ASUS is known for producing state of the art gaming laptops and I never had problems recommending one for gamers. But recently, a few media friends in media are in search of a video-editing laptop and asked for my recommendation. This is a more difficult question to answer because unlike a desktop, there are very few upgrades and changes one can make after purchase. So before I get into specific models, I gathered a list of specifications to look out for – a quad core i7 processor; a quadro mobile GPU; 17 inch or larger screen size; eSata, FireWire800 or USB 3.0 and as much RAM as possible.
N55SF
The obvious choice is the N series laptops that are built for multimedia entertainment. This machine is a truly mobile video editing workstation loaded with rock solid features and powerful performance. You can be assured that it can smoothly run any of the professional video editing software out there. And once you’ve experienced SonicMaster audio, you won’t settle for anything else.
G74SX
This laptop is designed for gamers, but it does work great for video editing. The NVIDIA 560M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 memory and 192 CUDA cores will definitely light up the Adobe Mercury Playback Engine. There is one downside to the current G74SX: they don’t have an Express Slot. This means that you can’t use an external I/O device like the MXO2 Mini.
P53E
The P53E is a workhorse because it has been designed specifically for small to medium-sized businesses to go about their productivity matters. That also means that it will not compromise on durability and reliability. Although this laptop is only equipped with a i3 processor, it is a great choice for the budget-conscious students who are starting to get their feet wet with editing while working on research papers for school.
PeggyO