Ideal startup laptop specs pls..

[Determined Diva]

Hi
My daughter wants to get into internet marketing as she is a big fan of youtubers and Instagram. She makes fan pages and to my surprise she gained 10 followers overnight. She started yesterday. She wants a laptop now so she can learn editing and programming slowly. What sort of a laptop should I buy for her that's not too expensive yet has all the specifications for a good laptop?
Please help me out in this as search results garnered me alot of different information, all of which is extremely technical for me to understand lol. I felt the same way I feel when I open the bonnet of my car Haha.
Thank you all

 

[Gogol]

Buy anything that has at least i7 processor, 8gb RAM and an SSD as the main hard drive. That should be enough for occasional video editing and programming stuff..

 

[lewo]

Yeah agreed, definitely need SSD drive these days, 8gb ram and minimum of i5 processor.
Might want to check what connection ports they have too, HDMI and USB etc

 

[Gogol]

Might want to check what connection ports they have too, HDMI and USB etc

Yeah those are pretty much standard these days.. So I didn't bother mentioning that. OP, check that the laptop has these as well.

 

[SocialManager]

I would look at local stores for "clearance" models and sales. As noted above by Gogol, anything with i7 processor and 8GB ram should be good enough to get started. Price is usually around $500-700 USD new in most places I guess. If you walk into a store and tell the sales person "i7 processor and 8 gb ram" they can show you different models and really just let her test them out in the store if you can to see which she prefers. I would also get her $20 wireless mouse/keyboard package it will really help her with working.

 

[Dr. Profit]

I do the same things she's getting into - web development, video & photo editing - here's my take.


Processor: i7 isn't really needed. It'll help speed things up for more intensive video editing (like 4K video in Adobe Premiere), but at that point a desktop computer with a great graphics card is WAY more cost effective.


RAM: Minimum of 8GB. 16 is nice, but not necessary. Most people are on 8 right now.


Screen: A good screen is crazy helpful.

I shelled out for the best screen I could get for superior color.

But, if she's not doing a ton of photo and video editing aiming for a professional level (where every color detail matters), it's not too important.

On the other hand, if she's looking to make gorgeous cinematic videos (vs. some talking head vlogs), it's a must. Again, a decent desktop monitor is more cost effective here.


Hard drive: She'll need a lot of space, and an SSD.

One option is to go with a small SSD in the laptop to save money, and then an external hard drive. Another option is to shell out big bucks for a massive SSD in the laptop, but she'll probably need an external hard drive anyway.

A smaller SSD (at least 256GB) in the laptop does the trick, but does make things more of a hassle since you have to keep moving large video projects back and forth from the external. On the plus side, a very large (2TB) external hard drive is very cheap.


Summary

I'd guess you can find a i5, 8GB, decent screen laptop for under $800, possibly much less if you look for deals.

Personally, I went with a Lenovo Carbon X1C6 (latest i7 processor, 16GB RAM, amazing screen, 256GB SSD, and carry a 2TB external hard drive). Got a good deal on eBay for a lightly used one - around $1500 USD including the external hard drive. Might be much cheaper now.

HOWEVER, would definitely have gone with a desktop rather than a laptop if possible (or a cheap laptop and a better desktop). In my case, a laptop is necessary.

 

[Determined Diva]

Thank you all for your feedback. Below are some of the specifications I found for an Acer. It's for $700. Do you think it would suffice? Sorry just asking for a man's technical perspective


Specifications
Platform Clamshell
Processor Type Intel Core i7
Memory (RAM) 8GB
Storage (Capacity) 1TB HDD
Graphic Card(S/D) Dedicated
Touchscreen No
Operating System Windows 10
Card Reader (Y/N) Yes
Speakers Yes
Optical Drive No
Color Black
Connectivity WiFi, Bluetooth
Screen Size (inch) 15.6
Warranty 2 Year
Network Card No
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce MX130
Built-in Webcam Yes
Made in China
Series Name Aspire 5
Graphics (Capacity) 2GB
Battery Type Lithium

 

[Gogol]

Be sure to upgrade to an SSD. HDD is a horrible choice for video editing as well as for general usability. HDD could serve as the secondary drive for archiving old files. As others said, get a 256GB SSD with this laptop (Some shops install the SSD for you if you ask them. ) and make it the primary drive (Where your OS stays).

Otherwise, the spec looks good.

Thank you all for your feedback. Below are some of the specifications I found for an Acer. It's for $700. Do you think it would suffice? Sorry just asking for a man's technical perspective


Specifications
Platform Clamshell
Processor Type Intel Core i7
Memory (RAM) 8GB
Storage (Capacity) 1TB HDD
Graphic Card(S/D) Dedicated
Touchscreen No
Operating System Windows 10
Card Reader (Y/N) Yes
Speakers Yes
Optical Drive No
Color Black
Connectivity WiFi, Bluetooth
Screen Size (inch) 15.6
Warranty 2 Year
Network Card No
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce MX130
Built-in Webcam Yes
Made in China
Series Name Aspire 5
Graphics (Capacity) 2GB
Battery Type Lithium

 

[Writerly]

The SSD hard drive is a must, but I just bought an HP with 4 gigs of RAM and it’s performing beautifully. It also has the 7th Gen Intel Core i3 processor. If I’ve learned anything from my first laptop, which was a used HP machine I got for $130, it’s that you should probably spring for a more expensive laptop to start with. I feel like the first laptop I had was pretty much a waste of time, and if I’d gathered three or four times that amount of money in the first place, I’d have saved myself a lot of frustration.

 

[Gogol]

The SSD hard drive is a must

I can't stress this enough!!! I am tired of seeing people buying good hardware with hdd drives and later complaining that the hardware is bad for xyz reasons.. or their anti virus slows the machine down.. or windows 10 is garbage!! Lmao, some have even argued that hdd is basically the same as ssd.. there's no real performance improvement. Idiots

 

[davids355]

I can't stress this enough!!! I am tired of seeing people buying good hardware with hdd drives and later complaining that the hardware is bad for xyz reasons.. or their anti virus slows the machine down.. or windows 10 is garbage!! Lmao, some have even argued that hdd is basically the same as ssd.. there's no real performance improvement. Idiots

100% agree with this as well. Spinning disk drive is the weakest component in a pc. SSD will make a massive difference to performance and not just during startup - you only have to check disk queue in performance monitor on a spinning disk of once you have a few things running and you’ll see the disk invariably struggling to keep up.

 

[pauliakas]

+1 for lenovo x1 carbon but i have older version gen3 with i5, 8GB RAM and 256SSD and good screen and for me so far it's enough.
You can buy this from ebay for good price.

I do the same things she's getting into - web development, video & photo editing - here's my take.


Processor: i7 isn't really needed. It'll help speed things up for more intensive video editing (like 4K video in Adobe Premiere), but at that point a desktop computer with a great graphics card is WAY more cost effective.


RAM: Minimum of 8GB. 16 is nice, but not necessary. Most people are on 8 right now.


Screen: A good screen is crazy helpful.

I shelled out for the best screen I could get for superior color.

But, if she's not doing a ton of photo and video editing aiming for a professional level (where every color detail matters), it's not too important.

On the other hand, if she's looking to make gorgeous cinematic videos (vs. some talking head vlogs), it's a must. Again, a decent desktop monitor is more cost effective here.


Hard drive: She'll need a lot of space, and an SSD.

One option is to go with a small SSD in the laptop to save money, and then an external hard drive. Another option is to shell out big bucks for a massive SSD in the laptop, but she'll probably need an external hard drive anyway.

A smaller SSD (at least 256GB) in the laptop does the trick, but does make things more of a hassle since you have to keep moving large video projects back and forth from the external. On the plus side, a very large (2TB) external hard drive is very cheap.


Summary

I'd guess you can find a i5, 8GB, decent screen laptop for under $800, possibly much less if you look for deals.

Personally, I went with a Lenovo Carbon X1C6 (latest i7 processor, 16GB RAM, amazing screen, 256GB SSD, and carry a 2TB external hard drive). Got a good deal on eBay for a lightly used one - around $1500 USD including the external hard drive. Might be much cheaper now.

HOWEVER, would definitely have gone with a desktop rather than a laptop if possible (or a cheap laptop and a better desktop). In my case, a laptop is necessary.

 

[Wiggles]

it's going to work out better to get a machine that's SSD of the shelf as reinstalling the software is a pain unless you're an expert.
I always find value in the Dell outlet, especially when they throw the extra discount vouchers around.

 

[Ghost3455]

Just give me a price range and your current region ex: (us or eu). and i will find you a good future proof one. don't listen to people above clearly most have no fcking clue.
now days for editing at least i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD is a must and not including a good graphic card.
my recommendation is spending 800$ - 1000$ price range
if she can go with a desktop then its 10 times better but if not still np

 

[Faceless Men]

If your daughter is getting into IM, its great. But be sure to make her enjoy her life as she won't even know when she starts sitting in front of PC and forgets to enjoy her teen/adulthood.