Buying an Apple laptop..

[Testosterone boy]

I do pro digital photography and some videography. i need a laptop so I can burn CDs on the spot. A real computer geek said Apple is far better for video work. it is ready to go without adding more software. Software can fuck things up in my experience.

i want great screen resolution, 512 Megabytes plus of DDR memory, fast and big hard drive. bitchin video card, and of course a good processor for this type of work.

Where can I find a deal? Prolly need financing too. cards are always maxed out.

 

[WODIN]

http://www.dealtime.com

 

[HappyScrappy]

if you want the best video card and the best processor, then regardless of going with Apple or PC, you won't have the best in a laptop.
they can never put the best in there due to price, size, power, and heat restrictions.

Apple is well known for the video editing, but you can do it on PCs too.
It is to the point where if you are too dumb to figure little things out and you just want to be able to plug in your camera and then maybe press the spacebar and have it burn a movie - then the Apple is the way to go. They design for the dumbest possible user - they spend a lot of money designing for that. (AND their stuff is really pretty)
But they are pricey and you aren't really getting advantage from it.

There is no way that you sit back, look at it, and then say - fuck, that was done on a PC. There is no difference at the end of the day.

It is just a matter of how much hand holding you want along the way, and how much you are willing to pay for it.

 

[TheProject]

Apple also does financing through their site, and offers pretty good deals to students.

And on a side note: I can't wait for HappyScrappy to see this.

 

[HappyScrappy]

hey - I've given up on it.

Apples with the new OS X are good enough.

If you are willing to pay about $1000 extra (more over time as well with the financing) for the same stuff, and a pretty case - then I say go for it.

The list of reasons I won't buy a Mac is getting shorter - but the reasons that are left are really big in my book.
But those reasons are likely not on his list of things he cares about - so if his wallet is down with it, I say get the Ti Powerbook - it is shiny.

 

[Y_lifter]

Pretty Colors...

 

[WODIN]

Shiney = good!

 

[Testosterone boy]

hey - I've given up on it.

Apples with the new OS X are good enough.

If you are willing to pay about $1000 extra (more over time as well with the financing) for the same stuff, and a pretty case - then I say go for it.

The list of reasons I won't buy a Mac is getting shorter - but the reasons that are left are really big in my book.
But those reasons are likely not on his list of things he cares about - so if his wallet is down with it, I say get the Ti Powerbook - it is shiny.

I don't care at all how it looks. If they cost 50% more...there is no way.

Are you sure that computer skills are indicative of intelligence? I think their are different types of intelligence myself.

 

[beefybull]

No you're not buying an Apple laptop!

Dude...





















You're getting a Dell

 

[HappyScrappy]

I don't care at all how it looks. If they cost 50% more...there is no way.

Are you sure that computer skills are indicative of intelligence? I think their are different types of intelligence myself.

LOL - good point.

no - I don't think that computer skills are at all indicitive of intelligence.

I had astrophysics profs that would just fumble through their desktop on their computer and eventually get a program working, and then knew their stuff.
I know computer script kiddies that are great on their computers, but for the most part morons.

Just keep in mind that I'm on the computer all day, I have been on the computer all day since I was 18, and I get paid to be on the computer all the time. I have fun doing it.
So it is what I know - so yeah, you are right - it doesn't at all mean that people aren't smart if they can't use a computer - my bad.
I'm just used to calling people morons if they can't do XYZ right in some environment. There are about 8 billions things that I'm a moron at - but I don't think I'm a universal moron.

anyway - sorry if I stroke some nerve on a verbal slip up - I only meant retarded with computers - not retarded in the sense of how supersizeme has to go through life.

 

[TheProject]

if you want the best video card and the best processor, then regardless of going with Apple or PC, you won't have the best in a laptop.
they can never put the best in there due to price, size, power, and heat restrictions.

Apple is well known for the video editing, but you can do it on PCs too.
It is to the point where if you are too dumb to figure little things out and you just want to be able to plug in your camera and then maybe press the spacebar and have it burn a movie - then the Apple is the way to go. They design for the dumbest possible user - they spend a lot of money designing for that. (AND their stuff is really pretty)
But they are pricey and you aren't really getting advantage from it.

There is no way that you sit back, look at it, and then say - fuck, that was done on a PC. There is no difference at the end of the day.

It is just a matter of how much hand holding you want along the way, and how much you are willing to pay for it.

Yeah, but have you SEEN the NEW Mac commercial?!? That girl saved Christmas, dude! Christmas!!

Macs are powerful, I'm telling you.

 

[Testosterone boy]

Has anyone here done video editing on an Apple and a PC?

I've had dozens of tragic computer experiences. I no longer try to get max horsepower out of them. I've blown up a few. I want one ready to roll without fuckin around much.

 

[HappyScrappy]

seriously - if you can save Christmas - then why not.

 

[Y_lifter]

The deciding factor for me to leave the MAC was kinda like when I went from BETA (a better format) to VHS in the 80's...

I went into the Comp Store and saw like 8 shelves of DOS/WIN software, and only like 6 Mac titles...

 

[TheProject]

Has anyone here done video editing on an Apple and a PC?

I've had dozens of tragic computer experiences. I no longer try to get max horsepower out of them. I've blown up a few. I want one ready to roll without fuckin around much.

Yes.

I used Adobe Premiere on the Mac several years ago, and I now use Pinnacle Studio 7 on the PC.

Pinnacle Studio 7 with a digital camcorder is very easy, for the most part. However, I did have issues initially running it under 95/98. It works much better on XP.

Premiere on the Mac was just as easy, but slower because of the speed of the machine. Never had any crashes, glitches, or problems, just had to wait.

If you want less fucking around and more worktime...the Mac is still better, IMHO.

 

[SeekerOfKnowledge]

Has anyone here done video editing on an Apple and a PC?

I've had dozens of tragic computer experiences. I no longer try to get max horsepower out of them. I've blown up a few. I want one ready to roll without fuckin around much.

PC = Ease of Use
Mac = A little more sophisticated.

I have used and owned both. Plus I have repaired both. While Mac has superior quality with video editing and processor power. The cost doesn't justify it if you are not a digital firm. IE business. A simple user should stick with PC

 

[HappyScrappy]

I've done video work on SGI workstations, Macs, and PCs.

The Macs were slow as shit (crashed a lot - but both the speed and crashing was likely due to what OS it was - I'm sure OS X is better now - this was like OS 8), dual processor, expensive (but I didn't have to pay), but it was what all the hardware was built for (high end recording equip).

The SGI was buttfuck expensive, but I didn't have to pay for it. It was at a special effects house - for their lower level shit, they used a Mac.

The PC was cheap (I paid for it), and it worked great. Hence why I have no issues with the PC.
That said - getting all the data onto the PC was harder because this was back when the Mac was the only one that had FireWire capabilities - so I had to exchange the file through a few things.

There are tons of options now. I personally like the PC because it is fast and cheap.
But TheProject likes the Mac because it was stable - maybe I wasn't doing the right stuff to make mine unstable, and was doing the wrong things on the Macs - because the only computers I've ever had a stability issue with were WinME and Mac.

 

[Testosterone boy]

"SGI was buttfuck expensive"---HS

Man, you got a way with words. Sounds like Macs are a LOT more expensive. Thats a big issue. I don't want to spend more than 2000...max 2200.

 

[HappyScrappy]

Also, I would like to point out that I like the new Mac dual processor desktops.
It is the laptops that I have issues with.

Keyboard issues. Mouse button issues. Heat issues. Hardware issues.
But supposedly really good battery life.

The desktops are sweet - you can use a USB keyboard and remap it to properly use your new Unix machine. You can use a many buttoned mouse with scroll wheel. And it doesn't get so hot that it makes it hard to have on your lap.

 

[TheProject]

There are tons of options now. I personally like the PC because it is fast and cheap.
But TheProject likes the Mac because it was stable - maybe I wasn't doing the right stuff to make mine unstable, and was doing the wrong things on the Macs - because the only computers I've ever had a stability issue with were WinME and Mac.

It's funny; when I used a Mac, running OS8, for day-to-day work, I'd have to reboot twice a day to just get rid of goofy shit. The NT machine that sat beside it ran fine all day. I tend to think that was because I didn't do very much with it.

When I was running OS8 at home, and doing just video rendering (largely because it was an 80Mhz Mac), I had no issues.

I'll get goofy stuff on my PC, like having it go into an infinite loop while rendering, or just blue screening and rebooting on occasion. I really like the blue screen. It's fun.

For the videos I post here, it's cake. I can make small MPG's in no time flat, have no issues, and be done with our entire workout video in a couple of hours. Rendering for VCD is also easy.

For some reason, I still can't get the damned thing to make an AVI. Have no idea why.

But my driver issues and disappearing camera issues went away with XP and some incremental updates to the software.

 

[Pink Space Biscuit]

I use a mac for video crap, but the firewire harddrive always skips and stops the clip and there is no room left on the computer because it's a freaking laptop.

So you have to sit there and push import every 3 minutes, it is FUN!

It's more stable than my PC though, which I have to restart all the damn time and I don't have firewire.

iMovie is pretty easy for importing and basic editing, then cleaner will convert to any imaginable file type possible, mpeg, wmv, watever. Then premiere and after effects for all the fancypants stuff.

 

[Citruscide]

I use a mac for video crap, but the firewire harddrive always skips and stops the clip and there is no room left on the computer because it's a freaking laptop.

So you have to sit there and push import every 3 minutes, it is FUN!

It's more stable than my PC though, which I have to restart all the damn time and I don't have firewire.

iMovie is pretty easy for importing and basic editing, then cleaner will convert to any imaginable file type possible, mpeg, wmv, watever. Then premiere and after effects for all the fancypants stuff.

Swimfan, this is good English.

C

 

[TheProject]

Okay, did some more video on my PC last night, and spent an hour trying to insert a damned title. Followed the directions, read the manual, and it still won't work.

Granted, this is more a problem with the application than the platform, but I'll add this to the list of aggravating things that didn't happen to me on the Mac.