editing on laptops! Yay or Ney??? help please. dont make me beg!

[wnyhiphop]

so i have a 60d and a HV30! i wanted to get this laptop: ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 i7-720QM 500GB HDD 6GB RAM. i will have smooth editing or not?? only thing it has no firewire.
here are the specs.

Specifications:
• Operating System: Windows ® 7 Home Premium 64 bit
• Processor & Cache Memory: Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 720QM 1.6-2.8GHz, 6MB cache
• Chipset: Intel PM55 Express chipset
• Main Memory (RAM): 6GB DDR3 1333Mhz (3 x 2GB)
• Display: 17.3" 1600x900 HD Color-Shine (Glare-type)
• Video Graphics & Memory: ATI HD5870 1GB GDDR5, DirectX 11
• Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM SATAII hard drive
• Optical Drive: 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo
• Card Reader: 8 in 1 card reader: SD,MMC,MS,MS-Pro,mini SD w/ adapter,MS-Duo,MS-Pro Duo via adapter
• Video Camera: 2.0 Mega Pixel web camera
• Fax/Modem/LAN/WLAN: 10/100/1000 Base T, 802.11 Wireless LAN a/b/g/n
• LED Status Indicator: Power-on/Suspend, Capital / Scroll / Number Lock, Wireless on status indicator (optional), Bluetooth on status indicator (optional)
• Interface: 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor, 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack for LAN insert, 1 x HDMI

[Janke]

If it doesn't have firewire, you can't get the HV30 footage into it.

Does it have an expansion slot that can take a firewire card? Or, do you have another PC with firewire? Then use that and an external hard disk for capturing HV30 footage.

[darthpaully]

I think the beef with editing on a laptop is that it's kinda claustrophobic, and the screen size is limited. An external mouse is the first thing you need to get if you do go that route.

[wnyhiphop]

yup, i have another pc to capture hv30. will it handle well for editing and effects???

[Video Frank]

I think the beef with editing on a laptop is that it's kinda claustrophobic, and the screen size is limited.

Add a cheapo 2nd monitor and you're in business. Looks like a good laptop to me - I edit on a lesser machine all the time.

[Janke]

Add a cheapo 2nd monitor and you're in business.

Yes. I have a 1920x1200 24" Acer monitor and a Logitech cordless mouse connected to my laptop (MacBook Core2Duo 2.4 GHz), and editing is a breeze!

[wnyhiphop]

i was thinking of getting a macbook core2duo 2.4. my mind is going crazy!

[Janke]

Add Final Cut (I use FCE4, list price $199), and you'll have a great editing tool!

WARNING: Just be sure to get a MacBook that has Firewire - a few models don't!

2 GB of RAM is on the low side, I have 4 GB.

[Jergling]

Just remember that MacBooks with exactly the same specs are 2-3x as expensive. My brother got this laptop; it won out for cost and power, and because he wanted to play Call of Duty.

Jokes aside, I would highly advise against the variant with "RBB" in the title. This means it's from Best Buy, and it will not have a real Asus warranty. Instead, the warranty has been quietly swapped out for the weasely BB one, which takes every opportunity to blame the user for problems with the computer.

Incidentally, the G73's video chipset is extremely prone to manufacturer-related problems, and is known to cause the "Gray Screen Of Death" when under load. My point being: Buy from Asus or an Asus reseller, don't get the Best Buy re-brand or you'll be sorry.

[omnibozo]

After that list of problems... some extra money for a trouble-free, easy to use Mac... looks like a bargain!

[joker454]

I have an older Hp DV8 laptop that is similar spec to what you have albeit with less ram (4gb) and a slower hard drive (5400 rpm), but it does have a similar core i7 cpu and Windows 7 64bit. I can edit just fine on it with Vegas Pro 10. I bring that laptop with me on trips and I can edit native avchd footage in hotel rooms with no issue. My laptop though is an 18.5" screen at 1920x1080 resolution so that would be an advantage compared to yours, but yours should do fine at least with Vegas Pro 10. I splurged on my laptop when I bought it over a year ago, spent $999 on it which is a lot for a pc laptop but I don't regret it at all. It has made video editing on the road easy, and the blu-ray drive is a nice bonus. If you haven't bought that model yet, and you do plan on editing a lot when you travel, then I would recommend going for an 18.5" 1920x1080 display, it makes editing much easier.

[Janke]

After that list of problems... some extra money for a trouble-free, easy to use Mac... looks like a bargain!

Yes, I consider the little extra money spent on a Mac a wise investment. They just work! (Let's hope BS doesn't see this, then this thread will be hijacked... )

However, if you need blu-ray, then Mac isn't the way to go - yet...

Just remember that MacBooks with exactly the same specs are 2-3x as expensive.

A 13" MacBookPro with i5 CPU for $1199 - not that bad, really...

[Jergling]

There's a big difference between 720p at 13" and 1080p at 17".

By the way, the Grey Screen of Death is related to the GPU, and is typically tied to the use of certain games which cause memory addressing errors. If you're getting an ATI, then not even Premiere Pro CS5 will care about this. Adobe hasn't decided to start supporting ATI cards yet, have they?

[Janke]

There's a big difference between 720p at 13" and 1080p at 17".

Add a 24" external display to a 13" laptop, and you have the best of both worlds, portability and resolution, at a much lower price than a 17" laptop...

[cgbier]

ATI cards work... somehow. You just don't have access to all the acceleration gimmicks.

[wnyhiphop]

GREAT NEWS! GOD IS AWESOME! I was trying to get a laptop but i knew i needed a desktop to do smooth 1080p editing! i prayed and Jesus interceded for me! Praise God! Get ready for this! I got a Mac Pro 2.8 quad 2gm ram(going to add more) for $450.00. they have refurbs for 2499.00 on apple site. Only God can work like that! it was on craigslist for over 45 days and no one bought it. the guy had to repost it. WOW. it has 8 slots to add 16gb of ram incredible.

[DaFireMedic]

GREAT NEWS! GOD IS AWESOME! I was trying to get a laptop but i knew i needed a desktop to do smooth 1080p editing! i prayed and Jesus interceded for me! Praise God! Get ready for this! I got a Mac Pro 2.8 quad 2gm ram(going to add more) for $450.00. they have refurbs for 2499.00 on apple site. Only God can work like that! it was on craigslist for over 45 days and no one bought it. the guy had to repost it. WOW. it has 8 slots to add 16gb of ram incredible.

I just can't believe He steered you to a Mac...He certainly works in mysterious ways....

Just kidding, sound like a really good deal, congrats. I personally prefer a laptop for the convenience. Most laptops now will enable smooth editing of 1080p HDV footage, and an i7 will handle HV30 footage with not so much as a hiccup. What I like is that I can edit at home, at work, in my truck, etc. Either way though, make sure it has Firewire, thats a must with the HV30. I'd hate to have to capture on one computer then move it all over to my editing computer. I usually use an external monitor at home and work for the increased screen space. But at that price, its hard to pass up that Mac.

Enjoy!!!!!!

[HD-tography]

GREAT NEWS! GOD IS AWESOME! I was trying to get a laptop but i knew i needed a desktop to do smooth 1080p editing! i prayed and Jesus interceded for me! Praise God! Get ready for this! I got a Mac Pro 2.8 quad 2gm ram(going to add more) for $450.00. they have refurbs for 2499.00 on apple site. Only God can work like that! it was on craigslist for over 45 days and no one bought it. the guy had to repost it. WOW. it has 8 slots to add 16gb of ram incredible.

Praise God... Amen to that!

I just can't believe He steered you to a Mac...He certainly works in mysterious ways....

Yes he does! I am surprised as well... pray for us Windows 7 users...

I just dumped $750 on a new 15.5 Inch Laptop, an HP G62 with an AMD Phenom II N850 Tripple Core Processor 2.20 GHz, 4GB Ram + 650GB Drive (with another 1TB Seagate Go-Flex USB 3.0 Pocket Drive for $170) and then another $340 for a 24.5 Inch Samsung SyncMaster P2570 Monitor, $240 more for a 24 Inch Samsung B2430H Monitor, and then decided I needed a powerhouse desktop as well so I just grabbed a Quad Core HP Pavilion p6540f Desktop with AMD Phenom II x4 830 Processor 2800 Mhz, 8GB Ram, 1TB Drive for only $540 on boxing day, added a LG BH10LS30 10x Internal Blu-ray Disc Rewriter for only $110, a ThermalTake TR2 RX 750W Modular Power Supply for only $75, USB 3.0 Ports for $30, and splurged on a SAPPHIRE Vapor-X HD5750 1GB GDDR5 PCIE video card, with dual DVI, HDMI, + Display Port all for $175. Oh I also got a Epson Artisan 810 All-in-One Printer that prints full hub DVD's directly for $200.

On second thought, pray for my finances.

[DaFireMedic]

On second thought, pray for my finances.

Lol...will do

Sounds like you are ready to go as far as computers go. My laptop is a Sony Vaio i7 with Windows 7 and 6g ram. I'm looking at an external blu ray writer eventually. The first thing I did with my laptop was yank the 5400 rpm HD, tuck it away for safe keeping and replace it with a 7200 rpm drive. I probably won't buy another laptop till the 8 core processors are out.

[blondandfun]

The intel i7 is MORE than enough for 1080p.