Of those 2, I would opt for the MSI with the 1060 video card over the 1050 in the Dell. Also, consider replacing the 5400rpm drive with an SSD.

We just purchased the Alienware 13 as we needed something super portable to fit in carry-on pelicans. It's got the same specs as the MSI, but has an extra USB-C port instead of just the A's and you can actually get to things like the memory and HDD's easily to do upgrades. To upgrade the MSI you have to take the MB out. Dell has a 10% of coupon on the Alienware's right now too.

I've been using the GS63VR alongside Akitio Thunder3 PCIe box and Decklink Duo 2
(The 2016 model with 6700HQ CPU)

It's working nicely, it can get really hot sometimes when i play with it, but for production with 4 HD cameras and a USB3 capture device for a PC or a PS4, it's working like a charm, no CPU throttling so far, all is smooth and responsive.

Yamato, what setup do you prefer:

Skull Canyon NUC + Akitio TB3
MSI GE63VR + Akitio TB3

And how does CPU-load numbers compare?

For example:

4 x 1080p input with camera movement
1 x 8 Mbps H264 .mp4 recording
&
1 x 1080 25p 5 Mbps stream

or

4 x 1080p input with camera movement
1 x 8 Mbps H264 .mp4 recording
&
1 x 1080p 5 Mbps stream
1 x 720p 3 Mbps stream
1 x 360p 0,5 Mbps stream

I would recommend ASUS Rog, But would avoid Dell if using Blackmagic as their could be Driver issues, but usually when using their Motherboards
USB/Thunderbolt 3/2 may be different story. And yes the MSI has the better GPU.

i now have a reference msi laptop 17 inch and an intel nuc skull and both are very attractive options.

the msi is thin but big and has a lot of power and thunderbolt3 which I tegard as indispenble for a new machine. thunderbolt 3 is the breakthrough needed for video input, output etc.

the nuc skull is small and configurable. the i5 generation 7 nuc could be a promise.

vmix, because of its scalability benefits from scalable components. being able to choose a standard monitor of all kind of sizes has a big plus. a small one if vmix is used as a slave, for streaming or recording or a switch, one or two big ones for major production.

a monitor will set you back about 100 bucks. a nuc skull in full armor about 800.

thinking in components would offer a lot of options to choose from, and maybe you have a number of monitors lying around or other components, like the akitio pcie box or bm thunderbolt input...

so i am getting more on the line of portability of components rather than a laptop. p.e. i use my vmix with a small bluetooth keyboard, because i don't need a keyboard much during productions. i use a midi input board for switching, in combo with a bluetooth mouse. I can get everything arranged an. out of the way exactly the way i want and depending on the soace i have ( sometimes only a small chair or stool size production area.

my 3 cam production set now fits in one suitcase, i just need inflatable tripods to save space....

stefan

Notebookcheck recently reviewed the newest Alienware 13 R3:

http://www.notebookcheck...ook-Review.197508.0.html

Overall, the Alienware 13 R3 is not only one of the best 13-inch systems on the market, but also one of the best gaming notebooks in general. There are hardly any real problems and points of criticism, so it is by far the best device in our mobile Top 10 ranking.

I'm currently leaning towards this laptop.

I have now updated the list to include it. It has now become the official laptop for a Sapphire reference build:

https://www.vmix.com/pro...ce-systems.aspx#sapphire



One important thing though, in many countries (including mine) this specific model is being sold without Thunderbolt 3:

https://forums.vmix.com/...aspx?g=posts&m=37909

I also have the Sonnet SE 1 loaded with a Decklink Duo Card and have not experienced ANY issues as you describe. It is rock solid for me. I use it with a Lenovo P50 laptop with NVIDIA Quadro M2000M graphics.