Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and experience.
A friend uses Ubuntu occasionally Knoppix with very little Windows use and he’s the one who noted major issues with Nvidia. He’s been using Linux for over 20 years.
As I consider a new laptop purchase, would you suggest if I’m looking for a laptop with AMD Radeon as graphics are there particular models of AMD Radeon I should look for?
Imagine I’m searching on the net for a new laptop – Amazon, Toshiba, Dell, Acer and ascertaining specs. I’d be searching for a laptop with at least an Intel iCore 7 2.20GHz CPU with at least 8GB Ram expandable to 32GB with at least 1TB hard drive, SD card reader,2x2 802.11ac Killer 1535 Wireless+Bluetooth 4.2 and a separate AMD Radeon graphics board/card (cf. onboard graphics – on the mother board)?
This company deceptively advertises itself as Shotcut when you search for Shotcut on Google. Same goes for Filmora (Wondershare and iSkySoft) and Movavi. So, now, would you trust them?
I use a content blocker and therefore never encountered these ads. Fortunately, I never was tempted to use VideoPad after my bad experience with WavePad and now it shows, that was the right decision. Quite a distasteful behaviour.
That is despicable, to use someone else’s products and advertise them as your own.
I think they should be named and shamed when ever the opportunity to do so arrises.
As for ad blockers, I too use one but disable it only for this forum.
Not that I particularly like adverts but make an exception here as Dan benefits from the
ads shown.
I think it’s a fair price to pay for the use of Shotcut.
I use this software because I’m a still photographer (with ADHD) who has never done any form of video editing whatsoever. I have avoided it previously because I’ve never had the patience or attention span to complete a project such as this.
In less than a week I’ve shot, edited and uploaded my first YouTube video covering a rather technical subject and my feedback so far has been great.
While I’d love to say that it’s down to me being a genius , I know that a large part of it is due to the ease of use.
Another thing I’d like to comment on is the support. I found a bug, checked the log, start d a thread on it and have been assured that it will be remedied in a coming release, even though I found a workaround.
Before we found the solution, I was ready to jump ship due my ability to quickly get frustrated, but a large reason for staying and working to solve the issue was that after looking at other options, I couldn’t find one that was going to be as easy to use, while having the same capabilities without being a resource vampire.
I work in the technology field and finding software developers that actually replat, let alone solve the issue, are few and far between.
Well, I tried some free video editors, Avidemux, Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, OpenShot, ShotCut, etc. Some of them are simple to use yet limited feature, others are only for Windows or Mac. ShotCut might be the best of them, easy to use with powerful features.
I also used some shareware trial version, Joyoshare Media Cutter, Filmora, Movavi, simple, cheap and many features, very suitable for beginners who are just about to video editing.
As for some complicated video editors such as Premiere, expensive and also very useful for professionals.
I tried Avdiemux as well but I wasn’t all that pleased with it.
For video editing, have you found it necessary to use a laptop with a separate graphics card? If so, which manufacturer? AMD? nVidia can be problematic for some using certain (maybe not all) Linux distribs.
My curret latop is 10+ years old and is slow so I amy need (or amy not) a new latop but before I buy I;d like to know if I need a separate graphics card.
Thanks.
CPU speed, CPU Cooling, Ram, SSD/NVME Drives are way more important than GPU. I’m shocked that they still build Laptops with HDD’s, but they do. While Laptops are convenient, Desktops offers way more flexibility for video editing. You need Speed, Memory, and heat reduction of the CPU for things to work really well.
In the min. specs it says …“GPU: OpenGL 2.0 that works correctly and is compatible. On Windows, you can also use a card with good, compatible DirectX 9 or 11 drivers. We do not have a list.”
Is there any tech site which vets laptops for onboard graphics which supports OpenGL 2.0 (software) or has DirectX 9 or 11 drivers? Or a site vetting graphics cards so you’re not overpaying or buying an unnecessary or inappropriate card?
I’d need a laptop for video editing remotely so a desktop is not really an option.
You have to do the research on your computer yourself pretty much.
Sometimes the information is easy to find, other times it’s not.
So I don’t flood this post, just click this.
More information
Many times the specification doesn’t list enough detail about the drives.
Visit the manufacturer’s website to find more information from their specification, even from their Support sections. Look for a downloadable User Manual. This will show the computer in great detail show where all of the ports are at, etc and possibly some more detailed specifications not listed elsewhere.
I would visit many local stores, ask a bunch of questions, and find that one geek that just knows it all. You are not compelled to buy anything walking into a store.
You also have to ask yourself what you’re going to edit. Are you editing 4k GoPro videos, or editing some 10 minute video from your cellphone or from a medium priced consumer grade video camera of your Aunt’s birthday party?
If it’s just simple family movies you’re putting together, and might want to be on the cheaper end, you could always get a cheaper laptop, then within a year or two, update to a bigger SSD/NVME drive.
While the majority of this community is more advanced with tech knowledge than me, there are also dedicated websites like Linus Tech Tips, and Tom’s Hardware where they thrive off these questions to find you the best possible answer. It’s best to come up with an absolute max $ figure that you’re going to spend and stick with it. There will always be models that will be $40 to $100 more that will be a better computer.
I’ve found users can overpay for features/performance they don’t use/need but then you can discover later some features you develop a liking for e.g. I have an inexpensive android cell which doesn’t have time lapse built in. I haven’t had the need for it but now it would be a nice feature after using this phone for 12+ months. On my wish list for my next phone. I did ask others which features hey liked most re: their cell before I bought and none mentioned time lapse. Maybe that’s standard on cells you pay $100+ for. Thanks again.
, I know that a large part of it is due to the ease of use.