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14" iBook for Video Editing?

A

audiovox

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 1, 2005
13
0
Hi guys, I'll be looking to purchase a 14" iBook soon, for use in school. (Finally making the switch! :D ) Problem is, I'll be attending a FilmVideo school, which will probably require me to do video and sound editing. If I upgrade the RAM to 512mb, will it be sufficient to produce satisfactory results? I was also looking at the PB, but the 15" model seems too much of a strain on my budget :( so for now, my eyes are on the iBook.

A worry that has been highlighted by many an iBook potential buyer is the possibily that they might get "shafted" by a new release days after they purchase it :confused: Is this likely to happen? I only have to get the iBook before May 24th, so time is not a worry for me till then. If its unlikely that an update will be within this time, I'll probably go out and purchase the iBook first, just to get used to it. Will it be worth the wait? Should I seriously consider the PB over the iBook? Please help! Thanks.
 
i think you would be better off maxing out the ram in the ibook....if you have the money go for the PB...it would probably run FCP better though ive never tried it on my ibook..my guess is no update before then because of todays emac and imac but you never know...i guess wait until the 23rd or 24th
 
audiovox said:
Hi guys, I'll be looking to purchase a 14" iBook soon, for use in school. (Finally making the switch! :D ) Problem is, I'll be attending a FilmVideo school, which will probably require me to do video and sound editing. If I upgrade the RAM to 512mb, will it be sufficient to produce satisfactory results? I was also looking at the PB, but the 15" model seems too much of a strain on my budget :( so for now, my eyes are on the iBook.

A worry that has been highlighted by many an iBook potential buyer is the possibily that they might get "shafted" by a new release days after they purchase it :confused: Is this likely to happen? I only have to get the iBook before May 24th, so time is not a worry for me till then. If its unlikely that an update will be within this time, I'll probably go out and purchase the iBook first, just to get used to it. Will it be worth the wait? Should I seriously consider the PB over the iBook? Please help! Thanks.
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Right now the 12-inch powerbook looks a LOT better for video editing than an iBook. Better video card, faster HD, and the option to support an external monitor without a hack, all strike me as reasons to go with this compromise option. Then you can add an external monitor when you've got the money and end up with more screen real estate than the 15-incher for the same amount of $$$.

But wait and see if iBook upgrades before the end of the month bring it closer to the level of the 12-inch PB.
 
Thanks guys, those seem like viable options as well, havent thought of those. Thanks!
 
i have the iscroll2 hack and the screen span hack on my ibook, have you heard of these causing any problems...i know to delete them before i ever send my book to apple for anything...or bye bye warranty :(
 
Just another thought, if speed wasnt too much of an issue, as I'm still a student, and they do have PowerMacs in the labs for the heavier editing, will a iBook with boosted RAM be enough for simple editing at home and stuff?

Sorry about the newbie-ism, haha. :D
 
yea if you are only doing simple imovie and small projects in FCP...if you do moderately sized stuff though...i wouldnt recommend a current ibook
 
audiovox said:
Just another thought, if speed wasnt too much of an issue, as I'm still a student, and they do have PowerMacs in the labs for the heavier editing, will a iBook with boosted RAM be enough for simple editing at home and stuff?

Sorry about the newbie-ism, haha. :D
Click to expand...
Actually, that would work pretty well. You can use your iBook in Firewire Target Mode as a disk drive and not even worry with moving project files back and forth -- as long as you're using the same app on both machines.

The only caveat I can offer is that Final Cut doesn't fit well on the 12" LCD. For that reason, you may want to get an external display (Dell's 2005FPW would work nicely and can be had for around $500 most days).

In either case -- I'd highly suggest maxing out RAM and HDD. And buying an external HDD.
 
buryyourbrideau said:
yea if you are only doing simple imovie and small projects in FCP...if you do moderately sized stuff though...i wouldnt recommend a current ibook
Click to expand...

thanks, i see. but will the main problem be laggy editing, or will the 14" iBook simply hang up when using FCP?
 
not really laggy editing but more or less you will see the hated beachball for a while when loading your projects and saving them and when i mean a while...like 5 mins if its a really big file. the editing itself isnt the best but i make little movies in imovie all the time and its quick and my friends tibook 1t 1ghz runs FCP fine.
 
Whenever my dual 2.0 rig went under i edited a movie in Final Cut Pro using a 450mhz Cube. just saying- it *can* be done... But who would?

Go with the best you can now.. you can add ram later

kyle
 
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