Video editing on a laptop

starseekergem · Post by **starseekergem** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:59 pm

I'm getting a laptop for my birthday and want to video edit on it. What specs would be recommended?[/i]

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:09 am

.. anything but an Acer

Toshiba has a nice little Wide-Screen that has almost anything you could want for College.
Built-in Blue Tooth, Built-in Extreme N wireless, DVD burner Dual Layer, 17" Monitor, 200 gig HD, Card Readers hidden in back, Touch Pad Mouse ... H.P. has the same things. MACbook Pro's are not as fast but extremely more reliable.

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 2:08 am

it seems almost every laptop I run across is widescreen nowdays
for the cpu, I'd recommend an intel core2 duo or amd turion 64 x2
whatever you do avoid anything with celeron, pentium, or sempron in the name

for ram you'll want at least 1 gig (depending on what OS it comes with, you'll probably want 2 gigs if it runs vista)

hard drive...uhh, anything is fine I guess. find the largest drive you can.
you don't really need to worry about spindle speed and interface

graphics. You want a dedicated card, end of story
ATI Mobility Radeon or Nvidia GeForce go is what you want to look for.
Alright, so the card itself isn't terribly important to making amvs...but if you get integrated graphics it'l claim a part of your system's ram (which means you have less ram for memory-intensive tasks...like editing)

for wireless, integrated is fine. Last I heard, wireless N wasn't doing so hot...so don't shell out extra for a card that has wireless N, your standard b/g card will do fine
bluetooth shouldn't be a priority as it's only practical uses are mice and headsets (a few keyboards and printers [though personally I've never seen a bluetooth printer])

usb is still very useful, especially if you have external hard drives. My laptop has 4 usb ports...and I still need a usb hub (for 2 externals, a flash drive, mouse and a printer. I have other usb devices but they aren't used so much)

make sure to get a dvd drive too, regular, spuer-multi, lightscribe, dual-layer...whatever you find

although onboard ac97 audio is fine for everyday use if you need to listen for specific parts of a song or have a 5.1 speaker setup you'll want to look for a sound card (either pcmcia or express card slot)

for size, 17" is too bulky imo (that and you'll have a harder time finding a case or chillpad if you want to move it around/use it like a desktop)
mine is 15.4" (1280x800), 14.1" is a bit more mobile. Go much smaller than that and you might have a hard time fitting everything on your screen (or being able to see it)

card readers are pretty standard, useful if you have something that uses a card...that's pretty much it. if the model you want doesn't have a card reader (or can't read what you have) it's easy enough to find usb card readers

I'd suggest a pc over a mac for amv-making (mainly because of avisynth, vdubmod and meGUI)
XP over vista for program compatibility, stability and security issues (not to mention XP uses way less ram than vista)

hope that helps

poing · Post by **poing** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 9:20 am

I think the best laptop is SONY.

Also when you try to sell a used one, you will get a very good price for it.
I change my laptop every 2 years and I have to add only $300 from my own pocket to get a new one once every 2 years.

All other brands s*cks

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:59 pm

.. hmm . . I only bring up the point of 17" for ease of Reading what the Lesson says.

there is one more option that I have on my laptop, it was added-on but works quite well, and that is a Verizon Wireless Internet Connection. In Minnesota, you can also get it from USwest and ComCast. It is a NoteBook Adaptor. The UofM will be quite packed this year with Everybody trying to Get on Line via ISDN/Cable Modems .. but you can avoid all that by having a Direct Connection.

.. XP or Vista ... hmm .. that all depends on the Teachers themselves! I'd hate to see the Teaching Staff forcing you to use something `just because its NEW!

.. Processor Speed, excellent question!! -- the T7200 looks promising .. but anything faster than 5gig should be fine. Don't forget, no matter how fast your laptop is -- it will only actually be 60% as powerful as a Home Computer.

Shazzy · Post by **Shazzy** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 11:48 am

MacBook Pro.

starseekergem · Post by **starseekergem** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 3:43 pm

I have a budget of £500, would that get me what is suggested?

Toshi.des · Post by **Toshi.des** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:30 pm

I really don't think so, maybe if you found a really good rebate deal

.

Here's one though for $500:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834101073

AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50(1.6GHz)
1GB DDR2
160GB
Dual Layer DVD Burner
ATI Radeon Xpress 1150 IGP

Now it's shared memory so you would really really want to get another gig of ram because it runs vista for one and then your video card will be also using part of that ram.

$82.00 for two 1 gig sticks at 677 speed:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145157

Though since you will have to wait for newegg to get more stock might look somewhere else, but that's something around the price range I guess, though it is re certified, you could also look into refurbished.

lol can't even find a laptop with a core 2 duo in it for $500

.

How you you guys think a 1.7 celeron (M) would do? lol and that's a single core

.

Toshi.des · Post by **Toshi.des** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 4:32 pm

oh also that's U.S. dollars XD so I don't know how much that is for you, also I don't think NewEgg ships to your location so you'll probably have to look somewhere else anyway.

Douggie · Post by **Douggie** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 6:22 pm

2 cores really help with rendering - quite a difference.

Also, buy extra HDD(s), external ones - as you can never have enough space!