Buying a Laptop

I bought a Toshiba core duo laptop back in June, and with the addition of a couple external hard drives it has become my main editing machine. I'm really happy with it, and it blows my P4 desktop away. I did a lot of research, read tons of reviews, figured out what I wanted, then waited for the price to drop.
 
what is the difference between a Core 2 Duo, and a core duo, and is it worth the price jump for video editing?
 
For laptops running WinXP, there's not much of a difference, about 7% performance boost. But there's supposed to be a big jump in performance when running 64-bit Windows.
 
I bought this refurbished Gateway earlier this year for $699 (it's $799 now):
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1697063&CatId=0

My previous edit computer couldn't handle DVCProHD out of the HVX, so I grabbed this for P2 dumps and ended up cutting my entire film on it this year with no trouble. I use an external hard disk for the footage and cut straight off of that... no delays at all. It has been a great laptop, and stopped me from spending thousands on a cutting edge system that I couldn't afford.

I'd love a cutting edge system -- so don't get me wrong -- but I've found this particular laptop to be perfect for SD and HD work!
 
Barry_Green said:
For laptops running WinXP, there's not much of a difference, about 7% performance boost. But there's supposed to be a big jump in performance when running 64-bit Windows.
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forget 64 bit windows, i mean, 64 bit is just the speed at which it can make calculations no?

so what about programs that require it or can get the boost from the core 2 duo?

I mean, when we compare a single core processor to a duo core, then a duo core to a core 2 duo, then all that to a macbook pro, what are the pros and cons?
 
I would do the remote hard drive and get the duo core. Chris stearns has me envious because of the portability!
Did you look into prices at Newegg.com ? They have alot of Acers and didn't someone say the other laptops were Acers in disguise?
PC is the way to go.
 
k now im pretty sure this is gunna be the last question but:

Is it worth spending a little more on a Core Duo laptop thats pretty beefed up,

OR

gettinga more basic core 2 DUO laptop?
 
Sorry for the short, stupid comment, but...

Get a Mac. PCs are boring. You won't look back - it's a better world.
 
Geosch said:
Sorry for the short, stupid comment, but...

Get a Mac. PCs are boring. You won't look back - it's a better world.
Click to expand...


thats kind of a useless point of view, were looking for facts and information here :)

( didnt mean to come off harsh )

mostly looking for unbiased poitns of view because we are looking at quailty and performance, versus price and practicality.

i will not get a mac because it is slightly better at tiem and a half of the cost. see where im going?
 
go with a mac!


sorry, i am quite biased.

i used to edit on pc when i was first starting out, i ended up switching as soon as i could to all mac workflow.

if you want to talk, feel free to pm me.
 
Get a Mac, now dual bootable so best of both worlds.
I got a Mac BEFORE I got a DVX. the Mac opened up the creative possibilities to make good fun videos. PC is no good. Go check out the new advert for Mac versus PC Home movie at the Apple Site or go here to see the video: funny as hell but oh SO VERY TRUE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSGhwI5DVU)
 
It is nice not to have to deal with all the other stuff associated with microsoft os based machnes. I have had many of both for years, always found apple products to be less hassle, less susceptible to viri and easier to fix. Lets face it, we alldo more than just edit on our computers, we network and so on.Perhaps that will change in the coming years with apple adopting a new processor and whatever else was involved. But got to tell you love my MacBook Pro. My position is I don't want to have to spend time keeping the computer running. I want to edit and publish and deliver and get paid. I would use an Amiga if it was more reliable.
 
If you've only got 1500 then rule out getting a new macbook.

this is the biggest problem

"Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory"

This just ain't going to cut it.

My advice is if you go mac, either buck up and buy a macbook pro or do what I did and buy a used 1.67GHZ Powerbook G4. The advantage with the powerbook is being able to read P2 cards out the box. It also shouldn't put you back more then $900-1500 canadian. Look for one that already has some programs (FCP, PS, After Effects, MB, etc...) installed.

I'm really biased towards Mac from using them for the last eight years. But really the best thing you can do is check out OS X and see if it feels right to you. I couldn't go back to premiere if you paid me but if your looking for flat out performance at the cheapest price then you may want to look at PC.
 
OK if you are honestly tossing up between pc and mac Ill offer this: If you go to Mac the real reason would be to use FCP. DO you like FCP? Because thats really what we are talking about here. If you just want to stick with ppro then sure a non mac is cheaper.

That said: FCP is made for Mac by apple. Its entirely designed to integrate with the MACOS and other apple components. My personal experience is did I get massive performance gains in going to mac instead of upgrading to ppro 2? Well hard to say as I only did one, but its smoother than ppro 1.5 was. Did I make performance gains because FCP seems to fit me better? Hell yeah. Works so much easier for me. FC Studio integrates and just seems to be a damn sight easier for me to use.

Once you make the investment these are the things you will be faced with long term.
 
is it true that macbook pro's and mac in general can run anything a pc can run because of osX? or something like that.

i just heard that it can basically run windows as well. so you get both worlds...
 
If you run BootCamp, you can dual-boot the system so it's either Mac or Windows. So yes, you get both worlds, but you will pay for it... Mac laptops are a lot more expensive, and you'd have to buy WinXP separately if you wanted to run Windows under BootCamp.

So, as ncje says, if you want to run FCP, get the Mac. If you need MacOS applications, get the Mac. If you aren't going to run FCP or MacOS, you can save some cash, get faster performance and a lot more features by going with a PC laptop.
 
It's really a personal reference. Here's something to think about, if you open a mac computer and look at the parts inside, you'll see that they aren't all mac parts. Just like lacie external hard drives, the drive is made by maxtor. I'm a mac user and love the fact that it's really hard to catch a virus, and yes they're around, but very easy to diagnose. I will admit the system crashes sometimes (well not as much as the PCs that I've had), just like a PC, but for me I love macs and everything about them. :)

Personal reference, but don't forget you can run widows on a mac. :)
 
PaPa said:
so whats the consensus?

how much can i get a nice Core 2 Duo laptop for? is it available around the 1500 dollar range?
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check will dell around this time of year(holliday sales are going to be starting soon)
for a laptop i wouldnt really suggest getting a laptop with all the highest end products because its going to tend to run really hot(and the last thing you want when your rendering a video for over an hour is to have your computer overheat and all your work lost)
 
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