Will my laptop work ok?
 

Hello all, very new here. New to everything actually. I owned a DVX100a last year for some time but it was usually at a friends house. Once I got it back the firewire port stopped working so I never had a chance to work on anything. My question is whether or not my laptop will be sufficient for editing. I have a FX1 on it's way, hopefully next week. I have a Dell Dual Core 2.0ghz, 2GB Ram, GeForce Go7800 (256mb). So, she ain't the newest thing around but she runs pretty good. I also have XP with SP2 as well. Will I have any problems with editing on this setup? Any help would be appreciated. Again, I'm such a newbie it's not even funny. Thanks

So what speed is your hard disk? You may need to replace it with a 7200rpm drive to capture reliably.

What program are you planning on using to edit? Have you checked the specs for that program (check the manufacturer's website)?

I believe it's around 5400 rpms? I know it's not the 7200. Should I get an external one that's faster? I plan on using Vegas for my editing, or maybe Adobe.

While a 5400rpm drive may not be the fastest, HDV and DV video only require a transfer rate of about 3.6 megabytes per second. Virtually any hard drive made in the last few years can do this easily regardless of the drive's spindle speed. I'm certain that your laptop will work fine.