Hey Lopici,
How much money do you want to spend?
Even if your current processor is 7-years old, you may find if you can upgrade your RAM to 64GB or higher. And, find some fast drives, that this might help it speed up.
Also check whether there are internal slots for SSD expansion?
Last year I got a HP Laptop where I “upgraded” the RAM to 128GB and added 2 x 4TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD drives to the 1TB already installed for Windows – still got space for another 4TB.
This is the first system that I’ve had where Adobe is running out of memory (128 GB) when rendering out a basic video file…
On external drives, I like both the Samsung T7 4TB, and their T9 2TB drive – the T9 is the fastest.
You could also look at a NAS or similar. There is endless options, but you might want to make sure that your laptop has thunderbolt 4 (HP has). Thunderbolt 5 is one the way into the production line. Adding to that, depending on the amount of footage, you may want a 4-port Thunderbolt hub.
It all comes down to your budget. And then, even with all of the money in the world, you might still not get what you want.
Atb
Mads