Looking for a good computer for video editing that costs no more than $2,500[including monitor].Here are the three that I have considered:Mac Pro,HP elite m9280 and Dell xps420.Among those, which is the best for video editing?Any other suggestions?
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Apple,HP or Dell for video editing?
(7 posts)-
AJackson
Member
Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM -
D0n
Member
apple imac, up the ram, add an external firewire raid.
mac pro doesn't come with a monitor.
Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM -
I agree with D0n. For 2500 you can get yourself a nice iMac.
Posted 4 months ago # Login to Send PM -
LDPLDP
Member
What you get depends on how much time you need to process your video. A Mac Pro (I have a Mac Pro w/quad processors) can take a one hour movie (after I have done all the editing) less than 2 hours to render, compress, and burn on a DVD.
Now, my wife just bought a MacBook with the 2.5 ghertz Intel processor. It is very fast. You'll need an external harddrive to store any unnecessary files so that the internal drive is available for processing. It cost @ $1,200. And it can process a movie in around 2 hours. Make sure if you get any new Mac, that you then download for free iMovie 6 which is a better movie editing software than the current iMovie. the MacBook Pro laptop costs $800 more but I don't think you get that much more for the money.
Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM -
Johnboy
Member
if you are considering the PC route, you can custom build a pc with very nice specs for less than $1700. it's not hard to do and you know what's in it and what programs are installed because you did it.
Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM -
Bowman15
Member
My only recommendation is to not get a Dell. I might get bashed for this but I think Dells suck. I have used a couple of them and their processing speed slows way down over a little while. My harddrive crashed on mine and another friend had dthe same problem with his laptop. HP is a good PC but also look into sony computers. Macs are awesome though and it depends on personal opinion there.
Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM -
If you want to get the most bang for your buck, then definitely build your own PC. If you spend 1500-2000 bucks, build it your self, install only what you need (OS, drivers, and editing software) and keep it completely off of the internet, you can get a stable PC that will compete (horsepower-wise) with a 3k Mac Pro. True, Mac's stability is rock solid. What most people don't realize is that a lot of the problems with PCs come from the average users stupidity (i.e. downloading dangerous software and not being careful on the internet.) If you keep your PC off of the internet completely, and only install the programs you need, you will never get a virus etc.
This is not to bash Apple. I think they are fantastic, and that Microsoft ought to learn a few things from them. But I think that the majority of PC problems come from the PC manufacturers (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) not from the OS and hardware manufacturers.
So, unless you really want a Mac, I would say that the most money-efficient route would be to build your own. Hope this is of some help.
Jeremy
Posted 3 months ago # Login to Send PM
