Need help deciding on a computer to buy

[jboogygroove]

Ok I am a mass communications student in college and produce a tv show for the college tv station. I have a digital media technology certificate so I am not a total noob but video editing is a deep world and I don't pretend to know it all by any means. I use final cut studio currently in the tv station media labs for my show and projects. ( I want to expand to use more industry titles and not just stay with the familiar final cut) I have adobe cs4 ( master collection) and while it is installed on my home desktop, any sort of rendering in after effects quickly makes it apparent that this computer is incapable of my needs. I am also learning to use blender and have a copy of toon boom studio so I am hoping to get into animation more heavily with the right computer. SO I would say my main programs to be running will be after effects, premiere pro, blender, illustrator, photoshop. I am not a gamer at all, although it seems like gaming computers have the best specs.

Ok so I am going to buy a computer and I need it to be a laptop because a) I will be using it for other student related tasks (i.e. note taking, paper writing, etc.) and b) often times it will be necessary to take it to my student job (lots of free time as I wait for people to check out equipment from the tv station lab), as well as take it to other campus locations and work on the go

MY budget is about $1500. Not a hard budget but can't go crazy here. ( no suggestions over $2000) I am looking for suggestions. Up for anything. I am assuming through cursory examinations through google that an i7 quad core is gonna be a duh. I have had mac envy for the rich kids with macbook pros for a long time and I am familiar with final cut studio a great deal however it seems like my budget is going to go a lot farther in pc world than mac world. Yet I am up for all suggestions.

Obviously lotsa ram, quad core, hdd space (or multiple hd) , nice GPU card, firwire, (and I do love bells and whistles). Huge screen would be conveniant while working, yet inconveniant while walking around campus. (so that could go either way) No preference on brand and such but prefer something reliable to carry me into grad school. I am also interested in external peripheals to make my video editing workflow efficient (external drives, capture cards, etc.) that any one thinks are must haves or something. Until now I have always used school equipment and I am ready to get setup on my own. So if its laptop "a" with external thingy "b" or some configuration like that you suggest I am up for it!

Beyond that I am confused. Here are links to couple of models I have been eyeing:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157043 Not the best reviews but affordable from my local staples(1,000)

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g73jha2-order-p-2761.html I think this is impressive. Duel HDDSs, 8gb ram, nice attractive deign, apparantly great graphics gpu....I guess this puppy is in the lead so far

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=460942 interesting laptop and like the included ssd but a little 2 expensive and 18" screen...this is one big "laptop" but seems powerful

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC118LL/A?mco=MTM3NDcyODk ok so this one comes in about right with price and I have had mac envy forever but only 2 cores? only 4gb of ram? only 5400rpm hd thats only 250gb? It seems hard to justify the money when you see the specs of other computers in the pc world


So I am up for any suggestions, any brands, any components I must include in my hunt (i.e. certain video card or something) custom or namebrand, etc. I have a couple of weeks to shop so i want to be sure I get THE ONE (and I have no plans to upgrade to cs5 any time btw so something meshing nicely with cs4 after effects and premiere pro but capable of animation as well)

Ok please HELP me Video HELP!!

[edDV]

Let me get this right...

You get your software for free (or at student discount) and can spend $1500 on hardware? Enjoy this while you can. Apple Studio is $1000 at best. The other software you listed far exceeds your budget.

A $1500 laptop isn't going to do well with the apps you listed.

Main advice is get a laptop with an eSATA interface and an external eSATA drive. The display card needs to support playback of the formats you use without CPU assist (e.g. Purevideo-HD or AVIVO-HD).

2GB RAM is sufficient, 4GB is nice.

Any other $ should go to CPU.

[jboogygroove]

Well as a tv station employee, academic license, friends in nice places, yadda yadda. I mean I know I am lucky to have the software I am just looking for the Computer to handle it!! Thanks for the observation though I guess.

[edDV]

You could get more CPU with a desktop (mini-tower). CPU rules for video once the basics are met.

I didn't see your video format requirements. Source format or destination encode.

And your TV station job is?

[jboogygroove]

hmmm i did consider getting a cheap laptop as a school one and getting a desktop for the video editing as I do have moniter (26") and keyboard mouse and all. If someone has a good desktop solution for maybe the thousand dollar range let me know!!!

[jboogygroove]

formats for source and destination will vary but for the tv station gotta be mpeg2 and mostly shoot on minidv tape vie xl2's

[jboogygroove]

I am pretty much all sd at this point. but yeah I have a portable 1tb lacie firewire drive but would be down for an esata drive if a laptop had the esata port

[jboogygroove]

You could get more CPU with a desktop (mini-tower). CPU rules for video once the basics are met.

I didn't see your video format requirements. Source format or destination encode.

And your TV station job is?

I do random stuff. Check out equipment, organize shoots, make bumpers or credits for shows, help with PSA etc. ITs a college tv station, nothing big. but trying to get ready for the real world out there

[jboogygroove]

You could get more CPU with a desktop (mini-tower). CPU rules for video once the basics are met.

I didn't see your video format requirements. Source format or destination encode.

And your TV station job is?

The link to the asus above has a quad core i7 processor, 8 gb of ram. This is insufficient? It doesn't have firewire wchich makes it retarded but still I would think those specs could easily handle what I would throw at it.

[edDV]

I started in a college TV station as well just when they were converting from monochrome to color. I had no hope then of owning the toys used on the job.

Today you can get there with standard def but HD ups the requirements. It comes down to what you need to do.

My advice is to edit SD resolutions and learn the techniques. Use older generation pro software. That gets you a job in the industry if that is your goal.

If your goal is a HD production, a $1500 budget isn't going to cut it for a laptop.

What is your goal?

[jboogygroove]

I started in a college TV station as well just when they were converting from monochrome to color. I had no hope then of owning the toys used on the job.

Today you can get there with standard def but HD ups the requirements. It comes down to what you need to do.

My advice is to edit SD resolutions and learn the techniques. Use older generation pro software. That gets you a job in the industry if that is your goal.

If your goal is a HD production, a $1500 budget isn't going to cut it for a laptop.

What is your goal?

I am strictly SD. I know I don't have the means for HD and even the tv station doesn't do any hd stuff. Yeah I am stuck with the software I have, but just like you said I am trying t git a firm handle on the ADobe stuff now. Already pretty good with Final Cut. Thats why my reasoning was go with a pc to force myself to tackle the Adobe software and if I could get that up to my final cut skills I would be in good shape. I am really loving the asus linked to above and the specs exceed all sd footage requirements for the software I have mentioned according to manufacturer's listing. Only problem is no firewire, which I find baffling they wouldn't include. But I suppose I could always capture using one of the computers in the lab onto my external drive then I could edit on the asus at my conveniance, although one with similiar specs and price with firewire would be ideal.

[edDV]

I couldn't survive on trips without a Firewire connection.

Check out the Dell Studio (and above). They have Firewire and eSATA connectors plus they are cheap. You could have a laptop and desktop for $1500.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/core_i7_systems/fs.aspx?refid=core_i7_systems&s=dhs&cs=19

[handyguy]

Also try Costco as you have a business. They have some decent ZT Affinity computers.