Mac buying advice needed

[Rhodan]

Hi all,

This advise is actually for a friend, who will be buying her first Mac. She is not very techincal and does not know all that much about PC's.

She wants a portable Mac that will allow her to edit her vacation video's. My only worry is whether a portable Mac would be up to the job? Would she need to rather invest in an iMac for more power?

Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

A portable Mac would be fine for casual video editing. I recommend a 15" MacBook Pro. If the price is a bit much then the 13" would still be a fine choice.

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

Any new mac today should be able to handle family video editing.

Is she looking for a portable so she can take the computer on the go? If so that would take the imac out of the running.

But if you are looking for some more processing power go with the macbook pro and she will be very happy.

 

[Rhodan]

Thanks for the replies.

She probably wants a portable, so yeah the iMac wouldn't do, unless there is a big difference in the power and capability between the iMac and Macbook Pro?

Would a 5400rpm drive be OK, or should she get a 7200rpm drive? What about an external firewire drive, would that help editing performance at all?

 

[Rhodan]

Also, should she be looking at the Macbook Pro, or would a Macbook suffice? The only difference I can see is the screen size and CPU speed?

 

[macrumorsMaster]

Also, should she be looking at the Macbook Pro, or would a Macbook suffice? The only difference I can see is the screen size and CPU speed?

If she wants to save money then an MB. You can even have her check the refurb section(they've been as low as $699). For casual vacation videos, it's just fine.

 

[leekohler]

Also, should she be looking at the Macbook Pro, or would a Macbook suffice? The only difference I can see is the screen size and CPU speed?

Either one will be fine for what she wants to do.

 

[knewsom]

Any mac from the last three years.

 

[skye12]

Just buy the laptop that fits her budget. The MB is very nice for the money.

 

[MrCheeto]

I edit all of my movies in iMovie and it's painless. My 5400rpm drive is the ONLY bottleneck, so opting for a 7200rpm may patch that up.

Really, the lowest-end MacBook Pro will suffice for iMovie, I don't know what software she wants to use but I'm ALWAYS confident that my MacBook Pro has the power necessary for all my needs.

 

[pukifloyd]

if she wants to save money she can buy a refurbished macbook/ macbook pro...they are as good as new and cheaper too

 

[thegoldenmackid]

I would imagine that she could suffice with any machine from recent memory, I agree with MrCheeto that upgrading the hard drive to the 7200 RPM afterwards will be a cheap and simple upgrade that will make a difference.