No one likes to edit videos on a crappy, slow and old laptop that can't keep up even with your multitasking skills, and hangs like crazy! 😩
I too have been facing these issues in the past, but after upgrading my laptop to the most latest available specs at the time, I did a great favor to myself, last year. 😉
I then thought, there are sure to be people who do video editing jobs out there, like me, or perhaps who like to do multitasking on their laptops. Opening 20+ tabs in their browser at the time, and browsing through them, playing a video or an episode of your favorite podcast in the background while you do this...
This is why I decided to find some of the best video editing laptops under 1200 dollars that are available today, and combine them into a package for you in this post. 🙌
As you read in the title, that there are going to be 13 laptops that I think are best for video editing in this list. But, in case you want a short and sweet answer, and want my opinion that which one of these 13 is the most value offering laptop, and I would buy personally? Then please let me share that short and quick answer with you...
Personally, if i had to pick ONE laptop out of these 13 that I'm featuring in this list, I'd definitely have picked the #1 laptop from this list. It is a 17.3 Inch laptop with an IPS panel and 1080p full HD resolution. It has the GTX 1060 6GB Max-Q version inside, which will keep the temperatures at the minimum and manageable point for the design of this laptop, so it does not get too hot. It has the 8th Gen 6-Core 12 Threads i7 8750H Processor with 2.20GHz of Base Clock that Boosts up-to 4.10GHz, and has 9 MB SmartCache. 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 256GB of Fast SSD storage. Basically, this is the one that I would recommend anyone and everyone who wants the best video editing laptop under 1200 dollars, that get this one out of this list. It has the most value it can offer at the $1,200 price tag, and offers the most powerful specs out of all the laptops featured in this list. Period!
Now, if you still want to read through the whole article, and wanna know more about each of these laptops, buckle up, because this is going to be a long article. I wouldn't mind if you dropped even at this point, because even I am not sure how am I going to write all those details from here on. 😩
Let's quickly get into the list, I don't wanna write anything that does not help you picking the right laptop from this list.
1- Acer Aspire a515-51g-505g | Best Value | Omar's Choice
But, the fact that this is the one that I like the most out of all the 13 I've featured in this, is enough for me at least, that we shouldn't make fun of its name! 😌After all, if it wasn't in the list, we probably would never have gotten anywhere, because the rest of the laptops are just your average Joe laptops, in my opinion.
But don't let my statements stop you from at least checking them out, and compare them with this one. Who knows, you might end up liking some other laptop from the list, if that one fits better to your taste.
Well, enough talk, let's dive into a bit more detail about what I like and what i don't like about this laptop, although I do not think there are any major cons in my eyes about the Acer Aspire a515-51g-505g 😏
Its 17.3 Inches of Display
Yep, as I mentioned in my short and sweet answer above. Only two laptops in this list feature a 17 Inch display, and this is one of them. It's a plus point for sure in my eyes, because 17 inch displays are more video editing workflow friendly, as most professional video editors end up having to buy a dedicated monitor for color correction, grading and even to see clearly what they're doing, which they can't on a tiny 15 inch display.
So again, if this laptop did not have this 17 inch screen, I probably would have looked elsewhere, ignoring the rest of the great specs it has.
Powerful 6-Core i7 Processor
This is another one of its Pros that led me to decide to buy this one, instead of the rest of the ones that are featured here. Because only 4 of these 13 laptops feature a powerful 8750H Processor, and a few of the rest offer the toned down version that is focused more on saving battery life, the "U" version. That low powered version is sure going to have low temperatures, but it won't be as powerful and fast enough and won't be able to compete with its "H" version processor.
In case you wanna know the entire story behind these letters that Intel throws out with its Processors, watch this handy video from Linus.
It has GTX 1060 6GB
Another one of the reasons I chose this one as the best out of all these 13 laptops, was that it had the Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB version GPU in it. Only two out of these thirteen laptops feature a GTX 1060 Graphics Card from Nvidia, and the other one has the 3GB version, so it was a no brainer for me to go with this one, instead.
Because in future, if you decide to play some games, this one would be a better suitable laptop for that game, even if you're a few years in the future from 2019.
Even though the design of this laptop does not seem to be that air-flow friendly, so it can't handle heat very well. But, the fact that it has a Max-Q GPU in it, is going to be a lot helpful for it to manage a bit controlled heat that it would put out sometimes, because the Max-Q version of a GPU is always efficient and does not put out fire-like heat. In my opinion, the max temperatures on this laptop would be round about 80°C.
I think that's about it. These were the things that made me pick this laptop out of all the 13 of them. But, if you still wanna have a look at the other options, feel free to do so.
2- CUK Pavilion Gaming 15t
Initially, I wanted to pick this laptop as my favorite one out of all these 13 video editing laptops. But then, when I found another laptop that was offering more value than this one, 6GB of GDDR5 Memory in the GPU, and 17.3 Inch display, then I had to go with that laptop instead.
But, let's discus what are some of the Pros and Cons it has on its own, without comparing it to any other laptop, because it already has lost in the comparison to the #1 laptop, as has every other laptop in this list.
It also has a Powerful 8th Gen Processor
The CUK Pavilion Gaming 15t also features an 8th Gen i7 8750H Processor, that's why it could've been the winner, and my personal pick.
It doesn't have the 6GB version GPU
It has the 3GB version of GTX 1060 Graphics Card, and the Winner, the one I chose had the 6GB version instead. That's why i did not pick this one as the best out of all of these 13 video editing laptops.
It has a smaller display
This is one of the reasons I did not pick this one as the Winner, as well. If it had 17.3 Inches of 1080p Display, i probably would've picked this one instead. But, then again, it also had to have the better 6GB GPU in it, to pass the test, which it does not have.
3- CUK Envy x360 15t
This laptop has a lower powered version of the 8th Gen i7 CPU, that has 4 Cores, instead of six. It does have a 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 240GB SSD in it.
In fact, it also has a 1TB of Hard Drive inside, additionally. It has a low performance MX150 4GB GPU from Nvidia, instead of GTX 1060 6GB.
It has touch feature, and also a Stylus Pen. But that isn't very important for video editing. Touch feature could be usable and could come in handy at some points while editing videos or multitasking, but the Stylus isn't all that important in my opinion.
It also is two-in-one laptop. It is a tablet and a laptop at the same time, convertible. I don't think that a tablet would be powerful enough anytime soon for editing videos on it. It had a powerful CPU and SSD in it, so I thought I should at least include it in the list.
4- CUK IdeaPad 330
This laptop had everything.
A powerful 8th Gen i7 8750H Processor.
16GB of DDR4 RAM.
250GB of SSD storage.
But, where it lacks is the GPU. It has the GTX 1050 4GB Graphics Card from Nvidia. Although it isn't a 17 inch laptop either, but if it had a 1060 6GB GPU, it could've been my second favorite pick in this list, and the second recommendation for you to purchase, in case you did not like my first pick very much.
5- CUK ROG Strix
CUK ROG Strix also has the powerful 8th Gen 8750H i7 6-Core CPU. 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 250GB of SSD NVMe Storage, and a 1TB of Hard Drive for extra storage capacity. But this one also lacks a GTX 1060 GPU, because it has the 1050 Ti 4GB version inside.
Although, it has a Full HD 1080p 120Hz display, but it isn't that important in our case, because it is more useful for gamers who wanna play and actually see up-to 120 fps in games. And the funny thing is, this display is also kinda useless for gamers as well, because the GPU they're pairing with it, does not have that power to offer you 100+ fps in games.
6- CUK VivoBook F510UF
The CUK VivoBook F510UF also has a low powered "U" version CPU in it, which is why I did not pick this one either. Because video editing is a really CPU heavy task, and any limiting factor would lower our productivity when editing videos on a laptop. Not so much on a custom built PC, but very much so on a laptop.
BTW, did you know that you could build a custom spec'd laptop as well?
The CUK VivoBook F510UF has a larger SSD though, and a 1TB of HDD as well. But it is a 15 inch laptop, and also does not have a good enough GPU. It features an MX130 2GB Graphics Card from Nvidia. Check out the performance difference between the GTX 1060 vs MX130 Nvidia GPUs.
7- CUK PE62VR
One of the main reasons I did not pick this one as the winner, is because it has an older generation of processors in it.
It has a 7th Gen i7 7700HQ CPU, which was enough for me to move on and not choose this one as my Top pick.
Although, it has a larger 480GB of SSD storage, and also has the Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB Graphics Card inside. But even if it did have latest 8th Gen 6-Core 8750H i7 Processor, i probably would never have picked it as the winner. Because it still lacks a 17 inch display, which is more valuable and more color accurate than the 15.6 inches one it has.
8- CUK GL73
Now this one does have an i7 8750H 8th Gen 6-Core processor.
It also has a larger 480GB of SSD.
It also has a larger 480GB of SSD.
It also has a 17.3 inches of display.
It even is a 120Hz display, in case you're interested in more Hz.
But, where it falls short, is the GPU. 😓
It has a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB Graphics Card from Nvidia. And in case you wanna check out the performance difference between these two GPUs, check out this link.
Well, what can we do. They have to make compromises somewhere, to keep the price as low as possible, so it can fit in the budgets of people like you and me.
Only if it had a 1060 6GB version GPU, I'd have loved to pick the CUK GL73 as the winner of this list, and recommended it for sure.
9- 2018 HP Envy 17.3
As you've already figured out from its name, that it has a 17.3 inches display. But where it lacked was the CPU department. It also has the "U" version 8th Gen CPU that is focused more on power efficiency and not on performance, which is what we are looking for, so it can be used as a video editing laptop.
It also has one of the largest SSDs we've featured so far in this list. A 512GB SSD + a 1 Terabyte of Hard Drive. Total of 1,536 Gigabyte of Storage capacity.
Unfortunately, the lower performance GPU, MX150 4GB, and the low powered CPU kept it from winning the #1 spot and recommendation from me.
10- CUK VivoBook K570
This laptop also had a lower powered "U" Processor. A GTX 1050 2GB Graphics Card. A 15.6 Inches of Display, instead of 17.
11- CUK W650
Now this bad boy! 😃
It had the most interesting Processor of them all. 🤔
8th Gen i7 8700 which they claim is faster than the Core i9 8950HK.
It also had a 16GB of RAM, and 480GB of SSD.
But it did not have a 17 inch display, and it had a GTX 1050 Ti 4GB version Graphics Card.
The base clock of this processor is 3.2GHz and boosts up to 4.6GHz.
Has 12 MB of Cache.
If it only had a 17 inches of display, and a GTX 1060, even the 3GB variant, I would have picked this one as the #1 laptop of this guide.
But, if you still find it attractive, by all means get this one. I am just sharing what I think about these laptops and which out of all these 13 looked and sounded the best in under 1,200 dollars for video editing.
12- Lenovo Yoga 720 15.6 2-in-1
This one also is a 2-in-1 laptop, which aren't the most favorite of mine. I just don't like the concept of these laptops, because they tend to be more flimsy and do not offer specs as they could've, if they did not try to be a 2-in-1 laptop.
The reason I did not like this one that much, was that it had a 7th Gen i7 7700HQ CPU.
It although has the biggest Solid State Drive on any of the laptop featured till this #12 spot. It has a 1TB of PCIe SSD storage, which is insane!
It also has a 4K Ultra High Definition Display! 😲
But it has a GTX 1050 GPU.
If it had the 8th Gen Processor and at least GTX 1060 3GB Graphics Card, I definitely would have picked this one as the winner, hands down! 👐
You won't find the perfect match for the price, with the most latest specs and most favorite specs. But, when sometimes you do find it, I'd say always grab the device before it goes out of stock! And I think this one is one of those devices, in case you do not care about the older 7th Gen CPU, and the GTX 1050 GPU, instead of 1060.
This one is definitely my second pick, in case you do not want to go with the #1. 👍
13- Samsung Odyssey 15.6
This one also has the 7th Gen i7 7700HQ older Processor. Has a 16GB of RAM, but has a 15 inches of display. It also has a lower capacity SSD, 128 Gigabytes, paired with a 1TB of HDD. Another one of its main cons is that it is a Refurbished laptop, a Certified Refurbished laptop.
Although it has the GTX 1060 Graphics Card, but the other specs of this laptop aren't that interesting, so this one does not matter that much either.
Conclusion
Well, this was my 13 Best Video Editing Laptops Under 1,200 Dollars list.
Although I have sounded like no one of these laptops were that interesting, other than the one I picked. But that isn't the case at all. Which laptop is good for your workflow, only you can decide that. And I have only shared my personal opinion in this article. For your personal use, who knows, you may not even like any of these 13 laptops, even the #1 which is my top pick.
Every link on Laptop Anatomy that leads to Amazon, is an Affiliate Link. Omar earns a small commission whenever someone clicks on an Amazon link, and purchases something. No matter if it is a Laptop, or some Washing Powder. 🤭
