editing on laptop: yea or nay?

R

randomname

Well-known member
I decided I'm switching to macs, but can't decide between getting a desktop or laptop. I know desktop is a better deal, but I really like the idea of being able to edit wherever I want to instead of being stuck in my room. So is editing on a laptop just a terrible idea or fairly viable?
 
It can be done, but personally, my laptop is powerful enough to edit and I absolutely hate to do it, and I've never accomplished much outside of my house, unless there was something absolutely vital that had to go out when I was on the road.

My desktop is fast, built my own for cheap. 2 monitors of sheer editing bliss that I can fly on.

I vote desktop. You'll be a much happier editor :)
 
Laptop is only worth the downsides if you plan to edit outside of your home, not just outside of your room. The process should be something you concentrate entirely on at the time, it's not a casual thing to be done wherever and whenever. Not if you're putting a lot of effort into it at least. If you're just throwing together something simple it's different.
 
laptop editing can be done, but when you do enough of it you really start to miss the dual monitors, speed, etc. I have a beefy PC desktop and 2 22" monitors here at work for editing. When I go home and edit some stuff on my 13" MBP it leaves a lot to be desired. The reason I chose that option was so I could capture stuff, edit, etc on the go (I'm not typically the editor for my projects anyway). But, I'm really not on the go anymore enough to make it worthwhile. Also, add into the equation external hard drives to store your media, not only will you be carrying your laptop around, but a smaller external hard drive with cables, etc. Not the worst thing in the world but it's still a pain. If you're primarily doing editing, desktop for sure, if you just want to edit things here and there while you're on the go, maybe consider a laptop. Just really think about what you're going to be using it for. I'd get a desktop if I was doing it all over again. my two cents. best of luck in choosing a system :)

Adam
 
i feel like im locked in a cramped little closet when i have to use my 17" MBP. it gets used only when i go out of town except i will use it to import sometimes since it has an xpress slot.

lets see...hmmm?
a 17" MBP
or
30" display, 8 core Mac Pro 2.83 Nehalem 16gigs ram etc...

this is a logical and simple choice.

i have a hard time relating to the amount of people that actually choose a laptop to do their real work.

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
david_p said:
i feel like im locked in a cramped little closet when i have to use my 17" MBP. it gets used only when i go out of town except i will use it to import sometimes since it has an xpress slot.

lets see...hmmm?
a 17" MBP
or
30" display, 8 core Mac Pro 2.83 Nehalem 16gigs ram etc...

this is a logical and simple choice.

i have a hard time relating to the amount of people that actually choose a laptop to do their real work.

david
www.davidprobst.com
Click to expand...

Definitely comes down to the style of shooting and editing you do and what type of projects you do. Personally, I do only a couple dozen projects a year now.

I use a Laptop, Sony Dual Core 2Ghz. Edit with Sony Vegas. It has a 15.4" screen.

Is it ideal? Nope. When I was doing hundreds of projects a year, it was efficient for me to have the Desktop with multiple monitors and was definitely enabled much faster render times and a much better workflow by being able to see so much more on the screen. But there are advantages to using my laptop. For example, I do some videos that I have to travel for. While traveling, I can shoot, edit on the spot at the client's site and deliver a final product in one sitting. No need to drive back to the office or home, edit, then drive back again or stick it in the mail. in certain situations (TV commercials come to mind), I can go back to home base and edit, then just upload, but many of my projects are time sensitive or too large to upload and it makes sense, for me, to do so. This won't be everyone's case.

I have gotten used to my workflow and that fact that I can pack up my laptop and camera rig into a backpack and drive/fly anywhere in the world and be able to get done what I need to get done. But if you rarely have a need for this, Desktop is definitely the easier and cheaper way to go for obvious reasons stated above.

If you're going to go with a laptop, get something that is very fast, multi processor, and the highest resolution possible (they now have 15" TO 16" that can do 1920x1200). Load it up with Ram, make sure you get at least a 7200rpm Hard Drive in it (SSD even better) as your main drive, then scratch to a fast external drive via firewire or Esata if possible. Rendering is "Fast Enough".

It works for me, but it's all relative.
 
in this instance a laptop is the only logical choice. i use my laptop (photoshop/FCP) when im out on location and usually when im out of town...unless im out of town but will have a location hub for serious editing then ill take my mac pro tower as long as im driving, not on a plane though.

david
www.davidprobst.com


Kit Quote:
I use a Laptop, Sony Dual Core 2Ghz. Edit with Sony Vegas. It has a 15.4" screen.

Is it ideal? Nope. When I was doing hundreds of projects a year, it was efficient for me to have the Desktop with multiple monitors and was definitely enabled much faster render times and a much better workflow by being able to see so much more on the screen. But there are advantages to using my laptop. For example, I do some videos that I have to travel for. While traveling, I can shoot, edit on the spot at the client's site and deliver a final product in one sitting. No need to drive back to the office or home, edit, then drive back again or stick it in the mail. in certain situations (TV commercials come to mind), I can go back to home base and edit, then just upload, but many of my projects are time sensitive or too large to upload and it makes sense, for me, to do so. This won't be everyone's case.

I have gotten used to my workflow and that fact that I can pack up my laptop and camera rig into a backpack and drive/fly anywhere in the world and be able to get done what I need to get done. But if you rarely have a need for this, Desktop is definitely the easier and cheaper way to go for obvious reasons stated above.

If you're going to go with a laptop, get something that is very fast, multi processor, and the highest resolution possible (they now have 15" TO 16" that can do 1920x1200). Load it up with Ram, make sure you get at least a 7200rpm Hard Drive in it (SSD even better) as your main drive, then scratch to a fast external drive via firewire or Esata if possible. Rendering is "Fast Enough".

It works for me, but it's all relative.[/QUOTE]
 
I have a MBP, and it gets the job done pretty well. Keep in mind I'm in college, and I don't to video stuff for a living, so we may be in different situations.

But honestly, I've had no problems with my macbook. I think it's great.
 
I'm running my editing off my MBP and I'm dying to get an iMac i7. My MBP is 2 years old and is not upgradeable in the graphics card area nor can I get above the 4 gigs of ram. So my workflow takes a lot of time. I sometimes edit outside of the house, and yes that requires an external hard drive to come with me, but it's small so not too much of an issue for me.

Overall my desire for an iMac i7 is for rendering and conversion times; I'm definitely going to boost up the ram to 16 gigs.
 
I use a Dell dual core laptop and it's a bit of a PITA, especialy since I had to replace a dead graphics card, and the only thing available was a serious downgrade.
Will be building an i7 desktop as (Limited) funds allow. It'l be a sight cheaper tha any equivilent laptop.
Dave
 
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