Advice required, please...

Some friends have asked for advice about the next computer
they buy. The old one is a bit of an unreliable old clunker
and needs replacing.

The main use they have for it is for photo and video
manipulation for their holiday snaps/vids and
internet/email.

I know bugger all about video editing software. I just
know that on their current PC. 1.8Ghz Intel chip of some
description, 60Gb Hard drive, motherboard graphics
controller (I suspect the main problem) and 1Gb RAM. The
thing crawls along and is next to useless.

My initial impulse was to spec up a new motherboard, CPU,
Memory and graphics card (possibly a new PSU too) and
bung it all in their old box spending maybe £300-£400.
They, however, quite fancy the idea of a laptop. So
long as it is capable of handling video editing work.

So, would a £500-£600 laptop be suitable to run video
editing software competently, or should I stick to plan
A and put some decent components in their existing box?

Ta muchly.

--
Alex
BMW R1150GS
DIAABTCOD#3 MSWF#4 UKRMFBC#6 Ibw#35 BOB#8
Windy's "little soldier"

> Some friends have asked for advice about the next computer
> they buy. The old one is a bit of an unreliable old clunker
> and needs replacing.

I got mine from Overclockers:

http://tinyurl.com/6q8fg7

Lots to choose from.

--
Kev

Alex Ferrier <x@x.x> wrote the following literary masterpiece:
>I know bugger all about video editing software. I just
>know that on their current PC. 1.8Ghz Intel chip of some
>description, 60Gb Hard drive, motherboard graphics
>controller (I suspect the main problem) and 1Gb RAM. The
>thing crawls along and is next to useless.

Apart from the graphics card, that system should handle what they're
asking it do easily.

A new card would be a good idea, but it's even more important to have as
little else running in the background as possible - especially when
editing video.

The best idea is to have a dual-boot system/separate user where the only
thing that's installed is the image and editing software.

--
Veggie Dave
UKRMHRC#2 BOTAFOF#08
IQ 18 FILMS http://www.iq18films.com
POST PRODUCTION http://www.iq18films.co.uk
Toxic Shock Syndrome Gets More Girls Than Me

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:08:29 GMT, "Alex Ferrier" <x@x.x> allegedly wrote:

> So, would a œ500-œ600 laptop be suitable to run video
> editing software competently

It's easily possible with the speed of CPUs and memory that are cheaply
available. The main thing is screen size. I like running with a full
width timeline and if I've got multiple audio and video layers, then on a
laptop it may not leave much room for the preview screen and looking at
your clips.

I've done it on my laptop when on hols, but it's not something I'd want to
do a longer project on.

Of course, that might not bother your friends, and they could be happy
with a 17" laptop.

Alex Ferrier wrote:
> Advice required, please...
>
> Some friends have asked for advice about the next computer
> they buy. The old one is a bit of an unreliable old clunker
> and needs replacing.
>
> The main use they have for it is for photo and video
> manipulation for their holiday snaps/vids and
> internet/email.

> So, would a £500-£600 laptop be suitable to run video
> editing software competently, or should I stick to plan
> A and put some decent components in their existing box?

The first PC I bought / added to for video editing was nothing spectacular -
P4 2.8GHz, 1Gb RAM, bog-standard NVidia 5500 graphics card, 160Gb + 100Gb
HDDs. Did the job absoulutely fine for home movies, and the only reason I
upgraded to my current setup (quad-core and an 8800GT graphics card) was to
play games better.

I'm not really au fait with laptops, but the main limitations I can think of
would be HDD space (raw video uses 12Gb / hour, and will quickly consume the
HDDs of most lappys), and the inability to run a second HDD (a dedicated HDD
for footage is recommended). I don't think firewire ports are as common on
laptops either, and it's a bit harder to add a second screen for full-screen
previews, if you want one (not *that* tricky though).

Graphics card doesn't have to be anything too impressive - most of the
work's done by the CPU.

As for processing power, if you're just cutting and pasting footage and
adding a soundtrack, pretty much any modern processor should do the job,
unless you want lightning-fast rendering. However, if you're adding lots of
effects, slo-mo, wipes etc., then you'll really notice a slow processor.

--
ZX6R F2 - The Gravelseeker
BOTAFOT #121, BBB #2

Alex Ferrier <x@x.x> wrote:

> Advice required, please...
>
> Some friends have asked for advice about the next computer
> they buy. The old one is a bit of an unreliable old clunker
> and needs replacing.
>
> The main use they have for it is for photo and video
> manipulation for their holiday snaps/vids and
> internet/email.
>
> I know bugger all about video editing software. I just
> know that on their current PC. 1.8Ghz Intel chip of some
> description, 60Gb Hard drive, motherboard graphics
> controller (I suspect the main problem) and 1Gb RAM. The
> thing crawls along and is next to useless.
>
> My initial impulse was to spec up a new motherboard, CPU,
> Memory and graphics card (possibly a new PSU too) and
> bung it all in their old box spending maybe £300-£400.
> They, however, quite fancy the idea of a laptop. So
> long as it is capable of handling video editing work.
>
> So, would a £500-£600 laptop be suitable to run video
> editing software competently, or should I stick to plan
> A and put some decent components in their existing box?

Macbook with iPhoto and iMovie.

--
SteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo'
www.italiancar.co.uk - Ducati 750SS - Hongdou GY200
Alfa 75 TSpark - Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE

"Monkey" <monkey@surfREMOVEbum.freeserve.remove.uk> wrote in message >
> I'm not really au fait with laptops, but the main limitations I can think
> of would be HDD space (raw video uses 12Gb / hour, and will quickly
> consume the HDDs of most lappys), and the inability to run a second HDD (a
> dedicated HDD for footage is recommended). I don't think firewire ports
> are as common on laptops either, and it's a bit harder to add a second
> screen for full-screen previews, if you want one (not *that* tricky
> though).

The one thing that's really easy with a laptop is to add a second screen.

Every (modern) laptop I've used will allow you to use an external
monitor/panel either to replicate the laptops display or as a dual-screen
setup.

The Dell Latitude I'm typing this on has a 120Gb HDD, 2Gb RAM, DVD Writerer
and Firewire as standard.

It was only £350 direct from the Dell Outlet site, complete with XP Pro


--
Dave
ex Motorcycle Maintenance Workshop
http://tinyurl.com/4mhaw

SteveH wrote:

> Alex Ferrier <x@x.x> wrote:
>
> > Advice required, please...
> >
> > Some friends have asked for advice about the next computer
> > they buy. The old one is a bit of an unreliable old clunker
> > and needs replacing.
> >
> > The main use they have for it is for photo and video
> > manipulation for their holiday snaps/vids and
> > internet/email.
> >
> > I know bugger all about video editing software. I just
> > know that on their current PC. 1.8Ghz Intel chip of some
> > description, 60Gb Hard drive, motherboard graphics
> > controller (I suspect the main problem) and 1Gb RAM. The
> > thing crawls along and is next to useless.
> >
> > My initial impulse was to spec up a new motherboard, CPU,
> > Memory and graphics card (possibly a new PSU too) and
> > bung it all in their old box spending maybe £300-£400.
> > They, however, quite fancy the idea of a laptop. So
> > long as it is capable of handling video editing work.
> >
> > So, would a £500-£600 laptop be suitable to run video
> > editing software competently, or should I stick to plan
> > A and put some decent components in their existing box?
>
> Macbook with iPhoto and iMovie.

Not for photo editing - unless I'm very mistaken, the MacBooks also
display a fairly low number of 'millions of colour', a bit like a 20"
iMac. Oh, and you want a big fuck-off loupe given the size of the
screen on a MacBook.

@Alex - decent graphics card, big hard drive and more memory (a lot
more, if possible) should do the trick. That or a 24" iMac .

--
Morini Corsaro 125 | CB450K4 | XL250 Motosport | 900SSD | R1150RT
Laverda SF2|Harley FXD BOTAFOF #33 TWA#10
The UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/index.html
"Je profite du paysage" - Joe Bar

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:59:54 +0100, "Dave Emerson"
<Dave_dot_Emerson@LineOne.net> wrote:

>
>"Monkey" <monkey@surfREMOVEbum.freeserve.remove.uk> wrote in message >
>> I'm not really au fait with laptops, but the main limitations I can think
>> of would be HDD space (raw video uses 12Gb / hour, and will quickly
>> consume the HDDs of most lappys), and the inability to run a second HDD (a
>> dedicated HDD for footage is recommended). I don't think firewire ports
>> are as common on laptops either, and it's a bit harder to add a second
>> screen for full-screen previews, if you want one (not *that* tricky
>> though).
>
>The one thing that's really easy with a laptop is to add a second screen.
>
>Every (modern) laptop I've used will allow you to use an external
>monitor/panel either to replicate the laptops display or as a dual-screen
>setup.
>
>The Dell Latitude I'm typing this on has a 120Gb HDD, 2Gb RAM, DVD Writerer
>and Firewire as standard.
>
>It was only £350 direct from the Dell Outlet site, complete with XP Pro

I have edited video on a laptop before, although it was hard to get
realtime preview.

I think it is more dependent on what software you are going to use to
edit. Some software is very hardware intensive.

I've just passed on some freelance work to our audio guy at work as I
got snowed under. He has worked in television since he left school as
have I. He bought the light version of Sony's Vegas on my
recommendation and did the job off his laptop and was really happy.
You will need firewire as if you go uncompressed you are simply not
going to have the HDD room or grunt on a laptop. With DV codec you
should be fine for all but huge jobs.

As another poster mentioned, keep your captured footage on the
internal drive for speed. This desktop I am posting from has 3 RAID0s
on board for speed to be able to keep up, but it is an older PC and
still stutters from time to time, more due to its motherboard pipeline
restrictions than anytyhing. My PC at work runs an Avid Adrenaline
which has dual 4gig fibre optic connections to a huge SAN plus a
direct connection to a 4TB RAID5 for preview renders. Speed is the
issue. Get rid of any bottlenecks you can.

Desktops in general are usually better as they have less bottlenecks
than laptops, but it can be done on a laptop. But maybe with a bit
more frustration factor.

Veggie Dave wrote:
>
> Apart from the graphics card, that system should handle what they're
> asking it do easily.
>
> A new card would be a good idea, but it's even more important to have as
> little else running in the background as possible - especially when
> editing video.
>
> The best idea is to have a dual-boot system/separate user where the only
> thing that's installed is the image and editing software.
>


Thanks for that. Pretty much confirms what I was thinking.
The mobo needs to go too, since it's PCI only and some of
it's USB ports have also died. So I'll spec a fairly modern
PCI-e, DDR2 board, to help free up a couple of the major
bottlenecks. Using something like a 9600GT graphics card.

I'll bear the background processes/dual boot suggestions in
mind, once I've got the thing up and running again. Though
I hope, with the hardware mods I have in mind, it won't be
all that necessary.

--
Alex
BMW R1150GS
DIAABTCOD#3 MSWF#4 UKRMFBC#6 Ibw#35 BOB#8
Windy's "little soldier"

Timo Geusch wrote:
>
> @Alex - decent graphics card, big hard drive and more memory (a lot
> more, if possible) should do the trick. That or a 24" iMac .
>


Cheers, swot I thought. Still DDR2 is nice an cheap now, so no
real problems with loadsa memory.

--
Alex
BMW R1150GS
DIAABTCOD#3 MSWF#4 UKRMFBC#6 Ibw#35 BOB#8
Windy's "little soldier"

Monkey wrote:
>
> As for processing power, if you're just cutting and pasting footage and
> adding a soundtrack, pretty much any modern processor should do the job,
> unless you want lightning-fast rendering. However, if you're adding lots
> of effects, slo-mo, wipes etc., then you'll really notice a slow
> processor.
>


Thinking of suggesting a mid range Core 2 duo, E4600, something like that.

--
Alex
BMW R1150GS
DIAABTCOD#3 MSWF#4 UKRMFBC#6 Ibw#35 BOB#8
Windy's "little soldier"

Switters wrote:
>
> It's easily possible with the speed of CPUs and memory that are cheaply
> available. The main thing is screen size. I like running with a full
> width timeline and if I've got multiple audio and video layers, then on a
> laptop it may not leave much room for the preview screen and looking at
> your clips.
>
> I've done it on my laptop when on hols, but it's not something I'd want to
> do a longer project on.
>
> Of course, that might not bother your friends, and they could be happy
> with a 17" laptop.


Yeah, I think I'll steer clear of the laptop route. All well and good
if they are happy with it, but it could turn out to be an expensive
non-solution for them if they don't like it. They seem happy enough
with the desktop as it is. They have no mobile computing requirements,

--
Alex
BMW R1150GS
DIAABTCOD#3 MSWF#4 UKRMFBC#6 Ibw#35 BOB#8
Windy's "little soldier"
I just think they like the idea of a smaller neater unit in the house.

Alex Ferrier wrote:
> Monkey wrote:
>>
>> As for processing power, if you're just cutting and pasting footage
>> and adding a soundtrack, pretty much any modern processor should do
>> the job, unless you want lightning-fast rendering. However, if
>> you're adding lots of effects, slo-mo, wipes etc., then you'll
>> really notice a slow processor.
>>
>
>
> Thinking of suggesting a mid range Core 2 duo, E4600, something like
> that.

Sounds reasonable. If you wanted, you could get the equivalent quad-core
(Q6600 - make sure you get the G0 stepping) for another £40, although the
jury's still out on how much benefit you'll get from a quad at the moment
(until more programmes start taking advantage of multiple cores).

--
ZX6R F2 - The Gravelseeker
BOTAFOT #121, BBB #2