Backpacking with a Laptop

[Justin Avery]

I'm about to embark on a year trip around the world and will be doing a lot of filming throughout the journey.

One of the ways I'm hoping to keep my travels going as well as to document the trip is to submit short movies to various travel shows.

I've read through these forums and have seen the mac book and the mac book pro get loads of great reviews, but nothing that mentions the finer points. The key for me will be battery life, portability, capture, price and performance.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the mac book 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm, SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), 2GB RAM with Final Cut Express HD 3.5

I will be filming with either a hv10 or hv20.

Will I be able to capture the footage directly through the standard firewire port, or will I need to get a firewire 800 pci card as well?

Can I capture directly to the 5400 rpm drive or do I need a 7200 rpm external drive? and if so I have heard that there can be issues when connecting two seperate firewire devices at the same time, especially during capture (or is that limited to firewire on the same bus?)

I'm going to be traveling through some rough, dusty and wet areas, are the mac books fairly rugged?

This is my first look at a mac, and first post on the boards, so any experiences or advice you are able to offer would be great.

Cheers in advance.

[Justin Avery]

I'm sure everyone is poised to respond, but I'm going to get in before you get a chance to hit Submit Reply.

I ended up going with the mac book 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm, SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), 2GB RAM with Final Cut Express HD 3.5 and the Apple care plan which as set me back a smidge over $3k. I'm going to grab a laptop backpack (not sure if I can mention the name)

The only question what camera do I buy, but that's on the HV10 HV20 forum.

Decisions decisions...........

I'll post to let you know how everything shapes up as I travel around the world, hopefully with some beautiful footage to compliment the posts.

[Liam Hall]

Originally Posted by Justin Avery

The key for me will be battery life, portability, capture, price and performance.
At the moment I'm leaning towards the mac book 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm, SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW), 2GB RAM with Final Cut Express HD 3.5.

1. Battery life: It can last for up to five hours, but if you're doing anything processor hungry like editing then it's going to run down pretty fast. You might get a couple of hours out of it.

2. Portability: Er, it's a lap-top.

3. Capture: Don't know what you're after here but the Mac has more connectivity than most PCs.

4. Price: Can you afford not to?

5. Performance: As a PC user you'll be blown away.

I will be filming with either a hv10 or hv20.

Not sure what travel shows you're talking about selling your footage to, but I'd check that they'll accept video shot on these cameras.

Will I be able to capture the footage directly through the standard firewire?

Yes.

Can I capture directly to the 5400 rpm drive or do I need a 7200 rpm external drive?

You can. Some people do, but I wouldn't. Anyway, you'll fill that drive up in the first week. Definitely get an external FW drive.

I have heard that there can be issues when connecting two seperate firewire devices at the same time, especially during capture (or is that limited to firewire on the same bus?)

There are some (only a few) compatibility issues connecting different devices on the same FW bus, but I do it all the time with no problems. Check on the apple site that your equipment is on the approved devices list and you should be fine.

I'm going to be traveling through some rough, dusty and wet areas, are the mac books fairly rugged?

They are if you protect them well. There are lots of good sleeves, bags and cases on the market.

Hope that helps,

Liam.