Wirelessly upload video. what laptop to buy?

[HanShootsFirst]

I need to decide on which Mac laptop is right for the job.
Of course trying to keep project cost as low as possible is important too.

In need of Mac laptop that can "painlessly" handle wireless uploading standard definition and HD video (20-30sec. quicktime movies) and pictures (and maybe podcasts) to a website as we drive across 4 states (TX, LA, AR, OK) in a minivan.

And what wi-fi hardware/software would have to be installed to make this work?

I've never owned a Mac laptop, I edit video on a Mac Pro desktop with Final Cut Express HD, and upload that way. But the wireless option is all very new to me.

Any advice would be appreciated. Are web articles out there that review the best laptops for this.

 

[Fizzoid]

I'd say you could get an old G4 PowerBook to simply upload files, but how exactly are you planning on uploading them wirelessly?

 

[SilentPanda]

The wireless on all the laptops is the same speed so I don't think that's terribly relevant. How large will the files be? Where do you plan to have wireless internet access from? Are you uploading them to youtube or some such thing or to your own site?

 

[Fizzoid]

The wireless on all the laptops is the same speed so I don't think that's terribly relevant.

Not true, the older Airport cards don't support wireless n, giving a potential 600Mbps, but then it all depends on how they'll be uploading the files.

 

[HanShootsFirst]

Original poster's reply

Looking to upload approx. 200MB quicktime files to either Vimeo or YouTube. (do this daily)

Would I need to just piggyback off some coffeeshop WiFi to do it, or is buying the AT&T or Sprint Data Card USB the way to go?
Only uploading while we are in the big cities, not on highway.

Here's the laptop I thinking of buying, think it will get the job done?

MacBook
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (667Mhz)
3MB shared L2 cache
1066Mhz FSB
1280x800 display
2GB 667Mhz (two SO-DIMMs) memory
120GB hard drive
NVIDIDA GeForce 9400M graphics processor

 

[bobbleheadbob]

Any of the newer Mac laptops would be fine. The drag is going to be the wireless card and the limited upload speeds. I've got the AT&T USB data connector. It works fine for what it does, but even over 3G it's painfully slow most of time. Even getting e-mail and web at the same time will bog it down. A 100 MB video file upload to Vimeo will easily take 30 minutes +.

A couple other things: coverage varies when you're moving. For example, when I'm on the commuter train, I know there are going to be a few dead spots along the way where I lose coverage. I imagine it'll be the same thing in a car.

Also with the AT&T data plan, you're limited to 5GB of data transfer per month. It's not unlimited, like the iPhone data plan. You'll need to watch your data level carefully, because if you go over the cap it gets painfully expensive (even beyond the $60/month base fee).

I look for wi-fi hot spots whereever possible....thank you Starbucks card!

Good luck.

 

[BayouBengal]

Many of the rest areas along the interstates in East Texas and in Louisiana have free wifi if a Starbucks or something similar isn't around.