The most mobile way to edit SD footage (Mobile Guru advice wanted)

[Renat Zarbailov]

Hello gang!
I am planning to be traveling the world soon and I am debating on the following approaches to edit footage since mobility is high priority. I edit in Premiere CS3 and export to web using its Adobe Media Encoder.

Choice 1: (still in infant research stage):
Building a quad-core Q6600 based system into a hard-case light-weight carry-on luggage - beautifully sitting at the bottom of it. This way anywhere I go I would simply plug the "luggage" to the power outlet and start editing day's acquired footage. The only concern is the weight once the system is built. Probably the heaviest component is the power supply, so I was wondering if anyone can recommend a quite but around 600W power supply that will keep the totaling weight to a minimum.

The only components it will have:
ASUS P5K Premium/WiFi-AP motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor
Corsair 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
Scythe Ninja Mini CPU heatsink sitting on top of the Q6600
Two Nexus 120mm fans (one Nexus 92mm attached to the Ninja Mini heatsink)
Western Digital Raptor 150GB Hard Drive (System)
RAID editing drive (which? I am yet to discover it)
GeForce 8600GT Video Card XXX Edition
Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W Power Supply (your suggestion to cut on weight?)
As far as the screen, I was wondering if there is a DIY-type of 15" wide screen that can be plugged to a regular DVI connection. This way I will embed it on the inside of the luggage's cover. If not then getting a portable lightweight projector would make more sense, albeit it's more costly. Also I am yet to find a light-weight hard-case carry-on luggage (I will update this post as soon as I find any candidate ones).
Approximate price (without the luggage) $1116.00
I found a light-weight hard-case carry-on luggage that is only 5.2 pounds and fits the size restrictions posed by the airports. It goes for under $70
http://innomind.org/images/stories/heys_xcase.jpg

Choice 2:
DIY laptop;
Asus C90S 15.4" WSXGA+/GeForce 8600M GT 512M MXM II/Bluetooth/FingerPrint/Webcam
Installation: Hardware Install
RAM: 3GB DDR-2 667 SODIMM (1X1G+1X2GB)
HD: Hitachi 7K200 7200 200GB 7200rpm S-ATA 16MB
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Conroe E6700 2.66 GHz 1066FSB 4M
Heatsink, Fan, Thermal Paste: Included
Webcam: Built-in 2.0 MP Webcam
Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth™ V2.0+EDR
Optical Drive: 8 x DVD-RW Dual Layer Super Multi
GPU: GeForce 8600M GT 512MB GDDR2 (400MHz) MXM 2.0
Screen: 15.4" WSXGA+ 1680X1050 Glossy
AC Adapter & Battery: 120W AC Adapter & 6 Cell Battery included
WiFi: Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11 a/b/g/n (Sold out)

TOTAL: $1,601.00

Choice 3:
TOSHIBA Portege M700-S7001X tablet with touch screen
plus added 2GB RAM totaling to $1,878.99

Any suggestions or comments are highly appreciated!

Thanks

P.S. This is also posted to Innomind.org

[Michael Wisniewski]

No guru here, but here's what I'm using:

Dell XPS Laptop
Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB Ram
7200 rpm system drive
Sony Vegas Pro / Photoshop CS3 / Cineform Neo HDV
Wiebetech's Silver Sata series: external enclosure for laptop, internal bay for desktop.

This all works great for basic HDV editing and rendering. If it's an insane render, I'll wait to get back to the office and swap the drive into my quad core desktop.

[Renat Zarbailov]

Thanks Mike,
I have been staying away from Dell for the past 4 years and do not recommend anyone this brand. Dell started using very inferior components and became unreliable because of it.

What do you think of housing a full-fledged workstation into a luggage?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Michael Wisniewski

No guru here, but here's what I'm using:

Dell XPS Laptop
Intel Core 2 Duo / 2GB Ram
7200 rpm system drive
Sony Vegas Pro / Photoshop CS3 / Cineform Neo HDV
Wiebetech's Silver Sata series: external enclosure for laptop, internal bay for desktop.

This all works great for basic HDV editing and rendering. If it's an insane render, I'll wait to get back to the office and swap the drive into my quad core desktop.

[Michael Wisniewski]

Originally Posted by Renat Zarbailov

What do you think of housing a full-fledged workstation into a luggage?

I think it's overkill for basic HDV and SD editing. You don't need to be lugging around a workstation. Aside from all the extra space you're using up, you're increasing your chances of failure especially with all the extra moving parts and components that are not designed for moving around. I'm sure the Acer and Toshiba laptops you were looking at will work great. An added benefit, the top laptop retailers stress-test their designs to ensure a high degree of reliability.

[Renat Zarbailov]

Wow! Thanks Mike!
You changed my mind. You are right about mobile computer durability testing. I doubt I can compete with top laptop retailers' R&D :)
So you think the Toshiba one is better than that of DIY Asus that I listed?

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by Michael Wisniewski

I think it's overkill for basic HDV and SD editing. You don't need to be lugging around a workstation. Aside from all the extra space you're using up, you're increasing your chances of failure especially with all the extra moving parts and components that are not designed for moving around. I'm sure the Acer and Toshiba laptops you were looking at will work great. An added benefit, the top laptop retailers stress-test their designs to ensure a high degree of reliability.

[Michael Wisniewski]

I've always been impressed with Toshiba laptops and they're known to be very durable/dependable. Not sure about the ASUS as I've never used or seen one of their laptops. I've always had good luck with their other products.

[Renat Zarbailov]

Yeah Toshiba is great. I have a 4 year old Toshiba m200 TabletPC and the only thing that failed was the internal speaker, like 6 month after I got the thing. I have never called Toshiba customer support aside from this issue.

The TOSHIBA Portege M700-S7001X tablet seems like a good candidate, though I wonder if its processor will be fast enough for SD editing, and more importantly, compressing to FLV or H.264 right out of Premiere CS3 timeline.
If I beef up the M700 to have Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7800 (2.6GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB), 2GB RAM, 1GB Onboard Intel® Turbo Memory, 120GB HDD (7200rpm, Serial-ATA), Bluetooth® Version 2.0 +EDR, Active Digitizer with Pen and Touch Screen Input the price goes up to $2,224.00. That is substantially higher than that of building a quad-core one or the DIY Asus.

So it's like a double-edged sword :)

[Mike McCarthy]

You never actually said what you wanted to do with it, DV is much different than HDV, as opposed to Cineform, etc. I am assuming you are using a firewire based format, and not a "Pro" camera, unless XD. A Laptop is definitely the way to go. Core2Duo, 4GB Ram, maybe a 64bit OS. 7200rpm disk if you want highest performance. I have a 5400rpm and it is fine for me.

[Renat Zarbailov]

I am planning on using Premiere CS3 to edit 20-30 minute long SD AVI and MPEG2 footage and then export it right out of the timeline to Adobe Media Encoder to compress to FLV or H.264. My only concern is if going TOSHIBA Portege M700-S7001X way it will not take forever for the compression process. I am sure comparing the mightiness of a quad-core Q6600 with that of the Toshiba's is like comparing apples to oranges. Michael on this thread convinced me to not build a luggage-based quad-core since the wear and tear of travel will trash it very quickly. It is, however, very tempting to build one though, just for the speed and the new approach... :)

Originally Posted by Mike McCarthy

You never actually said what you wanted to do with it, DV is much different than HDV, as opposed to Cineform, etc. I am assuming you are using a firewire based format, and not a "Pro" camera, unless XD. A Laptop is definitely the way to go. Core2Duo, 4GB Ram, maybe a 64bit OS. 7200rpm disk if you want highest performance. I have a 5400rpm and it is fine for me.