My parents are willing to go 50/50 on a purchase for a laptop for me because I started college. Now I would like to use the laptop to type up papers, which isn't a big problem. I would also like to mess with a few games here and there... but most importantly, edit videos and export them to DVDs in great quality.

So far my experience with sony vegas and PCs... I never get good quality DVDs. And I know Final Cut is a great video editing software. I also hear you can directly export your work to a DVD. So I am blindly assuming I will have better quality DVDs... and cut my editing time because of the user friendly Final Cut.

So what advice can you give me? What would you choose? Or should I just wait for the rumored new apple laptops coming out in october? (If your wondering how I get big discounts, its through my college)


Dell XPS1530 $1299

Processor/Display
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache)

Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1

Memory
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)

Wireless Networking Cards
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card

Software - Antivirus
McAfee SecurityCenter 15-months

Hard Drives
Size: 250GB2 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

Combo or DVD+RW Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)

Warranty & Service
3Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis


Apple Macbook $1299

MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB L2 cache, White, 13.3in 1280 by 800 resolution glossy display, Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor, 2GB RAM (2x1GB) with support for up to 4GB, 250GB Hard Drve, 8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW), built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit) Ethernet, Airport Extreme WiFi (802.11n) and Bluetooth 2.0, iSight Webcam


Apple Macbook Pro $1599

MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/Intel "Penryn" chipset, 800MHz frontside bus, 15.4in 1440 x 900 resolution Display, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT, 2GB Memory (2x1GB), 200GB 5400RPM Hard Drive, 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW), Built-in iSight Webcam

If you wait for the rumored new Apple laptops coming out in
October then you will hear about the rumored new Apple laptops
coming out in February and want to wait until then.

Get what you need right away. A new, better, cheaper computer
will be rumored before you open the box.

Between the three options you list I would choose the MacBook Pro
or a MacBook with a larger screen. 13.3' is pretty small when
doing any editing.

I personally would chose the Apple Macbook Pro because I've had better experiences with Macs than with other laptops. Plus you can use Final Cut, which is what some industry leaders tend to use. Great software, comes with everything you needs as a student, and you can even get a free iPod from what I hear.

Go with the Macbook Pro.

Have you factored FCP/software cost into this equation. Maybe you already have it. I don't know if that adjusts your price or not. But a 15" screen is a minimum I would say. Especially, if you're working with HD content.

I have a somewhat older MBP and it's awesome, light and works great. I had an HD video premiere in London and hooked it up to a 1080p Plasma. Worked great. Never had any unexplained crashes or glitches for over a year now. I don't think I could say that for any of the PCs I've owned.

My friend recentley purchased a macbook pro and final cut came with it. Doesn't final cut come with macbooks or do you need to buy them seperatley?

I'm an apple guy and an old school command line geek, so I have to go with the Mac, but both will serve the purpose. What you are comfortable with the most will be more productive for you. One consideration is that the "More Software" arguments for the PC is mostly Games. If you intend to work on the computer, the abundance of games for the windows platform will provide non-productive distractions (and all the BIG titles come out cross-platform anyway ;) ).

I also like the workflow on final cut better than any of the other programs out there... note that all my arguments revolve around how I interact with the computer. If that part doesn't fit you, you won't be productive and you'll dread having to work on the computer. Make sure to play with both before buying. Hit an official apple store and ask to play with final cut a bit (they probably have it installed on at least one machine there). You can also probably find someone with a Dell (or any other company's box)/Windows/whatever editing package you intend to use. Play with it to see if stuff annoys you about how each of them run. Then make an informed decision, not just based on what I've chosen or anyone else has chosen... but give them both an open-minded try :)

will do knightly,

I took a video production class in high school. We used macs and imovie and I loved it. Very user friendly; I really enjoyed it more than vegas and premiere.

Me and my friend (and editor for my upcoming film) both use Macs.

Personally, I like the Macbook Pro. The cost difference isn't all that great, and in my mind you get a machine that gives you the freedom you need at this point in your career.

Man, it makes me wish I had some money.

In my opinion, laptops are not the best choice for video editing. Laptops are designed to be efficient more so than powerful. That said, the power of laptops lately has been very impressive. And while I am very much a PC guy, I will say that if you must go with a laptop for editing, you'll probably be happier with the mac. Also, it's worth noting too that on the mac, if you wanted you could do a dual boot with windows... while it can "technically" be done on a PC too, it's not quite the same since the only OSX versions that will install are hacked together frankenstein monsters.

I would also agree with what Rik said... 13.3" display is certainly not going to be a comfortable size to do editing on.. I've got a 17" display on my HP laptop, and while I do not actively edit on it -- as you may have guessed from my post already -- I HAVE in the past done some editing, and it was.. cramped.

I personally have a mac book pro and I love it- being a final cut pro user I just love the simplicity that mac has.

I've got a Mac Pro and I love it compared to the many pc's I've had over the years. It's much nicer for graphics and video. Good luck!

You mentioned you would be playing games. In that case a PC *might* be better for you. Also, FCP is a separate purchase.

I personally have a Dell XPS M1530 and its great. To me the Dell is a better deal because you can get twice the amount of RAM in it which means lots of room for a powerful video card. Its a very quick computer and handles big video and photo files well.

Just a small sidenote .... Not only do you need a Mac to run FCP, but if you ever get into sound editing with Pro Tools, again, you need a Mac.

My friend recentley purchased a macbook pro and final cut came with it. Doesn't final cut come with macbooks or do you need to buy them seperatley?

When you get a Mac, you get iMovie HD. If you want Final Cut, you have to get it separately. You might also look into getting Final Cut while you are a student because the price of the system comes WAY DOWN. Its still expensive, but MUCH lower in cost.....



-- spinner :cool:

Just a small sidenote .... Not only do you need a Mac to run FCP, but if you ever get into sound editing with Pro Tools, again, you need a Mac.

Yah, the biggest source of frustration in my last few projects was how *all* the sound-mixers I worked with insisted on using OMF audio exports - Adobe Premiere can't do it.

With what it cost me to upgrade Adobe CS1 to CS3, I could have bought a friggin' MAC and FCP, and saved myself so many headaches.

Doesn't look like CS4 is going to have OMF export options, either. :grumpy:

I own a PC, but my office bought me a Mac to do my video work on. To put it simply, my next purchase for the family will be a Mac.