OT: Need computer advice (digital video)
02-06-2002, 07:47 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 9,428
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
OT: Need computer advice (digital video)
What to do ....
I have a Sony Vaio Digital Studio that's a couple of years old (500MHz) with a CD/RW, firewire hard drive (external), and lots of photo and video editing software (Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, etc.).
I've been tempted to order a new Apple iMac G4 (very high on the cuteness scale ;-D ) to use primarily for photo and video editing and keep the Sony for all the other stuff I need a PC for. It would cost too much to buy all the Adobe products over again for the Apple, so I'd use iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, etc. that all comes standard on the iMac. I would be able to use the firewire drive for the Mac as well. I can get an iMac with upgraded memory (512) and a free printer for $1794.
The alternative is to upgrade the VAIO with a DVD writer for under $500 (best price I've found is $433.95 with an after rebate price of $383.95).
The Apple DVD is DVD-R (at least according to their literature; I assume they mean DVD-RW) and the Sony is DVD+RW, but supports DVD-RW (Sony is hedging its bets on the ultimate winner in the DVD format war).
So, the real question is, do I continue to upgrade an older machine that is heavily loaded down with other applications, data and work-related stuff or buy a cute ;-) little machine I can dedicate to doing photo and video editing? And if I choose the latter, will I miss my Adobe suite of products? (I have heard really good things about the Apple software, though.)
I should also mention that I've never used anything other than a Windows machine, and have to keep a PC at home for compatibility with work.
Thoughts? TIA.
I have a Sony Vaio Digital Studio that's a couple of years old (500MHz) with a CD/RW, firewire hard drive (external), and lots of photo and video editing software (Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, etc.).
I've been tempted to order a new Apple iMac G4 (very high on the cuteness scale ;-D ) to use primarily for photo and video editing and keep the Sony for all the other stuff I need a PC for. It would cost too much to buy all the Adobe products over again for the Apple, so I'd use iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, etc. that all comes standard on the iMac. I would be able to use the firewire drive for the Mac as well. I can get an iMac with upgraded memory (512) and a free printer for $1794.
The alternative is to upgrade the VAIO with a DVD writer for under $500 (best price I've found is $433.95 with an after rebate price of $383.95).
The Apple DVD is DVD-R (at least according to their literature; I assume they mean DVD-RW) and the Sony is DVD+RW, but supports DVD-RW (Sony is hedging its bets on the ultimate winner in the DVD format war).
So, the real question is, do I continue to upgrade an older machine that is heavily loaded down with other applications, data and work-related stuff or buy a cute ;-) little machine I can dedicate to doing photo and video editing? And if I choose the latter, will I miss my Adobe suite of products? (I have heard really good things about the Apple software, though.)
I should also mention that I've never used anything other than a Windows machine, and have to keep a PC at home for compatibility with work.
Thoughts? TIA.
02-06-2002, 08:03 AM
#2
there is a limit to what you can do to upgrade a CPU...
no matter who makes it.
I've tried to do this on a biege G3, add in the USB board, the firewire board, memory, SCSI-2 wide hard drive, video, etc.
I helped a friend do this also, with a windows machine.
Both systems had mediocre results.
The wides SCSI drive works great, memeory, no prob. USB mostly works.
On my Mac, the DV/firewire board reached it's limit at OS 8.6. The O/S upgrades were not matched by the add-on board upgrades. The firewire system would not work with OS9 or X. The board mfg. said sorry, buy a new board. The firmware and software upgrade would not work. Similar story with the windows machine. Poor to inconsistent results with all the add-on stuff.
Then I played with a G4, OSX, and 9.2, with the iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iPod. Wow! what a diference!
My Sony DV camera, digital camera, everything worked right away. All the USB stuff I had worked too.
I captured some movies of our daughter, edited them, saved them.
I used the DV-RW software to burn a DVD, and it plays on all the players I've tried it on.
I sent copies to the in-laws, and they love it.
IMHO, there is no substitute for the built-in capabilities of the integration of the hardware and software that is provided by this one platform.
My windows friend is frustrated because he speant nearly the amount he could have bought an iMac for, to upgrade his machine, and it still doesn't work.
My aging G3 is going to be my daughters machine, and we are buying a G4 with all the stuff built-in.
BTW- this was my wife's decision when she saw how easy it was to do thia on the G4 OSx Mac.
She saw haow frustrated I was with the G3 add-on, and the windows box of my friend.
I've tried to do this on a biege G3, add in the USB board, the firewire board, memory, SCSI-2 wide hard drive, video, etc.
I helped a friend do this also, with a windows machine.
Both systems had mediocre results.
The wides SCSI drive works great, memeory, no prob. USB mostly works.
On my Mac, the DV/firewire board reached it's limit at OS 8.6. The O/S upgrades were not matched by the add-on board upgrades. The firewire system would not work with OS9 or X. The board mfg. said sorry, buy a new board. The firmware and software upgrade would not work. Similar story with the windows machine. Poor to inconsistent results with all the add-on stuff.
Then I played with a G4, OSX, and 9.2, with the iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iPod. Wow! what a diference!
My Sony DV camera, digital camera, everything worked right away. All the USB stuff I had worked too.
I captured some movies of our daughter, edited them, saved them.
I used the DV-RW software to burn a DVD, and it plays on all the players I've tried it on.
I sent copies to the in-laws, and they love it.
IMHO, there is no substitute for the built-in capabilities of the integration of the hardware and software that is provided by this one platform.
My windows friend is frustrated because he speant nearly the amount he could have bought an iMac for, to upgrade his machine, and it still doesn't work.
My aging G3 is going to be my daughters machine, and we are buying a G4 with all the stuff built-in.
BTW- this was my wife's decision when she saw how easy it was to do thia on the G4 OSx Mac.
She saw haow frustrated I was with the G3 add-on, and the windows box of my friend.
02-06-2002, 08:07 AM
#3
You're still going to want some of the Adobe stuff...
iMovie is pretty simple, so you might miss Premiere-- although FinalCut Pro is supposed to trump it, and might be worth the investment. I'd believe that, as I don't like Premere. :-) Also, I can't imagine any machine without Photoshop, but if DV is your main focus then that may not matter to you. I suppose you can always go back to the PC for non-DV work... but I'll bet you won't want to after enjoying the G4.
My personal bias would be to get the Mac, and get Mac versions of the software you can't live without. Does that help any? :-)
My personal bias would be to get the Mac, and get Mac versions of the software you can't live without. Does that help any? :-)
02-06-2002, 08:09 AM
#4
New Member
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 461
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To upgrade or not, that is the question.
A friend at work just got the the new dual processor G4 and loves it. Also remember that OS X is Unix and if you are not familiar with it you have a learning curve ahead of you.
Upgrading is easy and significantly cheaper. You can even replace the mother board and CPU to near state of the art for $200-$300 with memory. Also you should get more disk space and it should be at least an 80 gig drive if you want to write DVDs.
So it really depends what you want to do. If you want to keep the work machine seperate from the Video editing machine, get the Mac. If you don't care then upgrade.
Upgrading is easy and significantly cheaper. You can even replace the mother board and CPU to near state of the art for $200-$300 with memory. Also you should get more disk space and it should be at least an 80 gig drive if you want to write DVDs.
So it really depends what you want to do. If you want to keep the work machine seperate from the Video editing machine, get the Mac. If you don't care then upgrade.
02-06-2002, 08:12 AM
#5
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2000
Posts: 9,428
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Those are the lines I'm thinking along ....
Everything works okay on the Sony now, but I'm starting to push it when I do heavy editing with Premiere. I spent many, many hours resolving software conflicts where the source wasn't apparent (Premiere kept crashing due to another resident program called Timbuktu, as it turned out), and feel like I'd be opening myself to more potential problems by further loading down the Vaio. I can control the DV camcorder via Premiere, finally - but I had to jury rig that for a while.
It's obviously more money going with the iMac, but it seems like it's probably the right route to go.
It's obviously more money going with the iMac, but it seems like it's probably the right route to go.
Trending Topics
02-06-2002, 08:22 AM
#10
AudiWorld Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,133
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: OT: You'll still want Photoshop for Mac..
Sony DVD+RW - Dell Home Software & Peripherals has the Sony DRU110A/C1 2.4X/8X DVD+RW / 12X/10X/32X CD-RW Internal EIDE Combo Drive for $441.95 - 10% coupon = $397.76 shipped free - $50 rebate = $347. (ref: techbargains.com 04-Feb-02)
My advice would be to build a home system based around the new Intel Northwood P4-1.6A Ghz cpu ($155). It's what I just built myself. Very overclockable to 2.4Ghz. Simple enough to move HD, cdrom/dvd, and any other components over. You'll
need a new computer case w/power supply(~$50). Asus P4B266 motherboard ($115). GeForce4 Ti4600 ($129 pre-order @ bestbuy.com, delivery in 3/4/2002). Network card ($15). And memory 512Mb DDR (~$120).
And if you need a hand putting it all together, I'm local. =)
Tony
p.s. I found this on techbargains:
Dimension 8200 P4-1.7Ghz 128MB RDRAM/20GB CD 64MB GeforceMX w/TV XP Home Office XP $769 shipped Free Palm m105! Choose Desktops, Dimension, 8200 Customize It, 1.8Ghz/XP Home/XP Small Business/Basic Audio, Minimize all items except CPU, Hit Continue, remove surge protector.
update: the GeForce4 was a mistake and it's been re-listed at $399.
My advice would be to build a home system based around the new Intel Northwood P4-1.6A Ghz cpu ($155). It's what I just built myself. Very overclockable to 2.4Ghz. Simple enough to move HD, cdrom/dvd, and any other components over. You'll
need a new computer case w/power supply(~$50). Asus P4B266 motherboard ($115). GeForce4 Ti4600 ($129 pre-order @ bestbuy.com, delivery in 3/4/2002). Network card ($15). And memory 512Mb DDR (~$120).
And if you need a hand putting it all together, I'm local. =)
Tony
p.s. I found this on techbargains:
Dimension 8200 P4-1.7Ghz 128MB RDRAM/20GB CD 64MB GeforceMX w/TV XP Home Office XP $769 shipped Free Palm m105! Choose Desktops, Dimension, 8200 Customize It, 1.8Ghz/XP Home/XP Small Business/Basic Audio, Minimize all items except CPU, Hit Continue, remove surge protector.
update: the GeForce4 was a mistake and it's been re-listed at $399.