As the second largest search engine online, YouTube is a major source of business and attention. But for many marketers the cost of editing YouTube videos can seem expensive and difficult.
We looked at the best cheap laptops for YouTube editing based on recommendations made by those who have tested and conducted surveys of the laptops available for YouTube editing.
But first, what requirements should be uppermost, other than cost?
Much will depend on the amount of editing and the nature of the work you want to do. A decent processor, for instance, will permit faster processing of the video.
A common processor is the Intel i3 and i5, although i7 and i9 are best for higher-end, professional video editing. Some of the processors are not necessarily the best for common everyday editing.
When it comes to editing YouTube videos, you need a decent laptop that can easily run software for video editing. You need powerful video editing software along with a processor to edit videos and properly handle your video files.
You should be looking for good storage, a good processor and a decent GPU with good screen resolution. Battery life is another consideration to look at by good video editors You need to upload good quality videos to YouTube and so computer size is another key consideration, as you want decent display and both better programs and memory permit editing easily. An ideal screen for the profession editing work would be 16 inch, but you can also get away with a 13 inch screen.
The Best RAM For Editing
A good video-editing laptop should have a good processor, RAM, as well as fast internal storage. It should also have a high-quality GPU and a good battery life. Choosing a laptop that meets these requirements is an important part of the process of creating and uploading quality YouTube videos.
The RAM you need for storage in video editing is ideally 32GB in storage capacity, permitting a wide range of video editing functionality, as well as permitting mutiple programs to run at the same time as you are editing and checking through your videos prior to uploading.
Having said all of this, a cheap laptop can handle most decent video editing and they often have larger screens permitting easy editing. There are
perfectly affordable laptops that can actually provide very good internal specifications like decent processor, battery life, RAM and storage space allowing for YouTube editing.
Ideal Screen Size for Editing
Ideal screen size for video editing is 15 inches or greater, such as the Acer Aspire or the MacBook Pro (see below).
The best video editing laptops, budget priced or otherwise, should ideally have high-resolution screens so you can comfortably work on them for your editing, along with accurate colors.
Best Video Editing Laptops Overall
In terms of overall rankings, one of the reviewers (without focusing upon budget laptops) noted the best overall laptops for video editing as –
The best laptops for video editing available now
- MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021) The best laptop for video editing overall. …
- MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) …
- Dell XPS 17 (2021) …
- Dell XPS 15 (2021) …
- MacBook Pro 13-inch (M1, 2020) …
- Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED. …
- Asus Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED (2022) …
- Razer Blade 17 (2022)
- Dell XPS 13
- Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2021)
Why A Cheap Laptop Makes Sense in Video Editing
There are a number of reasons why a cheap laptop for editing your YouTube videos makes excellent sense, and it’s not all about budget.
There is more power in the desktop computers, the portability of laptops means a lot. The machines (often gaming devices principally) come with a powerful CPU, fast SSD storage capability (a necessity if you have multiple files to work with) and with a decent hard drive.
They also provide decent graphics and if you want to upgrade from an inexpensive laptop (say around $500) you can grab a better CPU or GPU for enhanced results, which will provide a better quality video. But for those with budgetary restrictions, the ideal choice for your video editing will be among the selections we have listed below.
Top Cheap Laptops Often Gaming Machines
Our survey of the most recommended cheap laptops showed the following laptops as the most favored for YouTube editing. Several are gaming laptops, which come with the components required for editing as they can contain powerful a good GB of ram, a powerful processor and graphics cards.
The processor can speed up the editing process and permit additional functions on the laptop, along with the storage space you will need. They frequently also have SSD storage for storing YouTube videos too.
Acer Aspire 5
Here’s a machine that does a great job the experts say, having a powerful processor and good memory. Its hardware specifications are impressive with a 15.6-inch display and fast operating speed.
The ISP backlit display provides full high definition resolution and makes video editing easier and more fun and the larger screen and definition are one of the essential features when it comes to video editing.
The Acer Aspire 5 comprises eight GB of memory and has a speed of up to 3.9GHz, which provides excellent editing credentials, as well as permitting video storage and montage addition.
The Acer’s speakers are regarded by some as ‘unremarkable’, but it has a good brightness and color coverage with a very good webcam and microphone for recording. It also comes with Intel Iris Plug Graphics and an excellent battery backup of eight hours for those video editors on the move.
Dell Inspiron
The Dell Inspiron was designed to run applications like games and so has the capacity to handle this work with efficiency. It is another top recommendation from our survey of the experts as a result.
The Dell Inspiron has a high-resolution screen, along with a great processor and it has a dual-drive feature that lets you both access and store your video footage. The display is terrific too.
Acer Predator Helio 300
This is another gaming machine and as a result has the ability to readily handle some tough video editing tasks also. The Acer Predator comes recommended because of its complete suitability for video editing. It has an Intel i7 core processor and a high speed processing speed of up to 4.5 GHz.
As gaming laptops are well known for their graphic card specifications with dedicated GPU, the Acer Predator rises to the occasion with terrific NVIDIA GeForce GTX Ti Graphics carrying 6 GB of dedicated GGDRX VRAM.
It is one of the most popular of the list of the best laptops we reviewed, although more expensive than several and so provides heavy duty performance but can still fall within the price range that is affordable to many.
ASUS Vivobook
The ASUS Vivobook s15 is a top laptop in the gaming world once again also carrying great video editing capability.
One reviewer indicated that it was just as impressive as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, but being less expensive and also smaller and lighter it was actual a great laptop that held a major advantage over the popular MacBook.
The machine is one, as one reviewer noted, that punches above its weight. It has a lightweight design and with a high performance capability provides great value with its ‘sleek, modern package’.
Inside the Vivobook is an AMD Ryzen 5000 processor with an AMD Vega 8 GPU, and 8GB of RAM, providing plenty of that punch for editing and an overall powerful perfomance.
Lenovo Legion
The Lenovo Legion Ideapad is a less expensive laptop that is another top pick. The Lenovo Ideapad machines are generally able to run most of the video editing functions you require at a good price (far less than the Acer Predator) and provides the necessary ‘grunt’ to provide a very useful, well-priced YouTube video editing package.
Dell XPS
The Dell XPS is another reviewer favorite, but it is more expensive and so does not easily fall into the ‘best budget laptop’ category but is added because it cropped up in several of our review-of-reviews.
A powerful laptop with a powerful CPU. Most CPUs on modern laptops have at least four cores, but the Dell XPS comes with more, along with a great GPU and 16GB of RAM. It also has a very good color-accurate display, which is always good for video editing.
As with any laptop you need to get the right configuration if possible and that requires a little research and also a solid understanding of what you are looking to do so you can match an affordable price with the best choice laptop to upload to your YouTube channel.
The basic configuration of the Dell should include an Intel Core i5-11400H CPU, being a 6-core CPU. If you have higher end video editing then you can choose a dedicated GPU as well, but you also need to chose how much RAM and storage you require to get the best out of your machine.
Macbook Air
The Macbook Air is another somewhat more expensive laptop that also featured in our reviews. One reviewer noted that the Macbook Air was not only very good for video editing, but was one of the best all-round machines you could buy.
Of course, the Macs are the go-to favorite for professional video editors so we’re not exactly coming up with much that’s new here, but using iMovie on the Macbook for video editing makes the whole process a breeze and will see you becoming an editor, just like a professional.
The MacBook Pro 16 inch is regarded by many as the best all round for video editing (more expensive, of course), but the 13-inch and 14-inch are also firm favorites in the laptop editing stakes.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED
This laptop is a good choice for video editing and creatives generally, providing very good value, a long battery life and with a terrific 1080p OLED display, as well as having a nice, lightweight package. Plus, coming in at under a thousand dollars (mostly) you’re in good shape to use the laptop for video editing and a very good performance overall.
The high definition, OLED touch screen and the AMD chip help make this a top performing video editing machine.
