Laptop recommendations?

[rhegedus]

Hey all!

I'm going to be on the road for the next 6 months and access to my home PC will be limited to weekends only. So, I'm thinking of buying a laptop to take with me.

Since all of them are capable of doing the mundane windows and office tasks, I'll be looking for one that I can also use for video work, especially capturing. I've got a feeling that HD speeds on laptops are 5,400 and I'm not sure if this is fast enough.

Does anyone out there have experience of capturing DV to a laptop? Failing that, does anyone know of a suitable external HD that is up to the job? (I've not seen a laptop with 2 firewire ports so I guess that a firewire HD is out of the question )

[vitualis]

I won't be able to recommend any notebooks, but I would think that DV capture to a Notebook HDD shouldn't be a problem.

In any case, if your Notebook only comes with one Firewire port, then you could always just get a CardBus Firewire adapter!

Regards.

[rhegedus]

Thanks for the info - I was kind of hoping you'd reply after seeing your set-up on the What does your computer look like? post. Do you capture DV straight to your laptop HD?

[tompika]

I think any new notebook will do.
The 5400RPM definitely.

I`ve even captured DV to 4200RPM notebook HDD with no problem.
The problem might be the size. Get at least 40GB

You can buy a dual firewire cardbus for $40
http://www.siig.com/products/1394/index.html

[The village idiot]

Most of the external hard drive enclosures have 2 firewire connections. It's looping you know. Also most pcmcia firewire cards have 2 connections.

Go on, get that sexy new Toshiba portege tablet/notebook. You know you want it. Go ahead, no one will yell.......

Converting to DVD won't be the most fun, whatever you get. If you just want to transfer and edit, you could go with a much slower machine. I have used my old Toshiba portege 3010 (266Mhz win2K) to send DV to an external drive, then edit in EditStudio and send it back to the drive as a completed DV file ready to convert. It isn't the fastest way to do it, but it does work! You will want DVio for the transfer app. Anything with a preview would be risking the video and dropped frames on a machine that slow.

You could also get whatever Mac notebook fits your budget. Just make sure it comes with OSX!

[tompika]

Go on, get that sexy new Toshiba portege tablet/notebook. You know you want it. Go ahead, no one will yell.......

You could also get whatever Mac notebook fits your budget. Just make sure it comes with OSX!

Why would he buy a slow tablet pc ($2600) for video capturing and converting when he could buy almost the best Velocity or Alienware or other decent notebook for the SAME price!

Or look for the best deal for a $1000 notebook with 40GB HDD for only capturing, the coversion will be slow though.

[The village idiot]

portege 3500 - Featuring the fastest Intel® Pentium® III processor at 1.33GHz

Portege R100 measures .7" thick and weighs only 2.4 lbs. This system outperforms comparably configured systems with a higher clock speed by integrating processor, system chipset, and wireless LAN into a complete mobile solution. Primary and high capacity batteries are included for up to 6.5 hours total battery time! Intel® Pentium® M processor 1.0GHz

Not exactly slow for laptops.

Some where in one of the forums people were talking about how the Centrino tech was better than a faster speed processor.

And do you really want to lug around some 7 lb monster?

If 7 pound monster it is, then you can get some pretty good ones for around $1000.

If you simply want to transfer and edit to DV file. Then convert when you return home, anything will do as long as you have enough storage.

My 3010 is OK for transfer to external firewire drive. Then edit to a DV file on that same drive. I then convert when I return home. It isn't blazing, but it does get the work done. And when I only need the computer, it doesn't break my shoulder carrying it around. If I had the money, I would buy one of the new Portege machines before buying any of the other machines at the same price. The size really is worth the money, espcially if you can write it off as a business expense! But that's my 25 cents on the matter. Good luck with all the choices out there.

[mrtristan]

I'm not sure what your budget is, but you might want to look into a Centrino notebook.

The Centrino notebooks use a different processor from the PIIIs and P4s. They were designed from the ground up for use in mobile platforms. Basically, you get more computing power at lower Mhz and lower voltage. That gives you more battery time and a lighter notebook.

They also come with integrated wireless b and I think two other integrated technologies. To me, the best thing is the processor. I think something like a 1.4Ghz Centrino outperformed a 2.6 mobile P4. I don't remember the exact figures, but the point is that they run fast and at low voltage.

[rhegedus]

Got this from the Intel web-site, but I couldn't find any comparisons that didn't include battery life. It's going to be plugged into the mains most of the time so battery life doesn't figure too high on my list of priorities.

[Greg12]

You might wanna wait a lil longer, i was reading an article that laptop hd's are on the verge of going into the 120gig range.


I plan to buy a college laptop but not for anouther year, widescreen displays, super big hdd's, etc are still catching on.

[rhegedus]

I quite like the look of this baby..........

http://www.meshplc.co.uk/updated/powerview_171.htm

If I upgrade to 512Mb and a 60Gb HD, it should come to about £1400........ do you think that Santa can come early this year?

[Will Hay]

I quite like the look of this baby..........

That looks real sweet but for me it's always been the Thinkpad, I just can't fault them.

If I upgrade to 512Mb and a 60Gb HD, it should come to about £1400........ do you think that Santa can come early this year?

Hadn't you best ask your mum that?
Will

[tgpo]

Drool

[rhegedus]

Hadn't you best ask your mum that?
Will

If she knew I was spending that much on a 'toy', I'd have to prescribe her some blood pressure tablets!

Hey tgpo, saw one of those at my local PC World - it was over two grand! My girlfriend loves Macs to death.......... she thinks the leopard print 'X' of the Mac OS is a big selling point. Can't really see it myself.............

[tgpo]

she thinks the leopard print 'X' of the Mac OS is a big selling point.

It also looks good any various articles of clothing. :P

[rhegedus]

It also looks good any various articles of clothing. :P

.......apart from thongs........

[tgpo]

It also looks good any various articles of clothing. :P

.......apart from thongs........

I think that clothes look best on the floor. :P

[rhegedus]

Many years ago, the floor was my wardrobe........