boom29

My cousin wants a laptop that will primarily be used for video editing. She, attends USC and she will need it for her major classes. Now, she is willing to spend at most $1200. Personally, I think that if she needs a computer primarily for video editing, she should get a desktop instead (probably cheaper too). Having said that, is there any reasonably priced laptop that is good for video editing? If not, what should she look for in a desktop? Thanks.

bendsley

I would recommend a dekstop over a laptop for video editing, primarily because you get more power for less money.

A mac is probably the best for video editing, but, good luck getting a new one for $1200.

A PC should do pretty good too, and the hardware is relatively cheap.

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VitaminH

There are several Macs that are available for <1200. Also if she's a student she should be sure to go to the Apple store for education on the website, or if at an Apple retailer show her student ID. It can get you up to $100 off a computer (possibly more) depending on the model.

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dtheriault

If she's serious about video editing she's going to have to spend more than 1200$. Make sure that it has a huge fast hard drive. It will need a ton of RAM (try getting at least 512) and a firewire port or two. Also make sure the video card is great. Most laptops have lame video cards.

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Crisis

I would only get a Mac laptop for video editing and that wouldn't fall into her price range. She'll get more bang with her buck by building a custom pc and invest in a portable hard drive so she can transport her work to school easily.

sailor

Yeah, add another vote for "laptops generally not good for lots of video editing." Lots of RAM, good processor horsepower, obviously tons of storage space--none of those are in laptop territory.

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catback

If she has to have a video editing laptop she's gonna have to spend more cash if she wants a good one and it's most likely gonna be made by apple. There's a saying that goes "You can't build a porsche on a kia budjet" you can try but you'll have no where near anything resembling a porsche.

shakran

well hold on. What's her major? It wouldn't be broadcast journalism by any chance would it? Because if it is, she's largely gonna be editing 40 second vosots and minute-twenty packages. And if she's smart she'll edit the vosots on a linear machine so she has the experience she needs to get that first job. . .

If it's news editing in a college environment, where deadlines are usually a week long rather than 5 hours, and stories don't span hours, she'll be just fine with a $1200 laptop as long as you emphasize processor and ram over 3d video card.


If it's for something else, documentary work, etc, the laptop will still be fine though she may need to get extra storage.

We're talkin' college stuff here. It's a LOT easier than real world editing, and she can't afford a real world editor anyway (a bit more than 5 grand for a turnkey Avid system at the bare minimum spec). And if we'd had things like laptops that weighed less than 25 pounds when I was in college, I'd have LOVED to have had a portable editor that i could use anywhere. . . like economics 101