notebook for GH2 editing, grading, etc

From the specs:

Intel Core i3-330UM (1.20GHz)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD integrated graphics
2GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz
320GB 5400RPM hard drive

With a 1.2 ghz processor, it will work but it is going to take forever to render something out. The 2 gb of RAM, is going to choke out. The 5400 speed hard disc, works and with the other deficiencies, you wouldn't notice the benefits of a faster hard drive if it had one.

If you transcoded the mts files to SD instead of HD, it will all probably work.

If you aren't shackled to a laptop for other needs, I bought a computer from these guys. They and one other seller in the same city have what I claim are brand new just reboxed to dump out into the secondary market. The configurations might be a touch goofy, and the processors one level from HP's current lineup. When I took mine from the box it was untouched and unused, even though it was sold as a refurbish. My brother bought one as well, and reports his looks just mine, brand stinkin' new. The computer I linked to, compared to that laptop, will slice and dice up that footage and then spit it out like no one's business !!! My previous computer was a 2 ghz dual core laptop, and my new computer renders in 25% of the time, file for file.
 
For editing in general, minimum spec for a notebook should be: multicore Intel processor, dedicated graphics (especially for grading), 4 Gb RAM, 7200 rpm hard drive, usb 2.0 & Firewire (for connecting an external media drive - editing with just the system drive isn't the best way to go). Also, a hi-res 15in. screen is usually the minimum size to comfortably work with most editing interfaces.

To answer your question: honestly, probably not. Not that it couldn't edit, but you'd most likely be unsatisfied with the performance. Refer to the recommended minimum specs of the editing software you plan to use and buy accordingly.
 
I am eyeing out the Asus G53 series myself. I think it will cover my portable editing needs as well as 3D model design work.

I am currently editing on a 5yr old intel centrino duo 2.4ghz with 4gig ram and intel graphics card laptop and am just getting buy....just. It will do the job but you will spend alot of time transcoding, or proxying in order to edit smoothly. original mts files play choppy when editing on cs4. My suggestion is spend abit more and get a better lappy, one with dedicated 1gig graphics card at least, not onboard, they are quite common now. My brother just bought an asus N61JX i7 4gigRAM 1gig GPU for not too much and i recon that thing would do a pretty decent job editing compared to what I am using now.
 
Thanks.

ChipThome said:
From the specs:

Intel Core i3-330UM (1.20GHz)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD integrated graphics
2GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz
320GB 5400RPM hard drive

With a 1.2 ghz processor, it will work but it is going to take forever to render something out. The 2 gb of RAM, is going to choke out. The 5400 speed hard disc, works and with the other deficiencies, you wouldn't notice the benefits of a faster hard drive if it had one.
Click to expand...
Actually, I'd upgrade to a 7200 speed card disk. But the unit I found has 3GB memory RAM. Could it be enough for solving those "deficiencies"?
 
I wouldn't get an ULV cpu for video editing, it would chug far to much.

Like ChipThome ask, if you're on a tight budget a laptop isn't the way to go. You get ALOT more bang for your buck from a desktop. About dedicated graphics I would get an Nvidia video card that can be hacked to use Adobe mercury engine, that's if you plan to use Adobe's video software.
 
It couldn't be worse for videoediting.
If you want to buy a laptop (a desktop would be way better) for video editing an AVCHD 1080 file (most power-demanding compressed format) you must fullfill some requirements:
- i5 or better i7 with decent Mhz (1.2 is terribly slow, realtime work on video doesn't take advantage of multiple cores - only rendering does)
- at least 4GB DDR3 Ram (the more the better for video caching or you always swap to disk working painfully slow)
- good videocard (Radeon or Nvidia top mobile models) helps in accelerating through GPU the effects and transitions
- 7200RPM hard disk with at least 500 GB or you run out of speed and space soon!
- USB 3.0 ports: after your first work you'll realize you need your materials on an external disk and USB 3.0 is essential in the future for transfering the huge amount of data a video creates.
- 17" 1600x900 or 1920x1080 display: beware that the monitor is a tiny window in the video editor: no resolution will ever be enough, but AT LEAST 1600x900 will help you to understand something of what you are doing.

so, not an ULV small underpowered laptop but a big, powerful, multimedia oriented last generation one.

and that's the minimum, because even with it your work will no be smooth as silk at all...
 
for sure it's among the best small laptops, but it's not only a matter of pure Mhz.
2.26 it's the peak, but it's like driving a car always at maximum RPM when it's not done for it.
other CPUs have 2.8 as default clock.
but on top of it, try to do a sketch (or a photoshop crop) of how premiere or whatever will be used will look like in such a display, showing an output monitor smaller than a credit card..
just an advice, that's a really cool and really expensive laptop, but working on it probably is a pain.
 
jazzroy said:
but on top of it, try to do a sketch (or a photoshop crop) of how premiere or whatever will be used will look like in such a display, showing an output monitor smaller than a credit card..
Click to expand...
I will be using external monitor as much as possible. However, there will be situations where I need a small package/LCD too.
 
Caesar said:
Isn't 2.26 enough for 1080/24p editing?
Click to expand...
there's not a yes/no answer.

you can edit 1080i also on a Pentium IV (which was by the way around 3-4 Ghz!!), you'll just have to wait 20 seconds each command you give :)

so, it depends on many factors:
- which software are you going to use? some use multicores more intensively than others (if you use one that doesn't use multicores while editing you end up having a machine slower than a P IV !)
- which kind of editing are you going to do? the more tracks you have with the more filters applied, the slower will be the pre-render. are you going for simple cut'n'paste or some nice vfx composition?
- depending on software and on filters you use sometimes a powerful GPU can help a lot if it's used by the program
- as stated before, 2.26 is the peak turbo speed, but that cpu is produced for working at half the speed normally. so you could end up in overheating issues and shorter life probably.

if you can strecth to at least a 15" laptop you can get a totally different beast that can hold up your expectations.
I suggerst you to look for some reviews and benchmarks for videoediting laptops around the web.
anyway, good luck with your search!
 
From the same seller I pointed to before, they also list this when you go to "See other items" and it appears to be exactly the same price as the one you posted about.

That would do a far better job of editing HD.
 
Turbo frequency is also only a single core, it disables multicore usage. Yes that alien ware 15" would be good
 
I think Apple is about to launch new MBP models. Definitely more powerful GPU. 8GB RAM boosts performance.

If you wanna edit on MBP screen, hi-res + matte options might help.
 
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