Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz enough for HDV? at DVinfo.net

Mike Marriage · October 24th, 2006, 04:02 PM

My main FCP suite is a 2.66 quad core, but I want a laptop to do little bits of editing with clients and use when I am away with work.

A friend has offered me a Powerbook 1.5 GHz G4 for a decent price, but I was wondering if this was enough or should I go for a higher spec machine? I edit mainly DV and HDV. My main desktop would still do the bulk of my mpeg encoding etc. My main camera is a JVC HD101, so I mainly use 720p HDV, so would the 1.5GHz be enough?

Is anyone using a 1.5GHz G4 with FCP 5.1.2? If so, how does it perform?

Thanks!

Johan Forssblad · November 1st, 2006, 03:38 PM

Hi Mike,
This is not an answer for you but could perhaps give you a little help.
I have a PowerBook G4, 1 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM and FCP 5.1.2 with external FW800 disk.
It cannot show HDV 1080i50 on more than 50 % frame size without dropping frames. 100 % is impossible (with external screen). So perhaps your 720 material with 1.5 GHz will be almost possible at 100 %.
I did some rendering in Compressor with very good quality for Internet. 3,5 minutes took a whole night to render. But it worked. If you have the money buy a new Pro Book, they just came out with the new CPU:s and increased the speed again. Or try the G4 first if it belongs to your friend and it is cheap.
Good luck whatever you decide. Even if you buy the fastest computer you could still appreciate 10 times faster when working with HDV ... /Johan

Brian Sargent · November 22nd, 2006, 02:02 PM

you've probably long since made your decision, but I am editing on the same laptop in DVCProHD 72024p and it's been as smooth as can be- w/2 gig RAM of course.

Jon Fordham · November 23rd, 2006, 10:02 AM

I second Brian's comment. I've got a 15" PowerBook 1.67Ghz G4 with only 1GB of RAM running FCP 5.0.4 and I can easily cut DVCPROHD 1080/60i codec in full res using an external FW800 drive. No problems at all. I'd like to add more RAM, but so far the single Gig of RAM is working just fine.

Of course, I'm not an editor. I just use my minimal post knowledge to throw together cuts and tweaks of my reel. So I don't know how well my setup would function with a long form project. But for a small 5 to 10 minute piece, everything has been working perfectly!

October 24th, 2006, 04:02 PM	#1
Mike Marriage Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NE of London, England Posts: 788	Powerbook G4 1.5Ghz enough for HDV? My main FCP suite is a 2.66 quad core, but I want a laptop to do little bits of editing with clients and use when I am away with work. A friend has offered me a Powerbook 1.5 GHz G4 for a decent price, but I was wondering if this was enough or should I go for a higher spec machine? I edit mainly DV and HDV. My main desktop would still do the bulk of my mpeg encoding etc. My main camera is a JVC HD101, so I mainly use 720p HDV, so would the 1.5GHz be enough? Is anyone using a 1.5GHz G4 with FCP 5.1.2? If so, how does it perform? Thanks!

November 23rd, 2006, 10:02 AM	#4
Jon Fordham Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: New York, NY Posts: 242	DVCPROHD works on a PowerBook! I second Brian's comment. I've got a 15" PowerBook 1.67Ghz G4 with only 1GB of RAM running FCP 5.0.4 and I can easily cut DVCPROHD 1080/60i codec in full res using an external FW800 drive. No problems at all. I'd like to add more RAM, but so far the single Gig of RAM is working just fine. Of course, I'm not an editor. I just use my minimal post knowledge to throw together cuts and tweaks of my reel. So I don't know how well my setup would function with a long form project. But for a small 5 to 10 minute piece, everything has been working perfectly! __________________ Jon Fordham Director of Photography www.jonfordham.com

November 1st, 2006, 03:38 PM	#2
Johan Forssblad Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Vittsjö, SKÅNE, SWEDEN Posts: 266	Hi Mike, This is not an answer for you but could perhaps give you a little help. I have a PowerBook G4, 1 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM and FCP 5.1.2 with external FW800 disk. It cannot show HDV 1080i50 on more than 50 % frame size without dropping frames. 100 % is impossible (with external screen). So perhaps your 720 material with 1.5 GHz will be almost possible at 100 %. I did some rendering in Compressor with very good quality for Internet. 3,5 minutes took a whole night to render. But it worked. If you have the money buy a new Pro Book, they just came out with the new CPU:s and increased the speed again. Or try the G4 first if it belongs to your friend and it is cheap. Good luck whatever you decide. Even if you buy the fastest computer you could still appreciate 10 times faster when working with HDV ... /Johan

November 22nd, 2006, 02:02 PM	#3
Brian Sargent Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New York, NY Posts: 69	you've probably long since made your decision, but I am editing on the same laptop in DVCProHD 72024p and it's been as smooth as can be- w/2 gig RAM of course.