Best budget friendly computer for editing 4K video? Phantom 3 Pro

[Sambrooklyn]

Hi, just got my Phantom 3 Professional and I know 4K video on my current computer won't cut it. Let alone trying to watch it.
I'm wondering what you guys would recommend in terms of a computer. Preferably a laptop. On a budget but willing to spend on something that will work.
Lots of people are telling me I should just get a Mac Book. If so which one do you recommend?
Thanks so much
Glad I found this forum.

 

[woobisah]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100025325 600515142

4k laptops

 

[Sambrooklyn]

Sweet! I'll look into these.
Thanks
Btw what editing software do you use? Final cut pro seems to be pretty legit.

 

[Ralf Melles]

I have a Macbook Air early 2014 - 1,7 GHz Intel Core i7 - 8GB RAM

4K Playback smooth in Finder Preview - 4K Cut in Premiere CC not bad.

 

[BrewserB]

Sweet! I'll look into these.
Thanks
Btw what editing software do you use? Final cut pro seems to be pretty legit.

Final cut only works on a Mac. You should get a Macbook Pro. Look at the refurb models on apples store.

 

[Sambrooklyn]

I see. I'll check that out. Me not being such a Mac guy I'm just not sure. In terms of editing though would there be a drastic difference between using a Mac vs let's say a 4K Acer or Lenovo?
I'm going to get a computer based on editing power and efficiency doesn't matter so much the brand.
Thanks again for the tips

 

[jlo]

At minimum...

2.4ghz i7, 7200k HDDs, 8gb RAM, GeForce 750GT or better GPU.

I have a year old Lenovo Yoga with and i7 8gb RAM, SSD HDD, and 4k is choppy. My GPU is just not up to par. I work with video on my desktop.

If you go Macbook, you'd want one of the new ones. The PCIe attached storage is a pretty sweet feature. I believe they can all output 4k video, but you'd want to configure with 8gb RAM. A macbook pro is not a budget laptop, by any stretch.

 

[Julius717]

Lenovo y50 4k for me 256 SSD I use a Samsung external 1TB SSD for storage. This laptop kicks *** playback not a problem. Renders 4k like a champ.

 

[Adam Kontras]

(you don't need to have a 4k screen to edit your footage) I have the ASUS that was on the linked page, simply the normal screen model for a good $900 less. Exact same specifications and you can edit 4k Phantom vids no problem (See my Vegas Video)...

 

[woobisah]

Sweet! I'll look into these.
Thanks
Btw what editing software do you use? Final cut pro seems to be pretty legit.

Premiere cc

 

[F6Rider]

There is no such thing as a "Budget" computer for 4K editing, not unless you want to grow old waiting for it to render. Get the best you can afford with the fastest processor, 16GB RAM and a SSD. I use a iMAC i7 with the above and final cut pro and it works pretty good, could be faster.

 

[Adam Kontras]

It's funny, I had just upgraded my laptop last month and was FINALLY happy with my HD rendering time on my projects...

...and then I go to edit all my 4k footage for storage and here we go again. It's like 2008 all over again.

But still, it's pretty fast (i have the i9 and 16gb of Ram)...

 

[BrewserB]

There is no such thing as a "Budget" computer for 4K editing, not unless you want to grow old waiting for it to render. Get the best you can afford with the fastest processor, 16GB RAM and a SSD. I use a iMAC i7 with the above and final cut pro and it works pretty good, could be faster.

I know it's very processor intensive just to watch a 4K video. I have iMac i7 as well and a lot of times the fan will kick in. I didn't even know my mac had a fan until I started playing 4K video..LOL

 

[BrewserB]

I see. I'll check that out. Me not being such a Mac guy I'm just not sure. In terms of editing though would there be a drastic difference between using a Mac vs let's say a 4K Acer or Lenovo?
I'm going to get a computer based on editing power and efficiency doesn't matter so much the brand.
Thanks again for the tips

Not a budget notebook but this one is loaded. I think I got a ***** looking over the specs...HeHe

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G...-28GHz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-Retina-Display

 

[Apparition]

Woot just had refurb towers $800 would get you an i7 3.6 ghz, 32 gb ram and 2 tb 7200 rpm hard drive. All sold out now.

 

[DrewFlies]

Not a budget notebook but this one is loaded. I think I got a ***** looking over the specs...HeHe

http://store.apple.com/us/product/G...-28GHz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-Retina-Display

Sike I rather buy the 5k iMac 27" at that price.

 

[chapsrlz]

There is no such thing as a "Budget" computer for 4K editing, not unless you want to grow old waiting for it to render. Get the best you can afford with the fastest processor, 16GB RAM and a SSD. I use a iMAC i7 with the above and final cut pro and it works pretty good, could be faster.

totally agree
about a month ago i upgraded from a core i3 pc to an imac retina 5k and im loving it, its way to far from low budget but its worth every dollar i payed for it.

in my old pc i rendered a 4 minute full hd video vbr 2 pass in 8 hours...
in the new imac a 5 minute 4k video vbr 2 pass is rendered in 45 minutes

 

[PishPosh]

Get the best computer within your budget, and edit in proxy. You don't need the latest and greatest for 4k editing.

 

[DrewFlies]

To be quite honest I use a iMac 2010. When playback its choppy and sometimes rarely has lines going through the video. However, as soon as I throw it in cs6 and render. Its as smooth as can be so I will be keeping my 2010 for one more year it seems lol. You can pick up a used iMac on craigslist for around $400-$1,200 depending on your budget. I would buy the 5k iMac. But, something is telling me to wait for 8k and 16k resolutions.

 

[F6Rider]

To be quite honest I use a iMac 2010. When playback its choppy and sometimes rarely has lines going through the video. However, as soon as I throw it in cs6 and render. Its as smooth as can be so I will be keeping my 2010 for one more year it seems lol. You can pick up a used iMac on craigslist for around $400-$1,200 depending on your budget. I would buy the 5k iMac. But, something is telling me to wait for 8k and 16k resolutions.

The trouble is, you might always be *waiting* for the next latest and greatest, I was doing the same and just bit the bullet and got the current best option at the time. There is always going to be something better in the pipeline every 6 months or so. I have had my 27" iMac 'Sandy Bridge' for going on 4 years, I really want the 5K also but can't justify the expense as this one is still doing the job (a bit slowly for my taste). I am lucky in that my Spouse could care less what I buy (has something to do with the $5K in sewing and crafting stuff SHE has )