What's the best video editing capable used Mac for under $300?

[Viantef]

So I was really desperate to get into videography, stupid 17 year old me sold my perfectly capable 2013 Macbook Air for $625. I then bought a stupidly slow Alienware M11x (Well not stupidly slow, but it's not "comfortable" per say working in Photoshop/Illustrator or Premiere, and with the rest of the money I bought a Canon t2i (body only). So I still have to spend money on a lens, battery, charger, etc.

I paid $370 for the Alienware, it'll be going back tomorrow. I was thinking of building a PC, but my workflow is really strong in FCPX. It was first editor, and when I got this Alienware, I tried working with Premiere but I just couldn't dig it. A lot of editors are the complete opposite of me.

I found a PC build that was only $275, but it's AMD. I don't AMD can be "hackintoshed". Every time I do look up Hackintosh, the forum discussions displays technological terminology that seems so foreign to me.

So I got $300 to work with. Also this is temporarily, over the course of this I'm going to be seriously devaluing the industry with these $100 music video special. I live in Cleveland, and black inner city kids wants to be a rapper. So with my plan going good over the next month, I should I have a shiny new Retina Pro 13" in my hands next month. \

Thanks

 

[r0k]

So I was really desperate to get into videography, stupid 17 year old me sold my perfectly capable 2013 Macbook Air for $625. I then bought a stupidly slow Alienware M11x (Well not stupidly slow, but it's not "comfortable" per say working in Photoshop/Illustrator or Premiere, and with the rest of the money I bought a Canon t2i (body only). So I still have to spend money on a lens, battery, charger, etc.

I paid $370 for the Alienware, it'll be going back tomorrow. I was thinking of building a PC, but my workflow is really strong in FCPX. It was first editor, and when I got this Alienware, I tried working with Premiere but I just couldn't dig it. A lot of editors are the complete opposite of me.

I found a PC build that was only $275, but it's AMD. I don't AMD can be "hackintoshed". Every time I do look up Hackintosh, the forum discussions displays technological terminology that seems so foreign to me.

So I got $300 to work with. Also this is temporarily, over the course of this I'm going to be seriously devaluing the industry with these $100 music video special. I live in Cleveland, and black inner city kids wants to be a rapper. So with my plan going good over the next month, I should I have a shiny new Retina Pro 13" in my hands next month. \

Thanks

$300 is a very low price point for Apple hardware, even used. I suggest you look at used MBP or Mac mini models. The reason is that you might be able to get one in your budget and you can then go back and add RAM or SSD later as you can afford it. Then if things do work out for you to get a 13 in rMBP later on, you can turn around and sell the used machine.

I don't recommend hackintosh. But... If you have lots of time on your hands and don't mind learning quite a bit, head over to tonymac86.com and see if you can afford one of the EXACT builds they recommend. Otherwise look at Microcenter, craigslist or ebay for used Macs. Of course you need to be careful to avoid scams. If a 27 inch iMac is on craigslist for $99 and you are being asked to wire money to Cambodia... well you know to walk away, right? If you have an ebay seller with 100% positive feedback but all they've ever sold is usb sticks and this is their first big item, the same thing applies.

 

[Viantef]

$300 is a very low price point for Apple hardware, even used. I suggest you look at used MBP or Mac mini models. The reason is that you might be able to get one in your budget and you can then go back and add RAM or SSD later as you can afford it. Then if things do work out for you to get a 13 in rMBP later on, you can turn around and sell the used machine.

I don't recommend hackintosh. But... If you have lots of time on your hands and don't mind learning quite a bit, head over to tonymac86.com and see if you can afford one of the EXACT builds they recommend. Otherwise look at Microcenter, craigslist or ebay for used Macs. Of course you need to be careful to avoid scams. If a 27 inch iMac is on craigslist for $99 and you are being asked to wire money to Cambodia... well you know to walk away, right? If you have an ebay seller with 100% positive feedback but all they've ever sold is usb sticks and this is their first big item, the same thing applies.

I found a few 2006 Mac Pros going for under $300 in excellent condition. Also, a 2009 C2D Mac Mini. A few C2D White Macbooks.

Which one should I choose?

 

[brand]

I found a few 2006 Mac Pros going for under $300 in excellent condition. Also, a 2009 C2D Mac Mini. A few C2D White Macbooks.

Which one should I choose?

For video editing, none if those are your choices.

 

[Viantef]

For video editing, none if those are your choices.

Yea, I've decided to use my grandmother's 2013 MBP until I can buy my own.

Cheers.

 

[r0k]

I found a few 2006 Mac Pros going for under $300 in excellent condition. Also, a 2009 C2D Mac Mini. A few C2D White Macbooks.

Which one should I choose?

For video editing, none if those are your choices.

Agreed. I had a white Macbook with 6 GB of RAM that served me nicely until I got my late 2011 15 in MBP. Rather than sell that whitebook, it's now a "spare" machine in the exercise room to (cough cough) save us the trouble of walking downstairs to use a computer (wouldn't that be exercise?).

Yea, I've decided to use my grandmother's 2013 MBP until I can buy my own.

Cheers.

Good choice. I suggest you get your own external USB hard drive so your video projects don't overflow her Macintosh HD. Then practice discipline in saving money. I would think you could get a viable video editing Mac for about $600. One criteria would be the ability to run the latest OS. Another would be either large internal storage and RAM or the ability to install your own later.