I Need to Build/Buy a Computer for Editing AVCHD Video.

[Bald Eagle]

I am new to video editing. I just bought a Sony HDR-SR8 which records in both standard and AVCHD. I've been reading the posts about AVCHD and am thinking that I bought the wrong camcorder. But since I have it, and since my computer is 5 years old, I need to either build or buy a computer that will handle AVCHD. Can someone please tell me what components should be in the computer? I'd like to read and write Blu-ray as well. Any help would be appreciated.

[aedipuss]

build what you can afford. fast cpu/ram/video/drives. or opt for something like dell builds for gamers. the xps series. offers blu-ray writer as an option and all the speed/drives you can pay for

[redwudz]

A computer with about a 3Ghz processor and 1GB of DDR2 memory would do it, along with the XP OS. A quad core CPU would be a good upgrade, or at least a dual core.

Two or more hard drives. The boot drive doesn't need to be that big, even 80GB is enough. For the other drive(s), bigger is better. 300 - 500GB. One or two extra drives besides the boot.

If you are just editing or encoding, video cards don't really matter. A good name brand power supply and a decent case are also needed. For Blu-Ray, just the drive.

Software, depends on what you are doing and what you can afford. There are a lot of freeware programs out there that will do as good as payware.

Since you ask specifically about editing, that type of program can be a major expense. That's why I suggest looking into some freeware programs first.

If your computer is 5 years old, then you are overdue for a upgrade. Set a $$ limit and see what's out there.

JMO, But:

Choose a CPU first, then a motherboard, then the case, power supply, memory and other peripherals like hard drives (SATA preferred), and optical drives.

Most likely you would want to assemble a computer or have some one do it for you if you have specific needs.

I will let others give specific suggestions, but you need to do a fair amount of study on the parts to make informed decisions.

And welcome to our forums.