HD video handling Laptop

[PeterM]

Whats the minimum spec (and therefore cost) of a laptop that could handle and edit HD video without me growing old while I do it ?

I dont really want a tower etc for all sorts of reasons...there must be laptops that can do it ?

Anyone in the know on this sort of stuff ?

I'm off shopping this week and oddly not for another boat

[Pikey Dave]

I use a Lenovo X220 Intel I7, 8gb ram. It "only" has a 12" screen but I use it on the move & it suits me rather than lugging a 17" behemoth around. The screen is some kind of fancy Hi-res thingy, I can't remember the correct term, but it looks nice! It handles my GoPro footage no problem.

[lukewhiting]

Our asus handles it pretty well...not a clue what model it is but it does the job fine & its nothing fancy! Cost us about £300. For editing HD videos it all depends on the software you use

[PeterM]

So 8GB ram is about the min?....

Not to worried about screen size...as by time its sorted playback will be on hd TV.

[longjohn]

probably more expensive that equivalent PC laptop - but much less trouble and better reliability - Go for a MacBook Pro - you won't regret it & yes I'd go for 8gb a Mac will actually use all the memory you give it.

Just be aware on a PC even in Windows 8 that it doesn't recognise more than 4gb of memory (regardless of what memory is installed) unless you are running 64bit Windows & a 64 bit program. And Windows 8 is just horrible unless its on a touch screen or tablet.
John

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by longjohn

probably more expensive ... Go for a MacBook Pro - you won't regret it

Probably?

[Starovich]

Originally Posted by longjohn

And Windows 8 is just horrible unless its on a touch screen or tablet.
John

I use Classic Shell makes Win 8 look like all the other windows, unless you want to use the "Tile" Menu

[longjohn]

Originally Posted by Leapy

Probably?

Oh, Ok - almost certainly but not necessarily by as much as you might think - all current MacBooks have high end Intel i7 processors and a decent slug of RAM as standard, with good graphic processors etc - more than up to the job for most people's needs - just make sure you compare like with like specs!

But it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind, power, reliability, ease of ownership & style.....

In general I believe that a Mac is a much more reliable & easier to maintain home computer system. This is mostly because of the reduced vulnerability to viruses and other malicious applications but also because Apple control both the hardware and operating system, making for a more tightly quality controlled and integrated system. Also if you stick to third party applications (both free and paid ) via the Apple App store a similar degree of control is applied to the 3rd party applications, potentially promising better reliability & quality.

I say that as an IT professional with over 25 years managing Windows based commercial systems, but have used Macs in my home environment for the last 10 or more years. In that time I have not used any full time antivirus software, but have checked my Macs every now and again - but have never found a virus that infected them but have found emails to have contained Windows viruses/malware. In contrast I have found unprotected Windows machines to have been virus/malware infected within seconds of connecting to the internet.

It's not a question of a hacker finding a way in, it's a question of wether it's worth his while. It is probably easier to hack Windows and its certainly more worthwhile for a hacker to spend his energy hacking Windows computers as they are still most numerous operating system out there. That the main reason Macs are generally not at risk is that 99% of the viruses etc out there are targeted at Windows.

In my opinion it's still quite safe to operate a Mac without any additional antivirus tools. However be aware that although a Mac may not be affected or vulnerable to a virus it receives (say via email), that virus could easily be passed along to, and infect a Windows machine by forwarding the email to a Windows user.

And why would you buy a computer with Windows 8 just to use a classic shell to make it look like an older version of Windows??
The nicest and most useable (apart from its security flaws) version of Windows is XP which debuted in 2001!!

[Starovich]

Originally Posted by longjohn

And why would you buy a computer with Windows 8 just to use a classic shell to make it look like an older version of Windows??

New pc's come with win 8 with no option to turn on the std menu (which was in the beta version via a registry switch) ,you know the interface that 10's millions of users are used to, and have been using for 10- 15 years.

The tile menu as you say is not great without a touch screen, and as 99% of currently available software is not written with tiles in mind, it offers 0 benefit to use the tile menu ill stick with the std until the apps have caught up.

In addition i am a developer and have to cover all abilities of user from highly competent, to struggle to find the "any key" (as in press any key to continue). So, if there is a method of getting users to use win 8 with much less stress than teaching 100's of users tile menu ill take it thanks.

Back to original post, an I5 laptop with min 8gb of ram will suffice for most video editing, if you got more cash, up the the ram (may want to price extra ram modules separately and plug them in yourself could be cheaper than moving to a higher spec model).

The software you plan to do editing will will also have a part to play as it may not run on a mac or on windows. If you are using to using a package and have other uses and software for the machine, stick with what you know, unless you want cross train onto the mac variants (or windows variant depending on what you currently have).

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by longjohn

Oh, Ok - almost certainly but not necessarily by as much as you might think - all current MacBooks have high end Intel i7 processors and a decent slug of RAM as standard, with good graphic processors etc - more than up to the job for most people's needs - just make sure you compare like with like specs!

But it's a small price to pay for the peace of mind, power, reliability, ease of ownership & style.....

In general I believe that a Mac is a much more reliable & easier to maintain home computer system. This is mostly because of the reduced vulnerability to viruses and other malicious applications but also because Apple control both the hardware and operating system, making for a more tightly quality controlled and integrated system. Also if you stick to third party applications (both free and paid ) via the Apple App store a similar degree of control is applied to the 3rd party applications, potentially promising better reliability & quality.

I say that as an IT professional with over 25 years managing Windows based commercial systems, but have used Macs in my home environment for the last 10 or more years. In that time I have not used any full time antivirus software, but have checked my Macs every now and again - but have never found a virus that infected them but have found emails to have contained Windows viruses/malware. In contrast I have found unprotected Windows machines to have been virus/malware infected within seconds of connecting to the internet.

It's not a question of a hacker finding a way in, it's a question of wether it's worth his while. It is probably easier to hack Windows and its certainly more worthwhile for a hacker to spend his energy hacking Windows computers as they are still most numerous operating system out there. That the main reason Macs are generally not at risk is that 99% of the viruses etc out there are targeted at Windows.

In my opinion it's still quite safe to operate a Mac without any additional antivirus tools. However be aware that although a Mac may not be affected or vulnerable to a virus it receives (say via email), that virus could easily be passed along to, and infect a Windows machine by forwarding the email to a Windows user.

And why would you buy a computer with Windows 8 just to use a classic shell to make it look like an older version of Windows??
The nicest and most useable (apart from its security flaws) version of Windows is XP which debuted in 2001!!

My missus has a Mac Book pro & I HATE IT with a vengeance, I have my laptop, if she is just playing on the 'net she uses the Mac, but I can guarantee that the first time she needs to do any serious work or anything that's slightly "off piste" she'll be asking to borrow the laptop.

[longjohn]

well, you know what they say about old dogs.... ;-)

[PeterM]

Interesting reading ..many thanks to all. I mean to talk to some of you on Sunday who are clearly 'in the know'.

I've never used a mac - so are nervous - but from what I hear it wont be hard to convert.

Anyone give a link to a machine I could spend maybe £1000 on - or do I just go for high RAM , and high processor speeds - and sort out the software afterwards ?

[AJ.]

I'm going for the i mac 2012 21.5 inch never had one before. I have a few old laptops and with the size of media files pics and videos these days I want to store all in one place and have a machine software with a good heritage of processing and editing RAW pictures and HD video for the go pro.

With the Time capsule at 2TB that should be plenty to back up all important files.

The super drive as the 2012 imac is so slim its doesn't come with a CD/DVDRW.

Including the AppleCare you are looking at £1500 Inc Vat, so it's not cheap but the spec is top notch and no more worrying about Viruses and malware and running scans as LongJohn mentioned is a bonus

[longjohn]

Pete
Take your pick from this link based on screen size and disc capacity & budget!. Obviously the smaller screens are cheaper and the basic 13" 2.5Ghz would I'm sure, be fine. If its your only computer I wouldn't recommend the flash storage drives as the capacity is limited (256gb) - but they are much faster (& much more expensive). Also I would probably initially just go for the standard 4gb ram and see how it performs - It's an easy later upgrade to 8gb with someone like Crucial and is cheaper than Apple original fitment.
The Macbook pro comes as standard (within the iLife suite) with video editing software which is quite good and easy to use - iMovie

Give me a PM or call if you want to discuss further....

MacBook Pro - Buy MacBook Pro Notebook Computers with Free Shipping - Apple Store (UK)

Crucial memory upgrade link:
Computer memory upgrades for Apple MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 (13-inch DDR3) Mid-2012 Laptop/Notebook from Crucial.com

John

[clydeoutboards]

Hi

windows 7 and 8 is 64 bit so the memory issue is just a scare. if all you are doing is video and graphics macs are best but remember most of the world and other devices use windows and they are v v different.

If its for general use + video editing then its a PC or laptop.

Next memory is v v cheap. check for your self and look at how much an extra 2 or 4gb will cost you so dont be put off by buying a machine that has 4 or 6 Gb of memory.

something like this is fine:

if you dont have windows HP Pavilion G6-1344sa 15.6" Laptop - Intel i5-2450M 6GB 750GB HDD HDMI DVDRW W7 | eBay

as for i7 the extra money is not worth the extra power in percentage terms so unless you are doing loads and load of it then a few seconds wait will save a few hundred pounds.

Oh and before someone goes on about hard drive size you would get around 250-300 films on the disks of the above and your other applications and I dont think you will be making that many 1.5 hour films! yes you will have other stuff as well but please come back to me when you are even 50% full as hard disks are getting cheaper every day and it will take you a good time to fill the ones in the links above up!


Dave

Ps I only have 20 years IT industry working for resellers infrastructure i.e. pc's , servers etc.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by longjohn

I wouldn't recommend the flash storage drives as the capacity is limited (256gb)

Now over 750Gb if you fancy a mortgage Top spec MacBookPro with 3 yr Apple Care rushes towards £3500

[willk]

Windows 7 Home originally shipped as 32bit. Dunno about now.

[longjohn]

Originally Posted by clydeoutboards

Hi

windows 7 and 8 is 64 bit so the memory issue is just a scare.

and so were XP & Vista for that matter BUT ONLY if you bought/have the 64bit versions and most bundled versions were not 64bit - & then you had to buy the 64bit versions of the application software too to fully benefit.

[PeterM]

Confusion is approaching ( if not already here...)

I need to speak to a real person who isn't just trying to flog me stuff at £3500...

[longjohn]

Originally Posted by Leapy

Now over 750Gb if you fancy a mortgage Top spec MacBookPro with 3 yr Apple Care rushes towards £3500

I meant as a standard config - and yes the price is monstrous!!