Editing Hardware Sites
 

Are there any sites out there that keep an eye on what's next for PCs, speed-wise, memory-wise, etc. Kind of a Think Secret for the rest of us? Something like that might help us when we're trying to figure out what kind of editing set-up we should be saving up for.

www.tomshardware.com is quite useful.

Figure out exactly what you need to get the job done.
Then go buy the parts.
If the part(s) is not out yet wait.
No secret.
Ken

Dear Jose,

Thank you so much for the tip, it's a helpful site. FYI, Intel chips are about to get cheaper thanks to the new version of P4 they introduced today but unfortunately they're only predicting to get up to 4gigahertz by the end of the year. Meanwhile we've been stuck at 3 gig chips for a year now. Guess the speed doubling every 18 months prophecy is finally ending for a little while.

Dear Ken,

Thanks but... huh?

I did what Ken Hodson suggested, only i had someone else put together the system. Learned a lot the different components from this website, and eventually bought an editing system from them that I configured. Great service. Very personable. Reasonably good prices.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/

another place that has turnkey solutions geared specifically for the HD10 is

http://www.1beyond.com/products/hdmpeg2.asp

Here's my take on planning for a PC based NLE. (having done it 3 times since non-linear began)

1. Read Tom's Hardware often. Not only does Tom get positively deep (and technically way over my head) into motherboards, processors, ram, video cards, etc., but the site is just a fun read. My only complaint is that the site really isn't up to speed on what video professionals use. It's geared more towards home enthusiasts, overclockers and gamers. But no place is better to keep up with the latest, fastest PC components.

2. Subscribe to all the free video magazines. dv.com, avvideo.com, videography.com, and videosystems.com all have online sites that mirror in part the print versions of thier magazines. They all offer free subscriptions to video professionals. That includes "Betsy Moore Video Productions", or whatever company name you choose to use. This gives you a video-specific slant on hardware/software. You also get a ton of ads for system resellers. Visit thier websites and see what components they are offering.

3. Reverse-engineer your buying decision. First, decide what software/hardware video card/ etc. has the features you need/want to work with, THEN build/buy a computer to match. Most manufacturers will have motherboard/processor/operating system combinations that are specifically approved for their products. I'm thinking Pinnacle, Matrox, Canopus here. Check their websites. I think this might be similar to what Ken was talking about.

4. Wait as long as possible to buy. If you need an (X)GHz processor and 1GB of DDR(XXX) ram, expect to pay dearly for it. But 6 months from now, when the (X.2) is the fastest processor, and new ram is all the rage, the current crop will be a lot cheaper.

HDV editing is still taking baby steps right now. Unless you already have an HD-10 and have to edit content right away, I'd wait to see what, if any major announcements come out of NAB in April, then look for wide-based support from all the major players by late 2004.

There are constants that have been true since the start of computers. The system you want is always over $5000, and the system you can afford right now is a year old. Sigh...

Betsy- my post was ment to illustrate that future guessing hardware is a game of minimal returns. Especially for NLE systems. You want proven hardware that works solid with todays NLE software. Trying to plan out what is comming down the pike has no advantage unless a suitable solution just doesn't exist now.
An example would be if you bought a HD10 in the summer so you future watched and found out that AMD would release its FX51 around christmas. So you save up as it will be the most advanced processor. Then you realize that the initial MB offerings are subpar for serious NLE work and the FX51 isn't the best thing going for the P4 optimized AspectHD.
If your looking down the road in hopes of serious power, why not consider render faming now. You can build AthlonXP 2500's for very little and you can put together some serious power.
Harware sites are great though, (i personaly like Hardocp harware reviews) and should be used to plan out what is the best thing going.
As far as what is comming down the pike: Faster cpu's, bigger HDD, and faster video cards. What will be good? Wait for a whole bunch of solid reviews to find out.
If you are a serious 3D gamer future guessing has some benefits for the latest and greatest video cards (note: people stop wasting good money on top end gaming cards for you NLE, you generally want 2D ability not 3D)

Ken

Yes, it's just one of those things where you want to know if the new chip, hd, memory coming out next week is going to drive down the price of the older system you want. Our buying the HD cam its self was a product of hearing about it early and waiting to buy it instead of getting an XL1. So for me it is true a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush sometimes but not always. Since we can wait til April or May before we need to start editing it would help to wait that long if it would save us a few hundred dollars. But if most sources think it's not going to go down much until then we might as well buy it now and start getting comfortable with the hardware/software.