Planning to buy a new laptop for video editing? Make sure you check out our list of features that will make your editing tasks a breeze. Video editing on a laptop has traditionally been a bit of a challenge, especially when editing 4K footage.
However, laptops have become more powerful over the last few years, making editing a lot easier and a lot less time-consuming. For video editors on a budget, high-end laptops are now at a fraction of the cost they were a few years earlier.
The best laptops under ₹40,000 offer a host of features that make video editing a breeze. This article will take you through some of the top features to look out for in your new laptop.
#1 Processing Power
For video editors, the laptop’s processor is probably the most important hardware component. Most modern video editing software is optimized to utilize the multiple cores on your CPU. Having more CPU cores is, therefore, better.
Another consideration should be made towards multithreading of CPU cores. Modern CPUs from both Intel and AMD have this feature that allows each core to multiply itself, enabling it to simultaneously handle 2 processing threads.
When looking at mobile CPUs, keep an eye out for the letter H at the end of the CPU model. The H chipsets are generally considered better for video editing than their U counterparts, which are ideal for enhanced energy efficiency and increased battery life.
For example, Intel’s i7 10750H processors have 6 cores and 12 threads. This essentially means that the CPU can handle two processing threads taking the total core count to 12. This makes it a very powerful CPU capable of handling most video editing tasks with ease.
Quick Tip: One way to test a laptop’s processing power is to run it on an application called Cinebench. The app will test a laptop’s video editing capabilities and give you a score on how fast it can render a video. Once you have a score, you can then benchmark that score with other laptops within the price range.
#2 RAM Size
8GB RAM is considered the standard memory on most modern laptops. However, having more RAM can save you a lot of pain during an edit. If you’ve already shortlisted a laptop with 8GB RAM or just can’t find one with more memory within your price range, make sure that you have an option to upgrade later to accommodate more RAM in the future.
16GB RAM is ideal for most editing tasks; the difference between 8GB RAM and 16GB RAM can feel like night and day. Nonetheless, most editors who work on Adobe Premiere Pro recommend 32GB RAM for seamless rendering and a bit of multitasking during extended wait times.
#3 SSD Memory
Video editing can take up a lot of storage space, particularly when editing in 4K. It also requires the movement of data from one source to another in quick-time or during playback. HDD (hard disk drives) have served their purpose in the past; however, due to their slow read and write capabilities, you are likely to see frame drops during footage playback (especially in 4K).
A high-speed SSD is what you should be looking for in your next laptop, especially when it comes to in-progress projects. Unfortunately, most budget laptops have small capacity SSDs that store the OS and other important apps.
If you find yourself in this predicament, the simple solution is to get an external SSD and connect it to your laptop using a USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 connector.
#4 Connectivity
This brings us to our next point: connectivity. Video editing often requires connecting to other external devices like cameras and external storage devices. To ensure that you are transferring your data at the most optimal speeds, make sure your laptop has a USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3 interface.
USB Type-C can transfer data up to 10Gbps — twice as fast as the previous generation. Although one interface should be enough, the more, the merrier.
#5 Display
Most laptop buyers make the mistake of focusing only on on-screen resolution rather than display size. A large number of laptops in India come with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. This is the standard laptop resolution and one that should be adequate for most video editing applications.
Higher resolution displays like 4K are a lot more expensive and don’t make sense considering that most users sit up-close to their laptop. When it comes to size, 17-inch screens will give you a broader picture of your editing work; however, it will be laborious to carry around, while 13-inch displays will give you pain in the eyes from having to constantly scroll-in.
The perfect sized display that gives you complete functionality and ease of mobility would be 15 inches. A 15-inch laptop price in India can be anywhere between Rs. 40,000 - Rs. 55,000.
If you think that buying the best laptop under ₹40,000 is too expensive, there is some good news for you. Consider using the Bajaj Finserv EMI Network Card. You can choose from all of your favorite models without worrying about blowing your budget.
Simply use the EMI Network Card at the checkout like you would with a credit or debit card, and pay the full cost of the device in easy monthly payments. What’s more, you can choose the installment amount by increasing or decreasing the tenor to your liking.
