ram stick.


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## FordGT90Concept (Apr 5, 2014)

kn00tcn said:


> yeesh, people still think laptops arent suited? desktops a few years ago ran slower than these modern 'gaming' laptops


Uh, no.  My computer is five years old and the graphics card (5870 has 1600 stream processors) for sure is better than 99.9% of cards (8870M has 640 stream processors) you can get in laptops today.  Mobility has a price and that price is performance.


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## remixedcat (Apr 5, 2014)

Non-mac for editing. Final cut pro is a night mare with the new versions several production houses switched to avid becuase of that mess. Also since apple stopped x-serve raid a few years back all the studios are switching to windows and avid ISIS for that. 

Your best bet is a really good PC with an SSD for the OS and some fast good hardware RAID  controllers+ drives for the project files.  DO NOT GET CHEAP or 'green' HDDs. 

Ditto to the i7/i5 comments. Intel is best for production processing. Also if possible get some editing software that could also utilize cuda/openCL as well to make that even better with a nice GPU.


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## kn00tcn (Apr 7, 2014)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Uh, no.  My computer is five years old and the graphics card (5870 has 1600 stream processors) for sure is better than 99.9% of cards (8870M has 640 stream processors) you can get in laptops today.  Mobility has a price and that price is performance.



because every desktop had a $400 5870 in it? no need to cherry pick like that, i'm not saying desktops suck & laptops rule (you also compared the wrong gpu, you want 8970m with 1280, not that performance linearly scales when they have the same TMUs, ROPs, & CUs... but forget about all that, 8970m is a rebrand, we all know mobile amd sucks)

here are my first hand statistics:

my 570m gpu built in 2011 is slightly faster than a 5770 desktop card from 2009, plenty of video editors & schools would be on 5770s or even worse cards since video editing isnt crysis
my i7-2670QM has 8 threads, so it can render faster than my 3.6ghz overclocked q9550 4thread desktop cpu
my point is a good laptop isnt crap & tons of adobe CS or 3ds max or UDK users are on regular mainstream parts instead of 6core xeons

as you go back in time... before opencl acceleration, before quad core, what were professionals using?

specifically 1080p video editing has been around for years, so OP would have no problem feeling snappy & decently fast with a laptop containing an 8 thread i7 + dedicated at least mid range nvidia gpu


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## erocker (Apr 7, 2014)

Devon68 said:


> Seems nice, just add another 8GB DDR3 ram stick.



Yes, that and go with the larger screen version: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152554


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## MxPhenom 216 (Apr 7, 2014)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Mac. Anything other than gaming, a mac will win. You'll realise once you own one and see the functionality of it over a pc. Everything just works, really well.



You cannot honestly believe what you just said. Sounds like people over at macworld just hacked your account.


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## lZKoce (Apr 7, 2014)

I'd say windows based PC, mainly due to raw horsepower you are going to need. I haven't owned a Mac product, but one of my friends is a DJ, he used to use windows-based equipment, but wasn't happy with the stability and shared with me, that when he switched to  MBP he could play sets all night without a hickup. Still though, for me raw specifications speak louder than anything Apple has to say anytime soon. Additionally,  the wide variety of options and configurations for Win.

For а laptop manufacturer, I usually support Lenovo, BUT on this particular case I can't really like anything from they have for this kind of work.

I am not sure about the GPU, is QUADRO optimized for Adobe- products? - that is a whole different section then: http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/tecra/W50/W50-A1500 (just an example), you can easily reach 3000 if you want QUADRO in your laptop.

That MSI GT70 is a very  very good offer. But for the money you are ready to spend, there are SO many other options. You could easily go with Ailenware from Dell: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-18/pd?oc=dkcwx02s&model_id=alienware-18 (Q4810/ GT860 SLI)

Or just build one yourself. (can't find the link, but lots of people posted here aftermarket guys like Origin, that will allow you to build one yourself)


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## callumw (Jul 6, 2014)

Current day laptops are plenty powerful enough to cope with editing ... as long as you have to tools inside to allow the data to flow and process.

For example, here's a video from Adobe TV made mid 2012 where a film/tv editor (Christeen Steele) is using her laptop to edit raw 4k RED footage.
It's always interesting to see someone's workflow, but from 14:25 - 18:15 in she talks specifically about her system (HP Elitebook 8760w) and how it performs.

http://tv.adobe.com/watch/learn-aft...ed-adobe-premiere-pro-edit-up-to-5k-with-ease

For around £1700 / $2500, the current Asus G750JZ will outperform her 'old' 4k system, so if you want you could get a lower spec (aka more battery friendly) machine that matches her system performance, but at a lower price point. The money saved could go towards storage

One thing to note though is that the G750JZ comes with a Thunderbolt port... in case that's a must have.
Hope that's useful


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## P4-630 (Jul 6, 2014)

Asus ROG laptops, G750xx have great performance and far better cooling solution then most other laptops and it has Thunderbolt


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## GhostRyder (Jul 6, 2014)

Specifically it seems like adobe is your primary program correct?

If that is the case, adobe is using OpenCL and cuda but their new focus is on OpenCL and it is known to be faster.  Both GPU sku's can do an excellent job but you might be better off with a mobile AMD gpu for this editing endeavor (unless you have more things that would need the nvidia gpu).

Try one of the following devices to see if they fit your needs:

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP8298

You can get a custom notebook to fit your budget and need easily from sager!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834227060&cm_re=M290x-_-34-227-060-_-Product

Basically it's a custom MSI from ibuypower.

Or for nvidia if you really need it try these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4227059&cm_re=Gtx_880m-_-34-227-059-_-Product


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## P4-630 (Jul 6, 2014)

GhostRyder said:


> Specifically it seems like adobe is your primary program correct?
> 
> If that is the case, adobe is using OpenCL and cuda but their new focus is on OpenCL and it is known to be faster.  Both GPU sku's can do an excellent job but you might be better off with a mobile AMD gpu for this editing endeavor (unless you have more things that would need the nvidia gpu).
> 
> ...



Your newegg links are directing to http://www.newegg.com/?FM=1


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## Aquinus (Jul 6, 2014)

1nf3rn0x said:


> I've got a MBP, and ultrabook and a desktop, and when it comes to work I prefer the MBP. Dunno, probably just me.


When it comes to doing anything mobile that isn't gaming, Apple is pretty good and I have to agree with @1nf3rn0x on this one, granted it depends on what you're doing and what you prefer. If I were to put not consider best bang for the buck for a moment and think about what platform would be easiest to work on, it would be a Mac. People will disagree with me but for what I do (writing server-side software and web applications,) you can't get much better than a Mac because it's not the performance card that's being played in my case.

All in all, I can't make the decision for you. All I can tell you is that I like working on a tower when I'm sitting at a desk, but when it comes to a mobility, I'll take a Mac.


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## GhostRyder (Jul 6, 2014)

P4-630 said:


> Your newegg links are directing to http://www.newegg.com/?FM=1


Fixed, I forgot I was on my phone and using mobile site.


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## Scrizz (Jul 6, 2014)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Mac. Anything other than gaming, a mac will win. You'll realise once you own one and see the functionality of it over a pc. Everything just works, really well.




It's all a matter of personal preference.
I used Macs exclusively at work in the Graphic design shop.
One thing that experience taught me was that Macs are not superior to non-Apple PCs.
Macs freeze and crash too. If someone tells you something different, they're lying to you.
All the software we ran at the shop is available for Windows too.
Sure there are some programs that are exclusive to the Mac platform, but the same can be said for the Windows side.
I see you're not using Final Cut Pro. You should be fine whatever choice you make.
Just know that it's all comes down to personal preference.


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## pigulici (Jul 7, 2014)

I will go on Windows side, on print shop where I worked, we have a mac for basic 2D editing and printing large posters, it was very good at that, but because we want to do more than 1 software work on that desktop(that work take only 25% of time of working hours), we ended to install windows in dual boot, although the printing job still better done in mac, the rest of working it is done in windows, and allways the windows machine are easy to upgrade/modify from software/hardware p.o.v., it is like chose between a Ferrari car(windows) and a F1 car(mac), what do you do most or exclusiv?, and if they (from F1 org) change the circuit/road, you must buy another F1 car; about stablilty, well, it is the almost same, don't change anything software/hardware on windows machine, and you will have same stability like a mac...


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## TheMailMan78 (Jul 7, 2014)

1nf3rn0x said:


> Mac. Anything other than gaming, a mac will win. You'll realise once you own one and see the functionality of it over a pc. Everything just works, really well.



On what plane of existence? I've been a professional illustrator for 17 years using Photoshop, Illustrator and a crap ton of other come and gone programs. Buy a PC tower if possible and don't pay a premium for the same hardware. Hell If you have the budget get one of these....

http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/

Make sure you get the windows version and not the Android version. This thing is better than ANYTHING Apple or anyone else is offering right now for the creative market.

Also OpenCL will only help you with Adobe Effects and some filters in Photoshop. Don't let that be a deciding factor since CUDA does the same thing for those programs. PM me if you have any questions. I used to be a certified Adobe technician before they went to a yearly renewal program.



Scatler said:


> You do understand that notebooks and even the so called "gaming" ones aren't really suited to the type of task you want them to perform. Although, if portability and work on the go is a must for you then i'd say your pick is quite reasonable.
> Heck i might be wrong, maybe someone will prove me otherwise.


 That's not true at all. If its a good gamer it can pretty much do anything else perfectly fine. That is of course you don't need a Nvidia Quadro or AMD Fire. If you need one of those no laptop will suffice.


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## 1nf3rn0x (Jul 7, 2014)

TheMailMan78 said:


> *On what plane of existence? I've been a professional illustrator for 17 years using Photoshop, Illustrator and a crap ton of other come and gone programs. Buy a PC tower if possible and don't pay a premium for the same hardware. Hell If you have the budget get one of these....*
> 
> http://cintiqcompanion.wacom.com/CintiqCompanion/en/
> 
> ...



It's just a personal thing but when I'm doing some video editing, photo editing, word processing etc I find that osx "handles" thing better with the fluidity and the multitude of gestures, but hey. That's just me, I'm still a PC person


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## Rev. Farley (Nov 13, 2014)

I use a Panasonic TM-900 Full HD 1080-60P video camera and I need all the power, speed and storage I can get so I use the
Toshiba Qosmio X70-AST3G26 Laptop
Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ Processor, Windows 8.1, 32GB DDR3L 1600MHz memory, 3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 770M with Optimus™ Technology, 2.75TB: 256GB Solid State Drive (mSATA, SSD) + 1.0TB (5400 RPM, Serial ATA) + 1.5TB (5400 RPM, Serial ATA), Blu-ray Disc™ Rewriteable (BD-RE) and DVD SuperMulti drive, Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 2x2 AC Plus Bluetooth ® 4.0, Buttonless touchpad pointing device with multi-touch control, One Touch Function Keys, Premium Frameless LED Backlit Raised Tile Keyboard with 10-Keypad (black), Li-Ion (47Wh, 8-Cell), 2-USB (3.0) ports, 2-USB (3.0) ports with Sleep and Charge.
I'm on the road filming editing so I need a laptop.
This may be a bit of an over kill but with what all I do this machine does it all without having to compromise anything.


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## Caffeine (Nov 23, 2014)

I BOUGHT!!
MSI GP70 2PE-006US
http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GP70-2PE-Leopard.html#hero-overview

Why?
2 X hard drives - 1 mSATA and 1 X 1tb, 7200RPM (I installed the mSata my self and moved the OS from the 1tb stock drive to it. (256 GB Plexter M6M)
Screen-17.3 Best screen I could find for the $$ -1080P with contrast ratio between 900-1000 (depends on review) and cd/m2 of 335 brightness
Nvideo 2GB 840. more then enough for any editing
8GB ram- may not be enough for some, good for me.. it's on one stick and there is one open slot in the computer. so you can add a second very easily.
PRICE!! $1000, + 160 for the 256 GB plexter mSATA.
CPU - website says I7-4700 but it came with a  I7-4710HQ (2.5ghz quad core -turbo = 3.34Ghz (seems to always be running at 3.34)

Boot time into windows 8.1 -25 seconds!! mSATA or SSD is the way to go for installing the OS and your programs!

Couldn't be happier with the results. had to share!
Detailed review
http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GP70-Leopard-Notebook-Review.117541.0.html

Note the mSATA (Plexter 256GB) is located in the bottom right Corner on top of the Network card.


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## muzeek (Jan 31, 2015)

Hi guys I'm purchasing a BBCC Camera and will be ding editing.  Im torn between a PC Laptop, and MAC  the MAC would be the top of the link MacBook, and the PC would be this gigabyte type with these specs:

01. Model Name : P35Xv3-CF5
02. Display : 15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Screen
03. Dead Pixel Policy : Guaranteed no dead or partially-lit pixels for first 30 days of purchasing (+$35)
04. Video-GPU : NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 980M (8GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 w/Optimus Technology
05. Processor : 4th Gen Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz-3.5GHz,6MB Intel Smart Cache)
06. Thermal Compound : Stock OEM Thermal Compound
07. Ext. VGA Adapters : 2x USB 2.0 FHD Video Adapter (HDMI & DVI/VGA Inputs) up to 2048x1152 Res - 6 Display (+$195)
08. Memory : 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz Memory - Default
09. mSATA SSD - Slot1 : 512GB Crucial M550 Solid State mSATA III (Read 550MB/s - Write 500MB/s)  (+$284)
10. mSATA SSD - Slot2 : 256GB Crucial M550 Solid State mSATA III (Read 550MB/s - Write 500MB/s)  (+$169)
11. Primary Hard Drive : 1TB 7200RPM (SATA III - 6GB/s) - Default
12. Optical Hard Drive : 8x Super Multi DVDRW/CDRW Combo Drive
13. Hard Drives in RAID : None-RAID Storage.
14. Ext. Hard Drive : External USB 2.0/eSATA 2.0TB (2000GB) 7200RPM 3.5'' SATA Hard Drive (+$175)
16. Wireless : Intel® Dual Band AC 7260 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N 2.4/5.0GHz + BT 4.0.
what do you think.. I would be using Primier and Divincci


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## krusha03 (Feb 1, 2015)

Do you really need need 2xSSD? Also buying them yourself its a lot cheaper. For example the 512GB Crucial M550 is $200. So you can buy 2 of those and put them in raid and it will be cheaper than your config. Finally that''s a ridiculous price for an external 3.5"drive.

The configuration of the laptop looks really good. What you need to find is a good review of it (notebookcheck.net normally has pretty thorough ones) and check if the laptop throttles under extended period of full load (prime + fullmark). If it doesn''t then you are good to go.


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