Laptops for video editing...

[Trevelyan]

Can anyone give a recommendation for a laptop that will be used for video editing, and also a Mac laptop that could be used. It's for a friend, and she needs to take it with her so it has to be a laptop...

Should I go with a Mac or a PC laptop?

 

[pkme2]

I used a Inspiron 600M for the past 2 years to edit my video. I like the E1505 with Win XP Pro, 1GB RAM minimum, 128MB Video Card, the 7200RPM 8MB hdd, DVD Burner at least. Use Sony Vegas Video 6.0 Movie Bundle and you're set. I would get an external USB HDD and the rest is up to you.
Remember to use the monthly Dell discount coupons, from $750 off to 40% off yo better your deal.

 

[halfadder]

Depends on what software she wants to use. If she's in the news or documentary industry, there's a good chance she wants Final Cut Pro, which only runs on Macs. If it's Avid Xpress she needs, that runs on Macs and Windows. Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas only run on Windows.

You really don't need much computing power to edit DV video. Standard DV25 is only 25mbit/sec which is just 3.75 MB/sec, only a trickle of data compared to what even the slowest harddrives can do. Of course a strong CPU, 512+ MB RAM, and a real GPU (not integrated graphics) will only help, especially if you add special effects / compositing.

If she's a student or teacher, she would quality for Apple's education discounts. In that case, maybe wait a week or two for the new MacBooks (not MacBookPro, the MacBook = upcoming iBook replacement). Like all Macs, they will have the nice iLife 06 bundle included, video editing, dvd mastering, audio composition/editing software all ready to go. You can even use the BootCamp utility to help you install Windows XP if she's missing that OS, or you can use Parallels to run Windows right inside Mac OS X.

There's a documentary maker here that has made several television documentries on his 1.3 GHz PowerBook G4 with FinalCutPro. His original rough edits were all done with iMovie 04. It's all DV video and pretty slick. If that's possible on a 1.3 Ghz G4, imagine what can be done on a 1.8 GHz Intel Core Duo, or faster.

But anyway, it doesn't take *that much* laptop power to edit DV anymore. Get something she'll enjoy even when she's not editing.

 

[Trevelyan]

Originally posted by: halfadder
Depends on what software she wants to use. If she's in the news or documentary industry, there's a good chance she wants Final Cut Pro, which only runs on Macs. If it's Avid Xpress she needs, that runs on Macs and Windows. Adobe Premiere Pro and Sony Vegas only run on Windows.

You really don't need much computing power to edit DV video. Standard DV25 is only 25mbit/sec which is just 3.75 MB/sec, only a trickle of data compared to what even the slowest harddrives can do. Of course a strong CPU, 512+ MB RAM, and a real GPU (not integrated graphics) will only help, especially if you add special effects / compositing.

If she's a student or teacher, she would quality for Apple's education discounts. In that case, maybe wait a week or two for the new MacBooks (not MacBookPro, the MacBook = upcoming iBook replacement). Like all Macs, they will have the nice iLife 06 bundle included, video editing, dvd mastering, audio composition/editing software all ready to go. You can even use the BootCamp utility to help you install Windows XP if she's missing that OS, or you can use Parallels to run Windows right inside Mac OS X.

There's a documentary maker here that has made several television documentries on his 1.3 GHz PowerBook G4 with FinalCutPro. His original rough edits were all done with iMovie 04. It's all DV video and pretty slick. If that's possible on a 1.3 Ghz G4, imagine what can be done on a 1.8 GHz Intel Core Duo, or faster.

But anyway, it doesn't take *that much* laptop power to edit DV anymore. Get something she'll enjoy even when she's not editing.

Okay, thanks for the reply!

She did mention she wanted Final Cut Pro, so I guess I should recommend waiting a couple weeks for the new MacBooks?

Can you recommend a specific one at a good price point? How much is Final Cut Pro?

 

[halfadder]

Originally posted by: Trevelyan

Originally posted by: halfadder
She did mention she wanted Final Cut Pro, so I guess I should recommend waiting a couple weeks for the new MacBooks?

Can you recommend a specific one at a good price point? How much is Final Cut Pro?

Apple hasn't announced the new MacBooks yet, they're expected to do so in a week or two. Another option would be the MacBook Pro which is already out and is what I'm using to type this.

I only know educational prices, which are available to K-12 and college students, teachers, parents, and staff. (store.apple.com, use the drop down menu to choose US Educational Store)

MacBook will probably be $800 - $1400, no clue on the exact specs.

MacBookPro is $1799 for dual core 1.83 GHz, 512 MB, X1600 128MB, 80 GB, DVD+/-RW, 1440x900 15.4" widescreen, 802.11b/g (some say it also works with a and superg under windows), bluetooth 2.0edr, backlit keyboard, remote control, built-in webcam, and a wicked cool power supply with a magnetic connector, so if you trip over the cord it comes loose instantly. Bundled software includes QuickBooks (the business version of Quicken) and iLife06 (iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, iWeb, iTunes). So right out of the box she can be editing with iMovie and making DVD menus with iDVD. Quite powerful, really, but still not FinalCutPro.

FinalCutPro is no longer available by itself, it's part of the Final Cut Studio which is $699. It includes Final Cut Pro 5.1, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro. There is also "FinalCut Express" which is very powerful for $149, but does not yet have an Intel version, that might change next week though.

Whatever you do, get at least 1 GB of RAM. Either from Apple or from Crucial. It's easy to add ram on a PowerBook/MacBook, there's a little hatch on the bottom of the MacBook.

For more on the bundled software:
http://www.apple.com/ilife/

For more on FinalCut:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/

For more on the MacBookPro:
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro

 

[Commodus]

I would suggest getting a MacBook Pro, and not waiting for the MacBook. First, we don't know when the non-Pro version is coming out for sure; speculation says May, but it could be later than that.

The more important point is that Final Cut Studio may well need all the extra power of the MacBook Pro. Motion 2 might not even work if the regular MacBook only ships with Intel graphics. And you'd better believe that someone willing to buy Final Cut Studio will probably need or want the extra screen resolution and (likely) extra hard drive space.

One thing's for sure: if she gets Final Cut Studio, she probably won't need any other software to get the work done. You can do everything from the video editing itself to motion graphics design and DVD authoring.

 

[AmigaMan]

Just an FYI, my MacBookPro 2Ghz was purchased at an Apple Store with an educational discount. The total price (including the 3 year AppleCare warranty) was $2692 including NC tax. The 1.83Ghz model should be around $400-$500 cheaper. I would definitely recommend buying any new laptop with a warranty, be it Dell, HP, or Apple. Lenovo's come standard with a 3 year warranty.
In the case for DV editing, more memory and plenty of HD space make all the difference. I'd recommend getting 2GB (it's cheaper to get it from Newegg.com or some other vendor) and getting the biggest HD you can. I would also recommend not waiting for the upcoming MacBook line since no one knows when it will be available.

 

[Trevelyan]

Thanks for the replies guys!