Mac questions

[subclubkid]

Ok, this summer I am shooting an Independent Film to enter into the Carolina Film Festival next January. I plan on shooting a bunch of my scripts that I have been working on. They are low budget, and will be shot on a Cannon XL1s, and I have been mulling over getting a Mac to do the editing on. I know that Final Cut is what everyone uses, and everyone I ask tells me I have to use it.

Heres my questions.

I was pricing a G4
They use DDR333, and they charge a but load for extra RAM. Can I just buy RAM from like Newegg and throw it in there?
Also, they come with a pretty cheap Video Card, and to upgrade is like $200...can I order a video card from Newegg and throw it in there.

These might sound like stupid questions, but I know nothing at all about Macs

[redwudz]

Yes about memory. I would get a name brand module, such as Crucial, Mushkin or the like with a good guarantee. Look on their sites and you should see info for MACs. I would go directly to the memory manufactures as the price is the same as through a second party. As far as the video card, I know what you mean. You probably should spend a little time around the MAC forums to see what is popular for the best price. Make sure the card has MAC drivers. Some of the other MAC users here can probably give you more specifics as far as video cards. I think you will like the ease of Final Cut using a MAC. Whole 'nother world from a PC. BTW: You should use the MAC Video forum for your posts on MACS.

[galactica]

I was pricing a G4
They use DDR333, and they charge a but load for extra RAM. Can I just buy RAM from like Newegg and throw it in there?

Sure, long as its the same exact memory.... Shoot for PC2700 SDRAM DDR333 [assuming its a 1ghz or higher G4. Older G4's dont use PC2700]

Also, they come with a pretty cheap Video Card, and to upgrade is like $200...can I order a video card from Newegg and throw it in there.

Cheap!? really. In what ways?
You can put any card in there thats "mac" enabled - typcially these are really expensive because they have Quartze Extreme... so dont think you can plop in a 150 dollar PC video card and have it work..

I was looking to upgrade my 64 meg card to the ATI 9800 256 meg card!
$337 dollars! I was only doing it for the memory upgrade hahahah i decided to hold off. 64 megs is plenty for any and all!

These might sound like stupid questions, but I know nothing at all about Macs

Not to worry. .. if you have more ?'s let me know

[mrtristan]

Do you know that the video card doesn't affect your encoding? I'm just curious, because Macs come with near top of the line consumer ATI or Nvidia cards. I don't really understand what you mean by cheap.

[galactica]

thats also what I am trying to figure out...
I think my card is pretty good!

i would like to know in reference to what he/she is comparing the "crappy" video cards - which are really only used for video games!

[subclubkid]

haha, sorry for the comment about the video card. Maybe I know less than what I thought

The computer comes with a ATI Radeon 9000 Pro. For some reason I guess I thought I would need something alittle better for the editing part. I know that a video card has nothing to do with encoding, but I didnt know if it would affect the editing process. But from the sounds of it, it will do fine.

Thanks for the help....I just hope my PC at home doesnt find out that I am flirting with a Mac....

once again this web site is a big help.



EDIT:
Oh and I guess now that I have some Mac opinions at hand. Which to you sounds better

Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4
2MB L3 cache/processor
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
Combo Drive
ATI Radeon 9000 Pro
Mac OS 9 boot supported
$1,599.00

or

17-inch widescreen LCD
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
64MB DDR video memory
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
SuperDrive
Apple Pro Speakers
AirPort Extreme Ready
Bluetooth Option
$1,799.00


Which would you go with?

[galactica]

the dual will kick butt in any sort of editing/encoding process
the 2nd one is nice also, but will you ever use some of its features that make it more expensive? Catch is the 1st one doesnt have a superdrive. Are you going to burn movies?

I would still go with the dual, because you can pick up a OEM dvr-107 for abotu 150 and still have that 2nd combo drive run at the same time!

plus it sounds like the 2nd is a powerbook! dont get one for video encoding, they will get way hot and the fan dont really handle that intense heat like a desktop with multiple larger fans can!

so in my opinion
go with the dual g4 tower
oh and get some more memory in that. 256 is nothing. Min 512! and you can put in a superdrive for really cheap also

http://www.esbuy.com/mac.html

this is where i get my drives etc for my macs