New laptop

[Lucky leaf]

I am not a model yet, but want to make sure I am prepared before I go any further. I do have a laptop that probably meets min specs, however it's ridiculously laggy. The only thing taking up memory on the hard drive is the pre installed apps that I can't remove. This thing can't even do basic system update so I checked Walmart near me, I scrolled Amazon, but I'm not entirely sure what to be looking for. I do want a larger screen, or to perhaps use my TV as a monitor if that's possible. Something that has enough hard drive to accommodate my needs. Will be using for camming, also editing videos. I own a webcam already, Logitech something c90 I think. I will be laptop shopping as soon as I figure it out if you have a desktop preference feel free to change my mind.

The laptop I already own is a HP stream, it isn't working for me lol. Thanks for input on this overly asked question.

 

[OldHippy]

Hi Lucky...

It would really depend on what your budget is. If you don’t really need a laptop I would definitely go for a desktop, you will get more bang for your buck.

The two most important things when buying a new computer are are:

• RAM (Memory) you want at least 8GB of RAM (16GB is more than enough)
• Processor you want an i5 or even an i7, make sure that they are 6th generation or higher. An i5 will do most things you need, but if you are wanting do video editing or are going to Streamate an i7 might be better.

A SSD (a solid state drive - storage) would be nice to have if you can afford it, but are not necessary.

Unless you want to play games you don’t need a graphics card.

Something like this would be a good basic PC https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883101650

For something a bit different and at the top end specifications, look at something like this. It is a small box design so it is as portable as a laptop
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1VK-001S-001K4


Also look at second hand or factory second PC if the budget is very tight...
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=1VK-001S-000P9R


I know lots of girls in studios use TVs as large monitors and you should be able to connect the computer to your TV with an HDMI cable and put your camera on a tripod.

The Logitech C920 is a great starting camera, but there are a lot of comments here from much more experienced people than me.

I don’t live in the US so I don’t know if Walmart (or Newegg) is the best place to buy a computer, or if somewhere else makes more sense.

Good luck

 

[TajaEthereal]

I am not a model yet, but want to make sure I am prepared before I go any further. I do have a laptop that probably meets min specs, however it's ridiculously laggy. The only thing taking up memory on the hard drive is the pre installed apps that I can't remove. This thing can't even do basic system update so I checked Walmart near me, I scrolled Amazon, but I'm not entirely sure what to be looking for. I do want a larger screen, or to perhaps use my TV as a monitor if that's possible. Something that has enough hard drive to accommodate my needs. Will be using for camming, also editing videos. I own a webcam already, Logitech something c90 I think. I will be laptop shopping as soon as I figure it out if you have a desktop preference feel free to change my mind.

The laptop I already own is a HP stream, it isn't working for me lol. Thanks for input on this overly asked question.

Look into getting a desktop because in the long run those are easier to upgrade. I just saw one on Amazon for under $500. Thats a steal especially for someone just starting out. It has everything you need except the monitor. But you can indeed use a flat screen tv with the help of an HDMI cable. As for the desktop if you decide that camming is right for you then can look into upgrading the graphics on this one.

Acer Aspire Desktop, 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7400, 12GB DDR4, 2TB HDD, Windows 10 Home, TC-780-ACKI5

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073YHNPC6/ref=psdcmw_13896597011_t1_B07C3DVWMS

This setup should be able to handle a site like Streamate that requires the use of encoders. IMO if your rig can handle a site like SM, then you can cam on any site.

 

[Lucky leaf]

Thank you both for your reply, I live in a small town and all we have is a Walmart. But I wouldn't have to travel far to the next city over for a best buy or something. I've never bought a computer before and want to make a good purchase. Anything under $1000 is probably in my budget.

 

[TajaEthereal]

You can order them online, and they're 100% refundable. I use to think returning a computer purchased online would be a hassle. Turns out its not. Get setup with Amazon prime and make sure its fulfilled by them . Unless you want to drive to the next town?

The Wal-Mart's in my city never have computers that are suitable for camming. Even if you try to order online at Walmart.com, pcs similar to the ones listed above are far more expensive with fewer features.

 

[Lucky leaf]

You can order them online, and they're 100% refundable. I use to think returning a computer purchased online would be a hassle. Turns out its not. Get setup with Amazon prime and make sure its fulfilled by them . Unless you want to drive to the next town?

The Wal-Mart's in my city never have computers that are suitable for camming. Even if you try to order online at Walmart.com, pcs similar to the ones listed above are far more expensive with fewer features.

Oh yes, I've had prime for a few years now. I love Amazon. I've been reading reviews all night.

 

[OldHippy]

Oh yes, I've had prime for a few years now. I love Amazon. I've been reading reviews all night.

Post the specifications of the computer/laptop you are considering and I am sure someone will tell you if it’s good.

 

[Zoomer]

This really requires some form of sticky thread about what's best for camming - and there's more to consider than just laptop / camera. There's lighting and other things that also affect the quality of image.

I'm sure this isnt' going to be the last time this question is asked, so if an existing thread in models only contains such information (without it being "classified") then it'd be nice if a duplicate was accessible to prospective models so they know where to start perhaps?

People may add with comments as to why each aspect is important (technically) which can then be incorporated below the generic basic outlines, so prospective models can understand the importance behind various things (if having to make a trade off). E.g. you may have a limited budget, but you may be able to make do with bedside lights without shades, existing internet and existing camera... but need better hardware as that is something you can't incrementally upgrade later, but would require yet another entire outlay.

It'd almost be cool to set up some form of (validated) means for models to donate old equipment (cameras mainly) that they no longer need due to upgrade, to new ones who don't have the finances or current equipment available. Members can donate shipping costs, possibly even old laptops and equipment (it's easy to upgrade memory for laptops, so knowing what it is people could donate any old equipment etc). Can't think of the word, not charity, but a sort of "play it forward" for the less fortunate. Of course... it is actually a terrible idea as it'd be more effort than gain it brings

 

[Lucky leaf]

Internet speed is also important! I'm very excited to get this going.

I don't doubt this is a popularly asked question. I skimmed older posts but new technology is coming out every day so want to make sure it's up to date

 

[Lucky leaf]

How does this desktop sound? I do not care about gaming ability, just that it will be enough to handle streamate

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...lid-state-drive-white/6238446.p?skuId=6238446

 

[DJ_Pioneer]

How does this desktop sound? I do not care about gaming ability, just that it will be enough to handle streamate

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...lid-state-drive-white/6238446.p?skuId=6238446

It will be be fine it is way better than the laptops most people buy, but you are going to need to buy hard drives if you decide to get into creating videos.

 

[Yavin4MFC]

Should laptops and hardware be a stickied thread?

 

[xoxAprilJames]

If you're looking for a good computer deal, check out the Refurbished section on TigerDirect.com! Refurbished can be risky from other suppliers (like the randoms on Amazon) but TigerDirect has always been pretty legit, has a good return policy and customer service, and I've never been burned by them! You can save over 50% on a kick ass machine if you go that route!

 

[Lucky leaf]

Look into getting a desktop because in the long run those are easier to upgrade. I just saw one on Amazon for under $500. Thats a steal especially for someone just starting out. It has everything you need except the monitor. But you can indeed use a flat screen tv with the help of an HDMI cable. As for the desktop if you decide that camming is right for you then can look into upgrading the graphics on this one.

Acer Aspire Desktop, 7th Gen Intel Core i5-7400, 12GB DDR4, 2TB HDD, Windows 10 Home, TC-780-ACKI5

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B073YHNPC6/ref=psdcmw_13896597011_t1_B07C3DVWMS

This setup should be able to handle a site like Streamate that requires the use of encoders. IMO if your rig can handle a site like SM, then you can cam on any site.

What do you mean by "a site like streamate"? I know of the site but I'm not really familiar with it. I've only messed around with mfc and cb.

 

[SoTxBob]

i agree about using Tiger over Amazon. Have always found better deals there too. Unless you plan on camming on the go, desktop is better and easier to add things to.... external drives, better sound, more than one cam, easy upgrades/ repairs.... no battery to keep charged etcetc.

 

[TajaEthereal]

What do you mean by "a site like streamate"? I know of the site but I'm not really familiar with it. I've only messed around with mfc and cb.

Streamate is a private based site where you mostly perform one on one shows. You can perform group shows as well but it all takes place in paid chat vs in freechat where everyone can see, even those who haven't tipped.

When I say a site like Streamate, I mean its a camsite that requires high quality technology plus high speed internet. Most sites you may be able to get away with one and not the other, but on SM you'll need both mostly because they require the use of an encoder for your stream. My favorite is the OBS.

 

[LocalDMZ]

as other member stated if your on low budget refurbished laptop can be a good idea, plus what had to break already did and got repair so no need to fear them, plus usually come with a 1y warranty in most case, as for a laptop for streaming most important feature to look into is the ram as you may need to run a lot of software at the same time ,obs ,toy apps plus the interface of the site your streaming to, and in most case those are badly coded and memory hungry.

so basically what you may want to look into

- good processor I5 I7 6th or 7 gen how to know the gen it's the first number in the progress naming convention EX: I7-69** is a 6gen I7-70** 7 gen peaty simple

- lot of ram most of the computer will come with 8 gig if you can afford 16 that would be good, some have 12 gig of ram but that would mean that you have an odd pair of ram and without going all technical not good as ram work better in even pair like 2 x 4 or 2 x 8

- Decent Hdd space as you may have to record your private show or create content, and eventually edit your video for selling, ssd hard drive are good because their are super fast, but consider that their have a maximum number of read and write so at some point will die. so again if you can afford it, choose a computer where you have a ssd for your OS and a data drive, so in case of disaster your content is safe on the regular hdd and you just need to replace your ssd, further down the line consider buy an external hdd to do backup nothing more frustrating then loose everything you created.

- Some may argue that you don't need a secondary video card, at first maybe not, but later as this getting more serious it's a good idea to have a secondary video card with it's own ram because you will want to stream in 1080p at some point (4k will be mainstream down the line too give or take a year or 2 ) and having a secondary video card will first take a part of the load out of your processor and second stabilize you feed, because the faster the video is process by the computer best is the latency ( less shopy feed ) this paired with a good Internet connexion ( your download speed is less important then your upload speed in the idea of streaming )

plus if you go into editing, you want a good video card as rendering the video will take age if you don't have one.

if you do not need to go mobile consider a desktop as their are more reliable and stable then laptop for many reason.

scalability, upgrades, heat management and you can start with a good base then upgrade as your need change.
and you may use your tv as a screen to cut on cost at start..

hope this help a bit...

 

[Lucky leaf]

as other member stated if your on low budget refurbished laptop can be a good idea, plus what had to break already did and got repair so no need to fear them, plus usually come with a 1y warranty in most case, as for a laptop for streaming most important feature to look into is the ram as you may need to run a lot of software at the same time ,obs ,toy apps plus the interface of the site your streaming to, and in most case those are badly coded and memory hungry.

so basically what you may want to look into

- good processor I5 I7 6th or 7 gen how to know the gen it's the first number in the progress naming convention EX: I7-69** is a 6gen I7-70** 7 gen peaty simple

- lot of ram most of the computer will come with 8 gig if you can afford 16 that would be good, some have 12 gig of ram but that would mean that you have an odd pair of ram and without going all technical not good as ram work better in even pair like 2 x 4 or 2 x 8

- Decent Hdd space as you may have to record your private show or create content, and eventually edit your video for selling, ssd hard drive are good because their are super fast, but consider that their have a maximum number of read and write so at some point will die. so again if you can afford it, choose a computer where you have a ssd for your OS and a data drive, so in case of disaster your content is safe on the regular hdd and you just need to replace your ssd, further down the line consider buy an external hdd to do backup nothing more frustrating then loose everything you created.

- Some may argue that you don't need a secondary video card, at first maybe not, but later as this getting more serious it's a good idea to have a secondary video card with it's own ram because you will want to stream in 1080p at some point (4k will be mainstream down the line too give or take a year or 2 ) and having a secondary video card will first take a part of the load out of your processor and second stabilize you feed, because the faster the video is process by the computer best is the latency ( less shopy feed ) this paired with a good Internet connexion ( your download speed is less important then your upload speed in the idea of streaming )

plus if you go into editing, you want a good video card as rendering the video will take age if you don't have one.

if you do not need to go mobile consider a desktop as their are more reliable and stable then laptop for many reason.

scalability, upgrades, heat management and you can start with a good base then upgrade as your need change.
and you may use your tv as a screen to cut on cost at start..

hope this help a bit...

So based on what you said, this is good? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...lid-state-drive-white/6238446.p?skuId=6238446

I've had my eye on this computer for a while.

 

[Ronaldod]

So based on what you said, this is good? https://www.bestbuy.com/site/ibuypo...lid-state-drive-white/6238446.p?skuId=6238446

I've had my eye on this computer for a while.

The PC is ok.
i7 8700K processor. Very good.
16GB Ram Very Good
256 SSD Drive. Would advice to ad a cheap secondary drive to store your video's and other large data. (optional)
Video Card onboard. This can be an issue if you use a large 24" monitor or even bigger. There can be performance issues on high resolution screens. Or when you run multiple screen. As long you only need it for work it could be enough.
6 USB ports (details says 8 but comments tells 6). Should be ok. Keyboard, mouse and cam should only use 3 ports. So enough options left.
Network cable and wireless. Use cable (preferred and more stable).

I would buy this pc and based on the monitors i use i would a more powerful videocard to it.