Entry Level Editing Machine

Do you ever need to ask this question? iMac. No contest.

Although if you can afford to get an i7 version, you'll be happier in the long run.

 

as said before many times

A G5 can barely touch even a mini, let alone a new iMac

Whats your budget?

Did you factor in the cost of FCP and Avid? thats over $1000 right there. (Please dont tell us you are going to download it off a torrent, we dont want to know.)

 

is this going to be your main machine? or just an editing station kind of thing. If this is gogin to be your main machine I'd say MBP, if it isnt then imac all the way...

 

You can get a core i5 27inch iMac with 4GB RAM/1TB HDD for $1999. (I don't know about tax since I'm in the UK). You would like that in the long run.

 

Buy the quad-core 27" iMac. Forget the G5, and ignore the MBP unless you absolutely need a portable solution.

 

If you're going to get serious about editing, I recommend you ask around on a dedicated video editing forum like creativecow.net before you buy anything.

The iMac is a nice editing machine, unless you ever need to output to a professional tape deck, in which case it is money down the drain (no expansion options for video I/O boards plus simultaneous fast storage).

The 17" MBP (or one of the older 15" models with Expresscard) is actually a better FCP machine in many ways because the Expresscard slot lets you add a professional video I/O board, or use one of the Firewire boards with an eSata Expresscard for storage.

A used, older model Mac Pro will have the most expansion options in the future, even if its processors, ram, etc. are outdated.

OTOH, if you just want to edit some media from your consumer camcorder and publish to DVD or the web, any current iMac or MBP would be fine.

 

AJA IO, connects via FW800 to give you all the IO you need. iMac is perfect for getting started on FCP. When you start editing Broadcast-level stuff for the Discovery Channel, move to a Mac Pro.

 

I'm not saying the iMac is not a good entry editing system, but...

AJA does not support the IO HD on the current iMacs.

The IO takes up the entire FW800 bus, you can't connect anything else to Firewire then. So what are you going to use for storage? Not the internal drive (especially not if the OP going for FCP certification), and the only ports left are USB (too slow) or Gigabit ethernet (too inconsistent, unless you have a very high end SAN solution).

Apple really needs to get on the ball of putting the Expresscard slot (or something better, like Light Peak or USB3) on the 15" MBPs and all iMacs.

 

I haven't had any problems, and even so, someone who's trying to get certified in FCP isn't in need of an AJA IO anyway most likely...an iMac is still the best bet for anything below uncompressed footage.

 

i7 iMac, from what's on your list.

But you'd be better off with a used '08 IMO, assuming you can locate one at a good price. Be patient, but they do come up, and can be had reasonably.

Try Craig's List, as you can inspect it prior to payment.

Just an idea.

 

i5 should be plenty

$1850 from macconnection after rebate

take the extra $$ and use $100 to upgrade to 8 gigs of ram, and another $100 for a external backup drive

 

Just picked up a 3.06+8800GS with AppleCare additional monitor and AIO printer/scanner, etc for $1000 on Craigslist as a holdover machine until I can order my i7 iMac