Crowdsourcing: Which Laptop is Best for Using Shotcut?

Not sure your budget, etc, but last year I grabbed an Asus StudioBook Pro 17.

i7-9750H
NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q 6GB
Upgraded to dual 4TB SSD
64GB RAM
17" display, 97%DCI-P3 gamut; Pantone Validated (this was important for me to get the best color possible)
1x ThunderBolt 3 USB-C (40 Gbps), 3x USB 3.1 gen 2

This thing has been pretty rock-solid to date.

Just my $0.02
Cheers

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Wow. That one looks like a beast

Wow, @austin, that is so helpful. Have bookmarked your post for future reference!

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Me three!

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By the way, the new Asus 16" OLED StudioBook looks like a sweet machine!!

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@Austin thank you for reminding me that Shot is configured differently than other video-editing tools. It’s deceiving when these vloggers come up with their top 10 lists of best video editing laptops, because they most likely are focused solely on using Adobe Premiere or DaVinci Resolve.

I now am reminded that I need to focus more on CPU rather than GPU.

What do you think of this laptop?

That’s a really good-looking option at a great price! Performance-wise, this is as good as the Lenovo minus the RAM difference.

Quick observations:

  • The listing doesn’t say if the RAM can be upgraded to 32 GB by adding one more 16 GB stick, or whether it’s necessary to replace all existing sticks with new larger sticks. That would be important to know for calculating the final price after memory upgrade. While Shotcut can technically export a simple 4K project with 16 GB RAM, newer editions of Windows keep hogging more RAM for themselves, and also let’s be realistic… we know you got Photoshop and 14 web browser tabs open in the background. :grin:

  • RTX 3060 is sweet enough to run Premiere if you want.

  • The listing says a Windows 11 upgrade is not supported. I don’t know if there is a hardware reason for that or if it’s an OEM software license limitation. The i7-4770 tower I listed earlier does not support Windows 11 either because the TPM version is too old. But that doesn’t bother me because I run Linux Mint which doesn’t require the latest TPM. However, for your use case, perhaps Windows 11 will become important to have several years from now. A quick check of the Windows 11 CPU compatibility matrix from Microsoft says that the Ryzen 7 5800H is supported. The TPM on the laptop motherboard is the only other thing likely to fail compatibility, but that’s hard to imagine. So perhaps the worst case scenario is that a full version of Windows 11 would have to be purchased rather than getting a free upgrade from Windows 10.

Windows 11 CPU compatibility list:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-amd-processors

If anybody else knows why this laptop wouldn’t be compatible with Windows 11, I’m all ears.

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Since my last laptop is also a Nitro 5, I’m actually hoping that I can lift the ram from that previous laptop to upgrade this new one. I’m just hoping they’re both the same kind of ram.

RAM has a different operating frequency. The RAM from an old laptop may have a lower frequency of operation, which can slow down a new laptop a little. Just keep that in mind.

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@bentacular - just to mention screen size - I work on a 17" laptop and if I was upgrading I would consider keeping the 17" screen size if possible especially for video work. Might not be an issue if you are used to a smaller screen though.

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Hello,
I encounter some problems using Shotcut, yet I think I bought a fairly powerful computer, what do you think of this laptop:
Assus 17 ‘’, Rog Strix, Ryzen 9/32 gb Ram, Rtx 3090, which does not give me complete satisfaction in the use of Shocut which tends to saturate during a rush or a sophisticated clip.
Do you have an opinion on this?
For this laptop what is the best parameter to check: OpenGl, Directx(Angle) or automatic as for Software(mesa) I don’t know what it is.
Thank you for your opinion for a simple user.

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What operating system? Windows? Then I recommend installing DirectX. I recently tested these modes at my place, when using DirectX - lower processor load when playing clips on the timeline, but slightly higher load on the video core. OpenGL gives higher load on the processor and lower on the video core. Since shotcut almost does not use video card resources, it is logical to use DirectX to offload the processor a little, but this difference is not very large and almost imperceptible to the eye, it can only be seen in the task manager. Software(mesa) - when this mode is selected, shotcut does not start for me and I have to change the mode through shotcut.ini (I use windows 10).

Yes, Mesa is a software implementation that, unlike OpenGL and DirectX, does not use the graphics hardware. I advised a user whose laptop continually stuttered using Shotcut with Mesa to use OpenGL/DirectX and that solved his problem - see here:

I dock my laptop and use 2 external monitors

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Brilliant. Great idea. That solves that then!!!

Looks like you can reuse your Nitro RAM. Here’s the compatible memory for your old laptop from Crucial:

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/acer/an515-42-r5ed

And the new Nitro 5 you’re looking at now:

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/acer/nitro-5-an515-45-r92m

Looks like both support DDR4-3200. Your old RAM might be DDR4-2400/2666 instead of 3200, but that may not be a noticeable performance difference. Prices are reasonable if you did want to upgrade.

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Merci de cette information.

Hi,
You could also consider: HP Elitebook x360 1030 g2 + Seagate HDD External Disk Expansion Desktop 10TB (USB 3.0). I do all my Shotcut editing in this baby.
Pros: Never slows down nor even crashes;
Cons: Must be a long term investment. My last HP Elitebook served me well for 10 years!
Cheers mate.

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Hey Ben, I just looked again at the Nitro 5 model you considered buying (because I considered buying it for myself :grin:) and noticed on Acer’s home page that Windows 11 is officially supported. They offer a free upgrade for new purchases. So it appears there is no technical reason this laptop can’t do Windows 11, and that a purchase at outlet/refurbished prices may restrict Windows 11 only in the sense of licensing to get a lower price, which could be worked around.

Acer Nitro 5 AN515-45-R92M home page:
https://www.acer.com/us-en/laptops/nitro/nitro-5-amd/pdp/NH.QBCAA.001

The only downside I’ve seen in the few reviews I’ve briefly watched is that the display is dim and only supports 57% of sRGB gamut. That would be devastating for you as a designer. But you’ve got your two external monitors, so you’d be fine so long as you used those exclusively.

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Wow! Thanks for the follow up! Does Windows 11 offer any benefits over Windows 10 with regards to Shotcut?

As for monitor, you are right. That is the least of my concerns because I typically use a larger, more color-accurate external monitor.

Cheers!