laptop for editing at DVinfo.net

E.J. Milkes · August 16th, 2003, 12:26 PM

i have vegas 4.0 and sound forge. i want to have a laptop for field editing. can anyone recommend one with specs that will work without dropping frames? i know "one beyond" makes one but it will cost $3,500 plus. i want a pc based system window xp o.s. here's the set up that i'm thinking of getting: sony vaio, 2.66 ghz, 512 mbram, 40 gig, firewire, usb, dvd +- RW/ +-R, cd burner, 15" screen, pcicm slot, 5400 rpm hd. will there be any problem using a 5400 rpm speed as opposed to 7200 rpm? i can always buy an external hd to meet specs with firwire encasing.

any input would really help. thanks, e.j.

Tom Christensen · August 16th, 2003, 02:21 PM

For what its worth, I just got a Dell Inspiron 5100 for $960. 2.4G P4/640M Ram/20GHD/14in/XP with DVD (no CD burner). The drive is 5400. I have external firewire drives so I wasn't too concerned with the size of the HD, but I did want to capture to it. I loaded VV4 and attached my GL2 and captured a ton of footage without one dropped frame.

Tom

E.J. Milkes · August 16th, 2003, 08:00 PM

thanks tom, i appreciate an honest response. you got a great deal on the dell. that was my other choice. paid $1,325 for vaio on ebay. my research told me that i save about 300-500 dollars depending where one buys. local retail shop vs. computer ecommerce store. i like the dell, hp, and toshiba because they have the s video out to monitor. the vaio, unusual, doesn't have it except you could buy an adapter. any other comments would be appreciated. tia, e.j.

Margus Kivilaan · August 18th, 2003, 10:11 AM

i'm working with quite old vaio PCG-FX109K. it's 850MHz PIII, 256MB SDRAM, programs are pinnacle purple and edition. very stable machine, the only problem i have had it sometimes cannot write back to tape without mistakes. But that's purely because of lack of computing speed. i've copied my finished projects to desktop using LAN and wrote them to tape through it.
do'nt have any experience with other laptops, but my vaio have'nt got me into trouble so far.
regs, Margus

Yi Fong Yu · August 20th, 2003, 11:17 AM

if i had to choose i wouldn't go with either. i'd go with a laptop that has an NVidia or ATI onboard advanced GPU solution. the reason is simple... you may get a shorter battery life but you're able to do more cause it'll be inherently "faster" workflow.

http://www.alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx

Joe Carney · August 20th, 2003, 04:47 PM

My son just got one of those new toshibas with the 17" wide screen. We loaded Vegas, soundforge and Acid on it. It has a built in DVD burner. cost before tax and extended warranty was 1800.00. Has Nvidea 5200 go, 512meg, 40gig HD, 1 firewire, 3 usb2, 2.8 ghz PIV with HT. Lots of other stuff. On the way is an external 160gig firewire/usb2 drive and a Pyro A/V link.

The laptop has built in ethernet and wireless ethernet. I have to say, it's the easiest computer I've ever set up.

Later I plan on getting the Layla 24 audio card and will add the cardbus interface so it will work with his laptop.

We haven't decided to get a studio monitor or one of those nice 20inch flat screen TVs from either Sony, Toshiba or Phillips.

Yi Fong Yu · August 23rd, 2003, 12:30 PM

didya try gaming on it =). hehehehhe it's so kewl playing computer game on laptop =)

August 16th, 2003, 12:26 PM	#1
E.J. Milkes New Boot Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 5	laptop for editing i have vegas 4.0 and sound forge. i want to have a laptop for field editing. can anyone recommend one with specs that will work without dropping frames? i know "one beyond" makes one but it will cost $3,500 plus. i want a pc based system window xp o.s. here's the set up that i'm thinking of getting: sony vaio, 2.66 ghz, 512 mbram, 40 gig, firewire, usb, dvd +- RW/ +-R, cd burner, 15" screen, pcicm slot, 5400 rpm hd. will there be any problem using a 5400 rpm speed as opposed to 7200 rpm? i can always buy an external hd to meet specs with firwire encasing. any input would really help. thanks, e.j.

August 20th, 2003, 11:17 AM	#5
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	if i had to choose i wouldn't go with either. i'd go with a laptop that has an NVidia or ATI onboard advanced GPU solution. the reason is simple... you may get a shorter battery life but you're able to do more cause it'll be inherently "faster" workflow. http://www.alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx __________________ bow wow wow

August 23rd, 2003, 12:30 PM	#7
Yi Fong Yu Trustee Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Vulcan Posts: 1,564	didya try gaming on it =). hehehehhe it's so kewl playing computer game on laptop =) __________________ bow wow wow

August 16th, 2003, 02:21 PM	#2
Tom Christensen Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cave Creek, AZ Posts: 87	For what its worth, I just got a Dell Inspiron 5100 for $960. 2.4G P4/640M Ram/20GHD/14in/XP with DVD (no CD burner). The drive is 5400. I have external firewire drives so I wasn't too concerned with the size of the HD, but I did want to capture to it. I loaded VV4 and attached my GL2 and captured a ton of footage without one dropped frame. Tom

August 16th, 2003, 08:00 PM	#3
E.J. Milkes New Boot Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 5	thanks tom, i appreciate an honest response. you got a great deal on the dell. that was my other choice. paid $1,325 for vaio on ebay. my research told me that i save about 300-500 dollars depending where one buys. local retail shop vs. computer ecommerce store. i like the dell, hp, and toshiba because they have the s video out to monitor. the vaio, unusual, doesn't have it except you could buy an adapter. any other comments would be appreciated. tia, e.j.

August 18th, 2003, 10:11 AM	#4
Margus Kivilaan Regular Crew Join Date: May 2002 Location: Tallinn, Estonia Posts: 123	i'm working with quite old vaio PCG-FX109K. it's 850MHz PIII, 256MB SDRAM, programs are pinnacle purple and edition. very stable machine, the only problem i have had it sometimes cannot write back to tape without mistakes. But that's purely because of lack of computing speed. i've copied my finished projects to desktop using LAN and wrote them to tape through it. do'nt have any experience with other laptops, but my vaio have'nt got me into trouble so far. regs, Margus

August 20th, 2003, 04:47 PM	#6
Joe Carney Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Centreville Va Posts: 1,828	My son just got one of those new toshibas with the 17" wide screen. We loaded Vegas, soundforge and Acid on it. It has a built in DVD burner. cost before tax and extended warranty was 1800.00. Has Nvidea 5200 go, 512meg, 40gig HD, 1 firewire, 3 usb2, 2.8 ghz PIV with HT. Lots of other stuff. On the way is an external 160gig firewire/usb2 drive and a Pyro A/V link. The laptop has built in ethernet and wireless ethernet. I have to say, it's the easiest computer I've ever set up. Later I plan on getting the Layla 24 audio card and will add the cardbus interface so it will work with his laptop. We haven't decided to get a studio monitor or one of those nice 20inch flat screen TVs from either Sony, Toshiba or Phillips.