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00:00Hey, how's it going guys? This is Dave2D and this is a video on how to purchase the best
00:14notebook when you're on a budget.
00:16So I often get emails or messages about just people asking me what the best notebook is
00:22right now or which of this short list is the best notebook for me.
00:28And the truth is no one knows what the best notebook is for you better than you do.
00:33So just to get this out of the way, this isn't like a top 10 list of the cheapest notebooks
00:36or anything.
00:37It's more of a guide on how to purchase the notebook that best suits you.
00:42So the first thing you need to figure out is what you plan on using your notebook for.
00:47I mean, what specifically do you use it for?
00:50Now the standard response is, oh, I do a bunch of things like web browsing, email, game programming,
00:56app programming, photo editing, video editing, you know, gaming, 3D rendering.
01:01And like 99% of the time, this just isn't accurate.
01:04There are very few people in this world that actually do all these things off of one machine.
01:09So figure out what it is that you'll be doing and more specifically what apps or games you
01:14want to run.
01:15And you'll often find that you don't need as powerful of a machine as you thought you did.
01:18So if you're a student going to college for engineering or architecture or comp sci, speak
01:23to students in older years, like the sophomore year, and ask them what programs they're running
01:28on their computers.
01:29And if you're into like music production or something, try to figure out what production
01:33suite you're going to be working with.
01:34Because once you figure out what apps or games you want to be running, it's a lot easier
01:39to figure out what things you need to focus on and what features you can kind of cut out.
01:43Now, most people don't need particularly powerful notebooks.
01:46They use them for school and work and like media consumption like YouTube or Netflix
01:51and maybe some light photo editing and gaming.
01:53And I would classify this as normal use.
01:56And most programmers actually fit in here as well.
01:58You can code most apps or 2D games with very light hardware.
02:02Your compiled times might be a little slow, but there's tons of successful apps and games
02:06that were coded using really slow computers.
02:08And you can do it too.
02:10So for a normal user, what kind of specs are we looking for?
02:13In terms of your CPU, don't give it too much thought.
02:16Even like a Core M or an Atom on the Surface 3, those things are sufficient to run normal tasks.
02:22And the graphics card, same thing.
02:24Don't worry about it.
02:25It really doesn't matter.
02:26Any notebook purchased in 2015 can play some light games using the integrated graphics,
02:30so you're good.
02:31Now, for memory, it depends on how many programs and tabs you want open at a time.
02:35Anything from 2 to 4 gigs is sufficient.
02:38You can comfortably get by with 4 gigs even in Windows 10.
02:41And it's actually pretty hard to make use of 8 gigs even in app or game development.
02:44Now, if you're on a tight budget as a normal user, the one area I would still focus on
02:49is the drive.
02:50Get something with an SSD or install your own, because this will make your computer
02:53feel faster than any other upgrade that you would put at it.
02:56Again, if you're a normal user, don't worry about the CPU, don't worry about the graphics,
03:00don't worry too much about RAM, just get a fast, solid-state drive.
03:05If you do some heavy photo editing, or if you do a lot of digital illustration, or if
03:09you're an amateur video editor making YouTube videos, hardware is important.
03:13The type of footage you work with affects the caliber of hardware that you need, so
03:17at the most basic level, you want to pick up as many CPU cores as you can, and as much
03:21RAM as you can fit into your budget.
03:24If it's 1080p footage you're working with, dual-core CPUs are good, i3s are good, and
03:29i5s are great.
03:30You just want multiple cores to process stuff concurrently.
03:33Now, 4K footage is kind of gnarly to process on two cores.
03:37You can work with it, but quad-core i7 chips are significantly better.
03:42So if it fits your budget, go for a quad-core.
03:44Now for the graphics card, if you work with the Adobe suite, like with Premiere or After
03:48Effects, you don't really need a graphics card.
03:51They help, but integrated graphics chips in 2015 are pretty respectable for video editing,
03:56so don't sweat it.
03:57Now for RAM, 8GB of RAM is comfortable for 1080p footage, and it's usable for 4K footage,
04:03but aim for 16GB if 4K footage is your thing.
04:06In terms of drives, SSDs are very useful, but they're not required.
04:10You can always add an external SSD, like the UASP enclosures, like I mentioned in a
04:15previous video, I'll put the link up here, but those are some things that you can add
04:18after you've purchased the notebook.
04:20So a quick recap, for video or heavy photo editing on a budget, focus more on CPU cores,
04:26RAM, and an SSD if you can afford it.
04:29Don't put too much thought into the video card.
04:30It may seem counterintuitive to skimp out on a video card for video editing, but really,
04:36it's not that important.
04:37The last group of users are gamers.
04:40So if you plan on playing a lot of games on your notebook, then you're in this group.
04:43And depending on the games you want to play, your requirements will vary, but in general,
04:47the GPU is king here.
04:49The better your GPU, the better your performance.
04:52Now the bad news is a lot of companies charge really hefty premiums for dedicated video cards.
04:57Apple comes to mind.
04:59But the good news is you can still find some really great deals on gaming notebooks, you
05:03just need to do a little digging and be patient.
05:05Now for RAM, when you're on a budget, try not to get more than 8GB of RAM.
05:09Anything more than that, you're not using in most games.
05:11And if you have to, the other thing you can kind of chintz out on is your drive.
05:15SSDs are awesome for system snappiness and load times for apps and games, but it has
05:19almost no effect on frame rates in games.
05:22So if you can get yourself a better graphics card by sticking with 8GB of RAM and using
05:25a regular hard drive, I'd do it.
05:28A better graphics card is invariably going to make your games run better, and you can
05:31always upgrade the drive later down the road.
05:34So for gamers, get a beefed video card because that's most important.
05:37Don't worry too much about the CPU, dual cores are fine.
05:40Don't burn money on RAM, and if you need to, sticking with the standard disk drive
05:44is okay.
05:45The last thing I want to talk about is pricing and brands.
05:48Now if you've noticed, I haven't talked about any specific models or brands so far.
05:51And the reason is this.
05:53The best value for a notebook is going to come from big volume brands like Dell or HP
05:58or Lenovo.
05:59The big volume guys that sell a ton of notebooks every year, and their pricing is normally
06:05on sale.
06:06But once in a while, they have some real sales, like really steep sales, and stuff
06:10just goes on like 30, 40, 50% off.
06:13And that's where the money is.
06:15I did a review on the Alienware 13 a few months ago, and that thing was priced at $1500.
06:20Now it was a reasonably well-specced notebook, it played games pretty well, and it was reasonably
06:25well built.
06:26But it was really overpriced at $1500.
06:28And then a few weeks later, after a review came out, it dropped down to $1200, and then
06:33a month and a half later after that, it dropped down to $900.
06:36And at that point, it was a pretty good pickup.
06:39So the seemingly obvious conclusion is this.
06:41Figure out exactly what you want your notebook to do, so you can kind of determine what features
06:45you need to focus on, and what features you can kind of get rid of.
06:48And then purchase your notebook from a big volume seller like Dell or HP or Lenovo when
06:53their stuff is on really big sale, like right now.
06:57So in terms of actual recommendations, it's pretty tough to give one, just because the
07:02prices for these things fluctuate a lot, and there's literally hundreds of configurations
07:06and options that you can kind of tweak to make a notebook fit your needs.
07:11But if I had to choose some favorites right now, alright, for normal users, the Lenovo
07:15G50, which you can get for around $400 or $500 if it's specced well.
07:19The 15-inch Dell Inspiron 3000, which is also around $400 or $500, depending on how you
07:24spec it.
07:25And I also like the Asus F555, which is a little bit more expensive, but I think the
07:28build quality is slightly better on that one.
07:31And for all of these, just make sure you're getting the newer Broadwell chips, so you
07:34can take advantage of the newer integrated graphics cards.
07:38For gamers, there's two that kind of stick out right now.
07:40The Lenovo Y40, it's $800 and it plays games pretty well.
07:44Or if you want something that's a little more durable, but quite a bit beefier, the Alienware
07:4813.
07:49It's currently at $950, but I think that'll go up and down a little bit, and eventually
07:54it'll hit $900 again.
07:56For 1080p edits, the top pick for me right now is the previously mentioned $800 Lenovo
08:00Y40.
08:01Now, just look at this thing.
08:02The amount of tech that they're delivering for $800 is crazy.
08:06Now, for 4K video edits, I would recommend the Lenovo Y50, which comes in around $1100-$1200
08:14for a 4K screen.
08:15I normally wouldn't recommend a 4K screen for any kind of budget-oriented notebook purchase.
08:20For one, they drain batteries quicker, you need better supporting hardware, and it's
08:25just more expensive.
08:26But if you want to edit 4K videos, you kind of have to pay the price.
08:30That's the end of this video.
08:31I hope you guys liked it.
08:32And if you have any questions, comments, type below.
08:34Again, I'm always open to helping you guys out, just ask away.
08:38And yeah, I hope you guys learned a thing or two.
08:40It's been nice, and I'll see you guys next time.
08:42Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm running a Mac, please don't hate, I haven't switched over
08:47to the dark side or anything.
08:48I wanted to give El Capitan a little more screen time, just to kind of use it more
08:52so I can give you guys my thoughts on that.
08:54Alright?