Audio / video editing on a laptop? 2

[tsurikov]

Hello fellow Tek-Tippers,

A friend of mine recently asked me to recommend a good laptop she could use for audio and video editing. Yes, she is specifically looking for a LAPTOP (not a desktop) solution. From things I'd heard & read, I'd formed the opinion that "laptop" and "A/V editing" are rather incompatible - the feeling I got was that A/V editing require highly specialized hardware (e.g., video cards, ports, etc.) that simply aren't available for (or integrated into) laptops.

Am I wrong? In other words, can you in fact put together a laptop that'll do a good job of A/V editing? (My friend's willing to put a lot of $$$ into the system if necessary, it just has to work.)

Thanks for any input! Cheers,
--Michael

 

[Lemon13]

apple powerbook, just wait a few day´s until g5 is in the stores.

 

[cdogg]

The fastest laptop will always be a step or two slower than the second or third fastest desktop. It's just the way it goes - you sacrifice performance and power consumption when you go mobile.

The good news is that even on a PIII 1GHz desktop with a decent amount of RAM and the right software, A/V editing isn't unbearable. It does take a considerable amount more time than say on an Athlon XP 3200+ system, but if you've got the time it can be done.

The same can be said about the faster laptops available today. Most easily outperform a 1GHz desktop, so A/V editing is definitely an option by today's standards. Just make sure you don't skimp on the CPU and memory when possible. Remember that on a laptop, all of the rendering is going to depend on both more than anything else.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[paparazi]

Is is possible, as cdogg says, it's always going to be that much slower than what is available in a desktop.
Go for a fast CPU, loads of memory (512 or above if poss) Intel P4's do tend to have the advantage in this field, and as big a hard drive as possible (vid editing uses loads of space) other desirable features would be a built in DVDRW drive, USB2, possibly firewire (if needed) and a good integrated mobile graphics chipset (I believe you can get a mobile Radeon 9600) this is not essential but desireable.
Note* option for large USB2 external hard drive (you will need space)
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[tsurikov]

Thanks for the input, everyone! I found it quite valuable and interesting.

Maybe I could throw out another question then... can laptops handle analog video input/output? I've never seen a laptop with built-in RCA input jacks, for instance..! Or has the AV editing world rejected the notion of analog video? (It is surely more difficult than analog, no? I remember trying analog video capture on an ATI All-In-Wonder card, and getting something like 90% frame dropout at full-screen resolution...)

Cheers!
--Michael

 

[rclarke250]

Actually they can, I have a built in tv tuner in my laptop,a sager 8880. It also has s-video in and out 4 usb ports and a fire wire, a removable mp3 player. It's fun,but it weighs 12 lbs. which doesn't sound like much,but try lugging a bowling ball around for a day and tell me it's light then. The new models come with the 9600 mobile chip and dvd/rw drives.

 

[SGTRawlins]

As for the analog equipment that you require, most of it will be an extrenal addtion, thier are loads on the market, there are budget solutions for about £30 but these are much cop for professional video editing.

Try the pinncale website, these guys are pretty good with thier hardware for analog stuff, usualy a USB adapter or somthing like that.