Laptop for editing HD?

gary the great

Lads im about to buy a new laptop. Other than basic internet etc i wanna be able to do some video editing on it.

I currently use Sony Vegas and am also about to buy a HD camera...and i understand HD needs more power computer wise to do editing etc?

I havent really a clue to what i need from a computer for editing HD video...obviously ill be getting a dual core with at least 3 gigs of ram. What about the graphics card? is this important? Is there much of a difference between HD/non HD when it comes to specs needed form you computer for editing and making videos?

Also, I only have about 600 to spend, so can anyone point me in the right direction?

decob

I suppose it all depends on how you intend editing the 'HD'... are you saying you'll be editing uncompressed hd or transcode it to something else then edit that? Is this for some form of professional service or just something for you to play around with?

Something else that needs to be really considered is external storage and the possible connections given the different data rates of HD codecs. So to be honest forget about usb, you need to be thinking more firewire800, eSATA or SAS (don't even think there are SAS connections available on laptops)

A decent gfx card is also very usefully for rendering of effects and also as an additional output - hdmi into a flatscreen.

Hugh_C

I think 600 may spec you a bit too low. Can that be revised upwards?

gary the great

Thanks for the replies lads.

basically i do a lot of travelling and like to make videos of my trips...after seeing a few of other peoples vidoes on youtube in HD, mine look terrible. So ive a bit of extra cash now and want start recording my trips in HD. thats what i what it for, nothing professional.

600 is pretty much the max i can spend.

I edit everythign directly of the camera and use Sony Vegas..but am after hearing that using HD video in Vegas needs a lot more power than i currently have avaialble on my curren$t laptop (vista, 1gb ram and a pentium dual core,basic standard graphics card)

high heels

you would need to spend 2K on a laptop to make it good enough for HD.. Shoot in SD but up the quality.. HD wont make it look good if you cant make SD look good..

ciencin

you dont need to spend 2k to edit HD footage...

A Macbook Pro will let you edit HD with no problem, will cost about $1000

m83

ciencin wrote: »

you dont need to spend 2k to edit HD footage...

A Macbook Pro will let you edit HD with no problem, will cost about $1000

Yup, got a MBP recently as i'm off travelling later this year. Handles HD just fine.

adrianj

600 is a low budget, you need to double it atleast Have a look at the HP "Envy" comes with an i7 cpu and 6gb or even 8gb of ram. Check some Sony Vaios too.

Nforce

rufus the bum wrote: »

Lads im about to buy a new laptop. Other than basic internet etc i wanna be able to do some video editing on it.

I currently use Sony Vegas and am also about to buy a HD camera...and i understand HD needs more power computer wise to do editing etc?

I havent really a clue to what i need from a computer for editing HD video...obviously ill be getting a dual core with at least 3 gigs of ram. What about the graphics card? is this important? Is there much of a difference between HD/non HD when it comes to specs needed form you computer for editing and making videos?

Also, I only have about 600 to spend, so can anyone point me in the right direction?

This one should suit your budget

Ban Ki Moon

Get a Mac !

Ban Ki Moon

Please do not buy a dell,dell are mickey mouse.Get a hp!

Nforce

Ban Ki Moon wrote: »

Please do not buy a dell,dell are mickey mouse.Get a hp!

:rolleyes:


Show the OP a HP notebook with similar specs and price to that Dell system.

af_thefragile

For HD what you need is a fast processor, huge ram (atleast 2gb) and a very good graphics card (atleast 256mb).

My macbook is about 4 years old, its got a 1.8Ghz dual core processor, 2GB ram and an intel integrated graphics car (which is ****!). It just about manages HD processing. It does the rendering and everything fine (which is what I mostly use it for) but for real time feedback of the video and any effects you add to it, it struggles. This is mostly because of the lack of a proper graphics card.

Anyway, the point is you need a good graphics card to work with HD. Alteast a nvidia Geforce 9 series with 258MB ram if you want a smooth flow.

I don't know if you can get a laptop with a good intel dualcore processor, atleast 2gb ram and a powerful graphics card for less than 600eur. You might wanna look into building one yourself.

Or if you can expand your budget, get a macbook pro and you'll be sorted!!
Macs might seem to be overpriced and have lower specs than a PC of equal price but they perform better cuz of the smoother operating system and workflow. Final Cut express on macbook pro works like a charm.

dory

I'm just looking at MBPs now. It says only the middle 15'' has the 256mb you speak of. I had hoped to spend less than E1800. Would any of the cheaper ones that just have the GForce 9400 graphics be ok for editing? I'll be using the computer for After Effects, Final Cut Pro and Dreamweaver mostly.
Also, is it ok to get the 2GB and then upgrade myself? The Apple prices for a bit of extra RAM seems a bit nuts.

h4rDm0d

all you need is cpu to render the video and also for the preview, as long as you have about 2 or 3 Gb of ram you will be fine for 720p all the way to 1080p editing and rendering in sony vegas.

faz

Hi,
can anybody help. I need a lesson in sony vegas 8 or 9.
I am based in dublin, i will pay.

with thanks,

feargal

high heels

Vegas is ****e so you wont be able to find a professional to show you.. film base do a editing course every once and a while but would be FCP or avid..

h4rDm0d

hey,
I know some stuff in vegas if you want, should be just enough to get you by, like organising clips and then render settings too.

faz

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

i only really need the basics of sony vegas. so that sounds fine. i see your in meath how would we do it.

faz

h4rDm0d

faz wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your reply.

i only really need the basics of sony vegas. so that sounds fine. i see your in meath how would we do it.

faz

Im still at school so i chould do something on msn called remote assistance and you can see what im doin and stuff, or you could come to navan if you want :L

faz

thanks very much for your offer. though i was hoping to find someone in Dublin,it would be difficult for me to get to navan at the moment. if i cant find someone in Dublin over the next week or so ill try and make it up to you, if you are still amenable.

with thanks,

faz

h4rDm0d

well depends what you are going to be doing on it?! i could make some screen shot videos too if you want?!

Pepsie

gary the great wrote: »

Lads im about to buy a new laptop. Other than basic internet etc i wanna be able to do some video editing on it.

I currently use Sony Vegas and am also about to buy a HD camera...and i understand HD needs more power computer wise to do editing etc?

I havent really a clue to what i need from a computer for editing HD video...obviously ill be getting a dual core with at least 3 gigs of ram. What about the graphics card? is this important? Is there much of a difference between HD/non HD when it comes to specs needed form you computer for editing and making videos?

Also, I only have about 600 to spend, so can anyone point me in the right direction?

Hi Gary,
I have just upgraded a laptop & I could probably do you a good deal on last year's Toshiba unit; Intel Dual Core2, 2.2 - 3ram (upgrade up to 8) - single 320gb H/D, also designed to fit second internal hard drive, H/D caddy required - full HD 1080p out put via HDMI - 17" screen.
Unit is perfect in every way, interested?
Regards,
Pepsie

faz

Hi h4RDmOd,

Thanks for that, it sounds like a lot of trouble though and i think i learn best by sitting down beside someone asking questions.

talk to you later,

faz

faz

Hi h4rDmOd,

give me a shout when you get a chance 8369991

faz

dacogawa

Ha, Ha high heels. I love when mac people call Vegas names (how's the 64 bit going for you ?) you always fear what you dont understand.

and if you think there's nothing professional done on it what about Paranormal Activity (film) or Nightline with Ted Koppel ?

I've got a link for you high heels http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA