With so many laptop brands and models out there, it’s quite difficult to select one for video editing without any knowledge or guidance. There are a number of great budget laptops designed for various workloads, with varying specifications. Not all of them are worth their price tag, and some of them can’t do the job well. We’ve put together a list of the 5 best budget 2nd hand laptops you can consider buying for video editing, to make things a little simpler. They all float at almost the same price bracket if you buy a brand-new device, and they are all excellent in their very own way. But the price may vary and could be very much less for 2nd hand laptops.
1. Lenovo Ideapad L340
Lenovo’s Ideapad laptop series appears to be outstanding budget competitors in a wide range of categories. They ‘re designed respectably well, they ‘re pretty good at handling day-to-day activities, and they generally last a fair while. The L340 is a great gaming laptop but it is also an excellent choice for video editing due to its efficiency. Intel CPU that runs a 2.4GHz base frequency, but can be up to 4.1GHz turbo when required, which is very powerful. Video editing will not be a challenge, with four cores and eight threads. But you also get Nvidia ‘s GeForce GTX1650 to help with this, too. That also means you can play games on the L340 too.
You don’t have to worry about slow read or write speeds, and you’re going to be very much set to go. Thanks to Dolby Audio, the sound is also outstanding and ultimately you have a fantastic laptop for video editing.
Specifications
Processor: Intel Core i5
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX1650
RAM: 8GB DDR4
SSD: 512 GB NVMe
Screen size: 15.6-inch
2. Dell XPS 15
Thin and compact ultrabook, and a laptop for video editing, which seems like things are so far apart, right? But, with their newly revamped Coffee Lake XPS laptops, Dell has proven this wrong. Dell XPS 15 is an ideal laptop for video editing and rendering for people who are frequent travelers.
To bring more quality to its video editing capabilities, the Dell XPS 15 7590 comes with ample storage space that allows you to edit and save videos more easily and fast while taking off a significant load from your CPU and GPU. Integrated with Dell’s solid structural requirements, this laptop is a video editing master and all packed into a sleek, compact, 15-inch carbon fiber chassis, making the Dell XPS 15 7590 one of the best laptops for video editing.
Specifications
Processor: Intel Core i7 8th generation
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650
RAM: 16 GB
SSD: 1 TB
Weight: 4 pounds
3. Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-73WC
Acer Aspire 5 is the new variant of the Aspire E15 which has been a long-term budget favorite for many people. Considering the price, the laptops are often designed very well, they ensure all the required specifications are included, and always come with one or two features you can’t find with the competition.
It has a compelling processor with turbos up to 3.6GHz enabling it to run the software for video editing without too many problems. Also, the four threads help within this process. However, the GPU used is not high-end, but it certainly will help. Multitasking is easy with 12 GB of dual-channel memory. It provides great viewing angles. The battery life is up to 9.5 hours.
Specifications
Processor: Intel Core i7-8565U 8th generation
GPU: Nvidia GeForce MX250
RAM: 12 GB
SSD: 512 GB PCIe NVMe
Screen Size: 15.6-inch
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 IPS panel
4. HP Spectre x360 15
HP Spectre x360 15 got a lot of attention in the category of photo editing laptops and definitely it’s a wise option for video editing too. The vibrant and razor-sharp display is the best thing about this laptop. Categorizing the HP Spectre x360 15 as the best convertible video editing laptop is absolutely justified. Display checks on the standards of the laptop suggested its color gamut and brightness being its strongest suites.
With efficient CPU and GPU, there’s a lot of room for modern graphics manipulation here. It has a USB Type-C lightning-fast port.
Specifications
Processor: Intel Core i7
GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1650
RAM: 16 GB
SSD: 512 GB
Screen Size: 15.6-inch
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 IPS panel
5. ASUS VivoBook 15
Although the more luxurious version is undoubtedly the ZenBook, the ASUS VivoBook versions have made quite a splash. They come at very affordable prices but deliver excellent performance and a very good build quality. The body is small and light and robust enough to give the CPU and GPU a decent cooling. When talking about CPU and GPU, both are powered by AMD This is a very decent option, particularly because the CPU can produce turbo up to 3.6GHz if needed.
The display is a Full HD panel with nice viewing angles and the bezels are very, very thin indeed. Actually, the design of the whole laptop is outstanding, with a screen-to-body ratio of 88% and a thickness of 0.7. And yes, you still get a full-size HDMI port, even at that thickness. Add the backlit keyboard to this and you’ll have an excellent video editing device to yourself.
Specifications
Processor: Ryzen 5 3500U
GPU: AMD Radeon Vega 8
RAM: 12 GB
SSD: 256 GB PCIe
Screen Size: 15.6-inch
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 IPS panel
Cover-Up
| Comparision | Lenovo L340 | Dell XPS 15 | Acer Aspire 5 | HP Spectre x360 | ASUS VivoBook 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel i5 | Intel i7 | Intel i7 | Intel i7 | AMD Ryzen 5 |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB | 12GB | 16GB | 12GB |
| Screen Size | 15.6-inch | 15.6-inch | 15.6-inch | 15.6-inch | 15.6-inch |
| SSD | 512 GB | 1 TB | 512 GB | 512 GB | 256 GB |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 px | 1920×1080 px | 1920×1080 px | 1920×1080 px | 1920×1080 px |
If you want to save some money consider buying a 2nd hand laptop. But make sure you purchase it from a credible resource. Don’t fall prey to any scams. Check the reviews and ratings of the seller.