In the past I have always used a laptop for intarwebs, school work (word processing, more intarwebs, etc) and general file keeping. Right now I have an HP Pavilion something or other. Up until now it has been overkill for my needs; 1TB HD, 12gb memory, and a quad core i5 at 1.7ghz. It is about 3 years old and nothing wrong with it other than it has become slow with all my junk.
I'm also a musician and photographer, but up until now I was all analog: play guitar live and sing, take digital photos and do some light editiing, etc. Now I'm diving into composing music, and HD (and possibly 4k) video editing, and audio recording. I'm also enrolled in a Master's program. So I'm thinking I'll need more oomph than what I have in the HP. Long story short, I am starting a project in which I will be producing videos and movies anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes (shot in HD or UHD) and adding in original music compositions and voice overs. I need a machine that can kill at that task.
First thought was to upgrade to an SSD and add 4gb more memory and do a fresh install of Win10, but then I would still be stuck with the i5. Not the end of the world, but I wanted some opinions:
1- Should I keep the Pavilion and upgrade it (see screencaps for specs)?
2- I get a $500 allowance with the Master's program to buy a laptop, so do I take that $500 and add on the $400 I would have spent on an SSD/RAM and buy a new ThinkPad? I'm thinking 16gb with room for more, 512GB SSD or more, and 8th gen i7? Am I on the right track?
3- What video and audio cards should I be looking for these days to fully support the video/audio stuff? The wide variety of options has me dizzy.
Specs on my current HP
I'm also a musician and photographer, but up until now I was all analog: play guitar live and sing, take digital photos and do some light editiing, etc. Now I'm diving into composing music, and HD (and possibly 4k) video editing, and audio recording. I'm also enrolled in a Master's program. So I'm thinking I'll need more oomph than what I have in the HP. Long story short, I am starting a project in which I will be producing videos and movies anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes (shot in HD or UHD) and adding in original music compositions and voice overs. I need a machine that can kill at that task.
First thought was to upgrade to an SSD and add 4gb more memory and do a fresh install of Win10, but then I would still be stuck with the i5. Not the end of the world, but I wanted some opinions:
1- Should I keep the Pavilion and upgrade it (see screencaps for specs)?
2- I get a $500 allowance with the Master's program to buy a laptop, so do I take that $500 and add on the $400 I would have spent on an SSD/RAM and buy a new ThinkPad? I'm thinking 16gb with room for more, 512GB SSD or more, and 8th gen i7? Am I on the right track?
3- What video and audio cards should I be looking for these days to fully support the video/audio stuff? The wide variety of options has me dizzy.
Specs on my current HP
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