Laptop HD Speeds and Video Editing

[BrianMojo]

Hello everyone,

I'm considering picking up one of the new MacBook Pros, and I'd really like to get the largest drive available on the 15", the 200GB drive, but I do video editing and am a bit wary that the 4200 rpm nature of the drive just wouldn't do it.

Can anyone advise as to what would actually happen if I were to edit off of a lower speed drive? Would I just get a lot of dropped frames? I would be editing mainly DV content, although I would likely be editing some HDV content off an external drive (I just don't want to have to tote that around with me at all times)

Also, would a 4200 rpm drive be capable of smooth HD playback at, say, 1080i?

Thanks for your input!

[Igantius]

Personally, even on the move, I would use an external drive when editing.

But if you really must, I reckon you should be fine with the 4200rpm. Certainly, Apple says that the 4200rpm drives it ships, are suitable for editng in Final Cut Pro.

[amoda]

As Igantius said you really should use an external for video editing. You'll be going through several hundred gb's of info and it just isn't good for the health of the hd.