Small and light weight laptop for viewing P2 HD footage.

N

newsbykko

Active member
Hello

I saw the list of laptops with PCIMCA slots but I'm not sure which if any of the small laptops with a PCMCIA card can play back HD P2 clips with the P2 viewer?

I went to some stores and tried to play some MPEG video clips on the Fujitsu lifebook P7230 and Levovo X61s with some disapointing results.

I know both these laptops only hace about 223Mb +/- of video memory. Is this enough to play back P2 Hd footage with the P2 viewer?

Any one use on of these laptops?

Once again we need small and lightweight laptop. We already have full size 16" laptops that work great but are a pain to lug arould in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks
 
I guess everyone is too busy trying to figure out how to get there P2 cards into there Macbook air....

Bought a new X61 Thinkpad 2.1Ghz 2g RAM for $1000 that has a PCMCIA slot, 1394 Firewire, 3 USB and it weighs less then 3 Lbs. Best part is it even edits HD with Premiere. Nice......
 
Sorry I didnt see this sooner, but it sounds like you found a good laptop to work with - I've got the R61 (similar, but a bit larger I believe, and maybe slower...) anyways it edits HD with the best of them. Also using premiere. Quite a nice tool to offload to during shooting then be able to immediately playback clips to show the client and make selections and notes. How is the battery life with the x61? That's the only thing I dislike about the r61 - about 2 hours with normal use (wifi, screen moderately bright) - my wifes tiny sony vaio pulls 4.5 hours no problem with a really bright (albeit tiny) screen. Kinda hacks me off sometiems...
 
I just surprised myself when I was able to edit and play back P2 footage smoother than HDV on my 1 1/2 year old laptop.

Dell Lat D 830
Core2 Duo 2.0Ghz T7300
2gb ram
Nvideo NVS 140m
XP Sp3
Premiere CS4 (I really like)
Internal 7200rpm
sorce footage on external usb drive.

Viewing was smooth. Great for proofing. I wouldn't want to edit all day on it. But for quick edits and dalies I think this would be a min requirement.

That's been my experience. Thought I would share.
 
Not sure yet on battery life since I just got the laptop yesterday. But, from previous Lenovo/IBM experience with bigger processors the battery life is not that great. Usually 2-4 hours max.
There is a low voltage processor available in the X61s and/or an extended battery for all X61 that gives twice the battery life.
I hope to do some test soon to see how the battery does under load. At least it seems to be way better then the big T61p.

Kris
 
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