Is This Edit Suite For Real ???

[zephyrnoid]

Is this really what it takes to do comfy cozy editing in HD?
http://mbsdirect.com/solutions/finalcutpro.php
HD Editing System
Eight-Core 3.0Ghz Intel Xeon
4.0GB SDRAM
250GB Serial ATA System Drive
16x SuperDrive (double-layer)
ATI X1900 512Mb.
Final Cut Studio 2
Apple Xserve RAID 7TB
w/Fibre Channel Card
Final Cut Pro Custom Keyboard
2 x Apple Cinema HD Display 23"
2 x APC RS1000 Battery Back-up
AJA Kona 3 card
AJA K3 Breakout Box
Panasonic BT-LH1700W 17-inch Widescreen HD/SD LCD Broadcast Monitor
System Configuration and Testing
90 Day Toll Free Telephone Support
AppleCare Protection Plan
(three years coverage on Mac Pro & Cinema Display)

[VeniVidiVici]

That is a more professional configuration. What is your point?

Companies like ProMax have been building pro systems for people who don't want to be Mac nerds for years. Even FireWire has its issues for many.

vvv

[skinnyboy]

I do comfy cozy HD editing on my dual 1GHz G5.
4.5 GB RAM, a bunch of hard drives, but nothing fancy.
Final Cut Studio 2.
One Dell 20" widescreen monitor.

So... you can do it with whatever you have. Having a nice setup like you listed would be neat, but it's way overkill for just about any use I can think of.

[trigger]

I've been editing HD on my Macbook 13" 2.16 ghz, 2gb RAM just fine. What it ultimatly comes down to is how much editing you do. If I was doing more than a couple of videos a month, I'd want at least a quad core desktop, but as it stands right now my needs don't really demand that from me.

[zephyrnoid]

I think the point of my post title was the operative phrase "comfy cozy" - referring to what seems to be uncompressed edit environment. I'll assume that means best quality I/O and the fastest rendering around in real time.
So I'm assuming that those that may opt for or happen to use a laptop, modest RAM etc, are seeing proportionately longer render times. Am I correct? For me, I plan to do a lot of editing for about 6 months and wonder if such set-ups are rentable perhaps?

[trigger]

I don't know about renting, but at one point (when I was doing weddings as a business) I leased a high end editing system with the option to buy.

EDIT: And yes, I do have much longer render times than what's seen above. What type of video will you be doing, and about how many hours worth of video do you see yourself editing over the course of those 6 months?