I’d recommend you get at least 500 GB of storage though, whether you go for HDD or SSD. Typically, HDD will be less expensive, but the trade off is that they are slower than an SSD. In fact, writing this post reminded me that on my old MacBook Pro, I actually upgraded my old Hard Drive to an SSD and replacing it was pretty easy. When you shop for computers these days, you may notice there are two different types of hard drives available: HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and SSD (Solid State Drive). This is like the external hard drive I use with my Mac, and has a whopping 4 terabytes! () My hard drive is 512GB and I have a 4 Terabyte External hard drive made by G-Technology. Hard drive size isn’t as much of an issue since you can easily use an external hard drive at any point in the future if you run out of actual storage space. Newer computers should have an i7 processor anywhere between 2.3 GHz and 3.5 for laptops, and up to 4 GHz for desktops.
Desktop computers for video editing pro#
In a dream world, I’d go for 32 but the higher that number, the more you’re going to pay.Īs far as processors, my MacBook Pro is a couple years old, so it has an i5 processor. I would recommend anyone buy a computer with at least 16GB of RAM no matter what kind of videos you are editing. My computer has 8GB of RAM and I really wish I had gone for 16. For video editing, RAM is one of the most important things to look at. RAM stands for Random Access Memory and it’s like your computer’s short term memory. By fast, I’m talking about the processor and the RAM (also referred to as memory). When it comes to other speed, I like to say buy the fastest computer you can afford. 13″ is really too small for editing (in my opinion).Ĭheck out this Dell 17″ Laptop with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB HDD from Amazon or this 17″ Dell Laptop from Best Buy. If you’re looking to invest in a laptop, and you’re not planning on using an external monitor, I highly recommend you get a 15″ or 17″ laptop.
It’s the best of both worlds: mobility with a big screen option. This setup works really well for me because the laptop itself is pretty powerful for such a small machine, but it is small so the huge external monitor is amazing for editing videos and doing every-day stuff. So I hook it up to a 27″ external monitor (Apple’s Thunderbolt Display). But what does that even mean? Is that what you’re thinking? ? SizeĪt 13″, my MacBookPro is really tiny, to be honest. It has a 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, with 8 gigabytes of RAM. My current computer is a 13″ MacBook Pro, which is a laptop that I hook up to a huge 27″ Thunderbolt Display. Looking for a Mac? This MacBook Pro 15″ with 16GB of RAM from Best Buy is a good option if you’re looking to go with a laptop. Video Editing takes a LOT of power… you’re crunching a lot of data through a tiny machine!
So I get this “best computer for video editing” question a lot from folks who are new GoPro owners or new to creating videos who find that their computer isn’t really “up to speed” for video editing. I explain this a lot more in this YouTube video, but continue reading for direct links to computers that I’d be looking at if I was in the market for a new computer for video editing. But personally, I edit all of my videos on my computer because it’s faster, easier, and I can a LOT more with a computer. You can do some video editing on your phone or tablet, and I covered some of them in Lesson 24 of 30 Days of GoPro. It doesn’t matter if it’s just for fun as a hobby, family vacations, YouTube videos, or marketing videos for your business. But if you want to do more with your videos, like string multiple clips together into one video, add background music, maybe add a title or some transitions… that’s video editing. You don’t have to edit videos at all… you can upload them straight to social media as is–Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, whatever. But, to back up a little bit, I want to make sure you know what we’re talking about with “video editing”. I should tell you now that I really, really like video editing. Read my disclosure policy here.) Best Computer for Video Editing ( The links in this post are affiliate links, and we will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking our links. So, in this post, I want to talk about what to look for if you’re in the market for updating your computer for video editing. I get this question a lot: “What is the best computer for video editing?” It doesn’t matter if we’re talking YouTube videos or GoPro videos, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with computers! Processors! RAM! Memory! Gigabytes! Megahertz! Solid State Drive! RIGHT?! There are so many options from laptops to desktops and Macs to PCs, and none of them are inexpensive.