Mac mini for film editing?

[mcox912]

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I saw this and am wondering if i should go for it...3 month old 1.25 GHz G4 Mac Mini, keyboard, mouse, and a 15" LDC monitor for sale. asking only $550.00 for the whole package.

Plus!!! It has Photoshop, Final Cut, and iMovie HD, MS Works installed on it.

 

[FF_productions]

I don't want to be a jerk, but I'm sure those apps are pirated, but I guess it is a good deal if it was legit. How much ram is in this machine? Mac Mini's really aren't good for pro-apps such as Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. I'd get an external hard drive to store all your videos and such on it.

 

[Roy Hobbs]

A G4 mini for video editing.....short answer......NO way.....unless you like to wait.

 

[zap2]

TO say your sure those Apps are stole is strong, seeing how you have no idea if they are, it possible the installed the Apps but plan to keep the disk, if they give you the disk go for it!

But No the Mac Mini is not film editing Mac, it might do the job but its not meant to, its a basic Mac, for Word/Pages, internet and eMail and iLife stuff. Not really for "Pros" however people did run all those Apps on G4 PowerMacs and they made it

 

[MovieCutter]

TO say your sure those Apps are stole is strong, seeing how you have no idea if they are, it possible the installed the Apps but plan to keep the disk, if they give you the disk go for it!

But No the Mac Mini is not film editing Mac, it might do the job but its not meant to, its a basic Mac, for Word/Pages, internet and eMail and iLife stuff. Not really for "Pros" however people did run all those Apps on G4 PowerMacs and they made it

Ha, I used to cut with FCP on a G3 iMac...those were the days. I'd say it's a bad deal, $50 more you get the Intel Mac Mini and you don't have to deal with software that doesn't belong to you in the first place (There's no way the disc is included for $550).

 

[CanadaRAM]

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Plus!!! It has Photoshop, Final Cut, and iMovie HD, MS Works installed on it.

If the seller is willing to steal from Adobe and Apple, what stopping him from cheating you as well? I mean, you have already established that he is a software pirate, unless he is turning over the CDs manuals and registration on those programs to you (unlikely as all heck)

 

[ChrisA]

It will work but not fast

...3 month old 1.25 GHz G4 Mac Mini, keyboard, mouse, and a 15" LDC monitor for sale..

I have an Mini just like tis with 1GB RAM installed. It will work but t's not fast. Running on a 15" screen is not easy, not enough space and to small
You will ONLY be able to do DV format don't expect to be able to do any HD formats. Photoshop works OK, not fast You can only put 1GB in a G4 Mini.
Also DV uses 12GB per hour so you might need an external disk

BTW I paid $380 for the mini with 256MB RAM at the Apple web store refurb section. is a used 15" screen worth $200?

 

[dpaanlka]

A G4 mini for video editing.....short answer......NO way.....unless you like to wait.

Complete nonsense.

To say they're not as fast as a G5 Quad... obviously. To say they're not fast at all? Ridiculous and completely utterly false.

Just 5 years ago we were all very excited about how amazingly incredibly fast 500mhz G4s were. Hell, Power Mac 9600s made fine video machines. You'll be fine on a Mac Mini G4.

 

[Roy Hobbs]

Complete nonsense.

To say they're not as fast as a G5 Quad... obviously. To say they're not fast at all? Ridiculous and completely utterly false.

Just 5 years ago we were all very excited about how amazingly incredibly fast 500mhz G4s were. Hell, Power Mac 9600s made fine video machines. You'll be fine on a Mac Mini G4.

Regardless...he will be spending a lot of time waiting. Yes the mini will do video editing but to me its not a machibe I would ever try to do it on.

 

[bigandy]

Regardless...he will be spending a lot of time waiting. Yes the mini will do video editing but to me its not a machibe I would ever try to do it on.

i went down to my parents at christmas and needed to do some editing, i'd left my powerbook 500 miles away, at home, so i went ahead and installed Final Cut 5 on their 1.42Ghz G4 Mac Mini.


and i had no trouble whatsoever.

 

[FF_productions]

i went down to my parents at christmas and needed to do some editing, i'd left my powerbook 500 miles away, at home, so i went ahead and installed Final Cut 5 on their 1.42Ghz G4 Mac Mini.


and i had no trouble whatsoever.

I'd only edit on a Mac Mini if I had an extra scratch drive and a gig of ram, then I really wouldn't care if it was a G4. It isn't a pro machine, but we must consider there were PowerMacs just as fast as the Mini just a few years ago.

 

[dpaanlka]

Regardless...he will be spending a lot of time waiting.

"a lot of time waiting" is not an accurate benchmark of anything. A lot of time waiting compared to what? A Mac mini will blow away Power Macs of just a few years ago. People still use Blue & White G3s for editing for gods sake. Every current Mac falls into the "fast enough" category of editing.

I can't believe some people consider a 1.42ghz G4 a "slow" video editing machine that they "wouldn't ever try editing on that thing". A lot of time waiting, please spare me the head shaking.

 

[imacintel]

If you can afford this, you may want to get an intel mac, photoshop for windows, and use that combo? It really sucks, I am a windows convert and my copy of photoshop(starters )is only a windows copy.

 

[Rod Rod]

Regardless...he will be spending a lot of time waiting. Yes the mini will do video editing but to me its not a machibe I would ever try to do it on.

Hit the caps lock key while you're editing. That disables rendering. Let everything render when you're away from your desk.

"Spending a lot of time waiting" is the user's fault. I've seen people apply effects, hit option-R to render it, then apply different effects, hit option-R and it goes on forever. That is inefficient. Hit option-P to preview an effect without rendering.

 

[LethalWolfe]

"a lot of time waiting" is not an accurate benchmark of anything. A lot of time waiting compared to what? A Mac mini will blow away Power Macs of just a few years ago. People still use Blue & White G3s for editing for gods sake. Every current Mac falls into the "fast enough" category of editing.

A G4 Mac Mini will blow the doors off dual proc 1ghz/1.42ghz G4 towers and early G5 towers? Seriously? And why is buying a G4 Mac Mini at $550 a good idea when for $50 more you get a much better machine?

I can't believe some people consider a 1.42ghz G4 a "slow" video editing machine that they "wouldn't ever try editing on that thing". A lot of time waiting, please spare me the head shaking.

I think the price point has something to do w/it. If I offer to sell you brand new, superior technology and 3-4yr old, inferior technology at basically the same price, which is the better deal?

Just 5 years ago we were all very excited about how amazingly incredibly fast 500mhz G4s were. Hell, Power Mac 9600s made fine video machines. You'll be fine on a Mac Mini G4.

IIRC it was closer to 8 years ago that the 500mhz G4 was the new chip on the block, and B&W and 9600s did make fine editing machines... as long as they had a few grand (or if they were Avid's 70,000+ grand) of dedicated hardware to handle the video.


Lethal

 

[dpaanlka]

A G4 Mac Mini will blow the doors off dual proc 1ghz/1.42ghz G4 towers and early G5 towers? Seriously?

It will blow the doors off a 1.2ghz sing G4. And the Core Duo Minis will blow the doors off any Power Mac G4 with the Intel native version of FCP.

And why is buying a G4 Mac Mini at $550 a good idea when for $50 more you get a much better machine?

I believe he said he was getting it with "tons" of software.

If I offer to sell you brand new, superior technology and 3-4yr old, inferior technology at basically the same price, which is the better deal?

That's not a good analogy, as you didn't include the cost of the software.

B&W and 9600s did make fine editing machines... as long as they had a few grand (or if they were Avid's 70,000+ grand) of dedicated hardware to handle the video. l

A 9600 yes... however I did video editing on a stock Blue & White G3 for years and had no problems.

 

[LethalWolfe]

It will blow the doors off a 1.2ghz sing G4. And the Core Duo Minis will blow the doors off any Power Mac G4 with the Intel native version of FCP.

You said any PM made in the past few years. You didn't say any single proc tower w/a clock speed slower than the Mini. Hyperbole can be a b*tch sometimes. And an Intel Mac Mini will kill a G4 Mac Mini so why doesn't this guy just spend the extra $50 and get an Intel Mac Mini?

I believe he said he was getting it with "tons" of software.

That's not a good analogy, as you didn't include the cost of the software.

Tons of unlicensed software which is w/o any monetary value. Of course, if the software is legit it's a hell of a deal 'cause that's like $1600 worth of apps.

A 9600 yes... however I did video editing on a stock Blue & White G3 for years and had no problems.

If the options were for a $100 G4 Mini or pay for $600 for a new one I'd say take the $100 G4 Mini. But they aren't. The options are for a Mac Mini G4 for $50 less than a brand new, Intel Mac Mini.

People used to cut film by hand for decades what is your point? Technology 4 years ago is not as good as technology today, so why buy 4yr old tech that's only $50 cheaper than a brand new computer?


Lethal

 

[Nate4747]

If you do end up getting it, make sure to max out the RAM. For video editing that is a must. I edit on a 1.25 G4 with 1GB RAM, and it doesn't give me any trouble. I am using a 7200RPM FireWire scratch drive though.

I do think the unlicensed software is questionable though, if that is in fact the case you should just get a new Intel mini which will come with iMovie HD.

 

[dpaanlka]

Of course, if the software is legit it's a hell of a deal 'cause that's like $1600 worth of apps.

Exactly.

People used to cut film by hand for decades what is your point?

Point is your making it sound like it is utterly impossible, worthless, and insane for anyone to attempt video editing on a G4, when that is just so untrue.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Exactly.

But the software's not legit so it adds no value to the deal. And if the OP already has a kb, mouse, and monitor then those add little to the deal as well. So the OP is basically asking if $550 for a used, G4 Mac Mini is a good deal. Which it's not.

Point is your making it sound like it is utterly impossible, worthless, and insane for anyone to attempt video editing on a G4, when that is just so untrue.

No, my point is for the money it's not a good deal because the OP is basically going to be paying full retail price for a used machine and for only $50 more the OP can get a brand new, Intel Mac Mini that will serve him much better than the used, G4 Mac Mini. You can't tell me that, for nearly the same price, a G4 Mac Mini is a better deal than an Intel Mac Mini.


Lethal

 

[Caitlyn]

I have a 1.33GHz G4 and I have attempted to video edit with it. It can be done but very slowly. On a 1.25GHz machine, I wouldn't try. For video editing, check out maybe an Intel Mac Mini. I know the deal sounds good, but maybe just put the money you would use for that to the purchase of a more capable machine.

 

[wattage]

Point is your making it sound like it is utterly impossible, worthless, and insane for anyone to attempt video editing on a G4, when that is just so untrue.

I have a 667 TiBook and recently tried to save a project with iDVD as a disk image to burn with my external burner. I let it process for like 6 hours and it barely made any progress on the menus of the dvd. I abandoned the process and now am considering my options.

Would a new mini serve my needs of using iMovie and iDVD in a timely manner??

 

[LethalWolfe]

I have a 667 TiBook and recently tried to save a project with iDVD as a disk image to burn with my external burner. I let it process for like 6 hours and it barely made any progress on the menus of the dvd. I abandoned the process and now am considering my options.

Would a new mini serve my needs of using iMovie and iDVD in a timely manner??

An Intel Mac Mini would be a huge step up from your current laptop.


Lethal

 

[wattage]

OK, 2 more questions:

Is it easy to upgrade RAM on a mini yourself or should we just order it maxed out?

Would a new mini 'hook' up with my TiBook for the display??

 

[FF_productions]

OK, 2 more questions:

Is it easy to upgrade RAM on a mini yourself or should we just order it maxed out?

Would a new mini 'hook' up with my TiBook for the display??

I'm sure the RAM is easy to upgrade by yourself, you may have to do a little research on how to do that, but you will save money because Apple rips you off with their prices on ram. I'm not sure how a new Mini could connect to your portable.