Hey all, in search of a new computer. Just don't know which to chose. I would like a laptop because I can carry it where ever I go and be very beneficial. But with a desktop, I can add drives and hd burners. What are your opinions?

Also, mac or pc? I've grown up with PC but I hear mac isn't that hard to learn.

My budget is <$3000

Thanks

that question is based solely on whether or not you need mobility when editing your footage. Im someone who's on the go all the time so having a mobile editing station is nice- but also more expensive. For the same money you could grab a dedicated workstation with some real chops in it and buy other things like a faster video card, dual monitors, etc etc.

Mac and PC side are relatively the same price wise- decide what NLE you want to go with and if its not FCP then you're heading to the PC side which has plenty of great NLE's.

this thread has been covered quite a bit though if you do a search through this forum.

good luck!

Alan

I agree with Alan: if you REALLY need mobility, buy a laptop... editing HDV without too heavy effects or color correction will work on a heavy laptop, but for the same money you could get a reallyyyy heavy horsepower PC (or Mac).

Thank you for all the reply's guys. I think I'm leaning to buying a PC desktop. Should I build my own or get a dell/hp/compact?

I have looked at the mac site, and you can pretty much build your own mac pro there. Any PC's out there that have it all for HD editing, in general?

What do you mean with editing HD? HDV or DVC Pro or HDCAM or...?

You can build your own PC or you can order a Mac Pro...
I personally think a good Mac Pro with Final Cut Studio 2 is a killer combination, but of course you can also put together your own PC (warning: contrary to what many believe - and this comes from a PC user, not a Mac user - Mac's aren't really more expensive then PC's, if you really compare them in specs).

Mac: Final Cut Studio 2 (or the light version: Final Cut Express)
Adobe CS 3
Avid

PC: Adobe CS 3 (or the light version: Premiere Elements)
Avid
Vegas

do you have experience with either of these programs?
And do you have more experience with PC's or Mac's, or do you choose primarily on basis of the choice of your NLE?

Currently I use an HP PC with Adobe Premier Pro CS3. But I want to edit HDV and looking to upgrade to another computer.

Currently I use an HP PC with Adobe Premier Pro CS3. But I want to edit HDV and looking to upgrade to another computer.

Andre,
Since your using Premier on the PC, if you stay pc, you can save money by not having to purchase nle software. Do a search on here, someone recently posted all the specs for a good pc based hdv editing system. The specs will be valid whether you build one or buy6 one.

Here are two good threads:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=95335&highlight=pc+system
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=105818&highlight=pc+system

Premiere Pro CS3 should behave fine with HDV... I edited a complete HDV project with version 2.0 and it all went fine.
What are your current computer specs?

I have an HP that can barely do DV. I want another computer to do all my HDV editing and, soon, authoring.

I wouldn't go near PP CS3 with a ten foot pole. I run Vegas 8 on a Dell laptop. My Inspiron captures flawlessly. With two 8 Gb CF cards as external drives, I can capture HDV directly over the firewire bus. Really great solution. Two gigs of RAM, ATi Radeon X1400 video card, core 2Duo, express card slot.

I wouldn't go near PP CS3 with a ten foot pole.
Bill, what are your concerns with PP CS3?