Ultralight notebook for editing.

[Eff]

...

So here are my choices:

MacBook Pro 13" 2.9GHz i7 w/ 750GB hard drive and 8GB RAM $1499
MacBook Pro 13" Retina 2.5GHz i5 w/ 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM $1699
MacBook Pro 13" 2.9GHz i7 w/ 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM $1599

... .

[-]Between those listed, the first one sounds like the only one usable for video work, due to the storage space. [/-]
EDIT: Ignore that, read on below...

To clarify, with the Retina w/ SSD, you do lose a small amount of processor power, but real-world performance on most tasks is SO much faster due to the amazing performance of an SSD.

For $1999 you can get:
Macbook Pro Retina 13-inch: 2.5GHz
with Retina display
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz
8GB 1600MHz memory
256GB flash storage1
Intel HD Graphics 4000

It is a few hundred more than the setups listed above, but is definitely an extremely powerful, compact setup that will give you enough storage onboard for most projects, provided you don't transcode hours of input media to Prores 422 HQ, etc. Then, back them up and move them to external storage once the project is completed. (I worked with 256 GB for years)

BEFORE you make a final choice, use the following tool to calculate your storage requirements. Bear in mind that OS X and all your music, pictures, etc will also need space.

http://www.digitalrebellion.com/webapps/video_calc.html

Link to a sample calculation I did: http://www.digitalrebellion.com/web...080&frame_rate=f30&length=2&length_type=hours

Edit 2: Before I forget, modern USB 3.0 portable external hard drives are cheap and pretty fast. I've only noticed minor lag (<.5 sec) when scrubbing through 1080p30 low-compression video. Actual editing is seamless. You can store entire projects, events, etc on them.
The one I use is:
http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=5605731&pid=1218671114119
$100, 1TB, USB 3.0, and the size of a wallet. Sorted.
Just make sure to reformat it to "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with Disk Utility. Only takes a minute.

This will let you get the 128GB SSD Retina, use onboard storage for smaller projects, and external for the big documentaries.
Just make sure to buy a couple drives so that you have another drive to back everything up to!

 

[JamesK]

Cool thanks. Sounds like Retina and SSD is the way to go. $2k is more the I wanted to spend, but not out of line. My current laptop has only 288GB's, but it is damn near full. I am going to go through it and see what I really don't need on it, and would not use on a new one.

Thanks for you help. Anyone else have an opinion?

 

[danvolker]

I would love to see how the new Surface with Windows 8 Pro and 64 gig internal storage would do for this.
From all accounts, it could run Vegas Pro or other full powered NLE just fine. It would be nicer than a laptop, for the ease in editing wherever you are, and you could connect to a big screen whenever available/desirable.
I would want to "see" this though.....to see how well a tablet concept could be applied to the operations of video editing...
Price is way better than the Mac options.

 

[Tigerman]

If I got a computer with a SSD I would DEFINETLY get one with two drives or bring a second one. 128GB Might sound like a lot of data, but if youre out shooting video or pictures all day, every day without somewhere else to store that data - 128GB fill up fairly quickly..
It does of course depend on what quality you shoot and how much time you have for compression/deleting unwanted stuff, but my 18mpx camera if I wanna shoot the best possible quality - which for reals, I didnt spend the money for a canon 7D to NOT make use of the quality - Ill only get ~30-35 pictures PER GIGABYTE.
Add to that the fact that OS, editing software and whatever else you need eat out of those 128GB and when a HDD is stated as 128GB your computer wont make use of the full 128GB so what youre left to store things on is probably down to 100GB or something like that..

SSD rocks on speed, but unfortunately its not ideal on size (and price) yet..

 

[JamesK]

OK, Dan. Links to what you speak? I know nothing of this.

 

[Interceptor121]

One thing I have to clarify I do edits in iMovie with native uncompressed h264 the macbook air mentioned does that just fine so in that regards is much better than machines that need conversion in a lighter format such as cineform
With cineform or aic once you have done conversion there is no issue of performance in the edit
the performance is really needed in the encoding that is where the fan goes NOT in the editing

 

[JamesK]

I know that these files take up a crap ton of room. My dives all get shot in HD with three different cameras. Plus I do photography as well. 128GB does not go far at all and sounds horribly small. Hell, anything under 500 sounds small.

 

[ronscuba]

I know that these files take up a crap ton of room. My dives all get shot in HD with three different cameras. Plus I do photography as well. 128GB does not go far at all and sounds horribly small. He'll, anything under 500 sounds small.

External drives is the trend. Especially with ultrabooks and small laptops.

 

[danvolker]

OK, Dan. Links to what you speak? I know nothing of this.

Surface with Windows 8 Pro is powerful

 

[Tigerman]

External drives is the trend. Especially with ultrabooks and small laptops.

Kingston is on their way with a 1 TERRABYTE memory stick though...
Sounds cheap

EDI: Found some specifics.. Kingston HyperX Predator 1TB Flash Drive: You Don?t Want to Lose This One