l NEED GET A LAPTOP... PLIZ HELP

[broochie]

l want to get myself a laptop. Basically l'll use the machine for video editing & to a lesser extent gaming. To start of l've juss set aside £1500.00 & might as well chip in an extra £200. l would have got a desktop but at times l do find my self travelling 4rm one place to the other, so l'd like to have my workstation with me everywhere l go. People often talk about battery life & weight but well l wont consider none of those infact if l dont think l'll run it on battery at all as the battery might sink away way before l complete any of my tasks. Weight, well 2-6kgs is acceptable as l'm still young l'll muscle the machine 4rm one point 2 the other with ease. NOW POWER!!! At present my family has a desktop where l do some of the video editing, l did constantly get warning messages about Low Virtual Memory & stuff, l did understand any of that, but later it turned out that the desktop machine couldn't handle the tasks. Pentium 4, Pentium M, AMD, Sempron...???? What l've only gathered & learnt so far is that l'll need a huge hard disk drive btwn 80-100 already my music occupies about 10% of the 80GB on the family desktop PC. By the way the family desktop is a Celeron D Processor 256MB RAM.

THANK YOU WELL IN ADVANCE

 

[mjn]

I'd forget about using a Laptop for both gaming and video editing....and a huge hard drive is NOT 80-100gb!! A huge HDD is 400 or 500gb!

For the amount of money you have to spend, you can either buy or build yourself a kick ass desktop machine!

 

[Cable Monkey]

I'd forget about using a Laptop for both gaming and video editing....and a huge hard drive is NOT 80-100gb!! A huge HDD is 400 or 500gb!

For the amount of money you have to spend, you can either buy or build yourself a kick ass desktop machine!

There are laptops out there that make a very good fist of both tasks, and he clearly stated he needed portability.

Broochie, your desktop at home would be underpowered for quite a few tasks. That machine is pretty much minimum spec. You have a number of options. I would look at Dell laptops and check out the XPS and Inspiron 9300. There are other laptops out there but there is not too much wrong with Dell in the right circumstances in my opinion.

Another alternative is a more portable sized pc that will be able to run the latest cpu's and graphics cards. I use a Shuttle which is very conveniently sized and comes with accessories such as a portable 17 inch TFT screen and bags for carrying them around. You have enough cash to get a decent machine. Spend it wisely.

 

[The Dude]

Another big fan of Dell laptops here... very hard to beat for the money.
They tend to always use very good looking screens too.

 

[Sammity]

Try Rock. They make some very powerful laptops, just what you looking for and i've heard they have good customer and great warranties.

http://www.rockdirect.co.uk/consumer_notebooks.htm

Have a look at the XtremeCT high spec version:

http://www.rockdirect.co.uk/notebooks/xtremect_cons.htm

or

Xtreme Tix

http://www.rockdirect.co.uk/notebooks/xtremeti_cons.htm

Check out their forums too as they are pretty helpful.

I'm probably going to get one of those next year or maybe an Intel Powerbook.

Also check out www.whatlaptop.co.uk forums. they are very helpful inthere have have quite a lot of personal reviews.

 

[broochie]

I'd forget about using a Laptop for both gaming and video editing....and a huge hard drive is NOT 80-100gb!! A huge HDD is 400 or 500gb!

For the amount of money you have to spend, you can either buy or build yourself a kick ass desktop machine!

Thanks hey, l'd love 2 get a desktop but at the moment l'm renting a room & already space is running out my friend, l had 2 get a Telly with a built in DVD player & VCR so as 2 minimise space consumption. Anyway thanx so much..

 

[broochie]

CABLE MONKEY & REZNOR..... thanx mates now l think l've got a starting point. Definately the links did help quite a lot. At the moment l got 4 laptop pcs' l ran into, l'll certainly post thier names, models & mayb specs, so mayb u can help me again select the best. Once again thanx mates. CHEERS

 

[Mr.D]

I'm not a huge mac fan but if I wanted a laptop for video editing I'd get a powerbook or even an ibook would do.

 

[broochie]

Ok ladies & gentleman, so far l've juss picked up these machines, well not exactly powerful but coz of some of the features that will come in handy.
1). Sony VAIO VGN-FS315z (Pentium M 1.73GHz 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD)
2). FUJITSU-SIEMENS Amilo M-3438G (Pentium M 770 2.13GHz 2GB RAM (200GB HDD) Jesus Christ!!
3). HP Pavilion zd8185EA (Pentium 4 - 3.2 GHz 1 GB RAM, 100GB HDD)

Which of the above would you recommend. ONCE MORE THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

[Sammity]

I would go for the siemens especially since you are using the laptop for video editing and gaming. Nice 17" screen, powerful graphics card.

The other two have pretty crappy graphics cards.

Review of the siemens: http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=1862

 

[Cable Monkey]

Ok, don't know the prices you have been quoted but I would:

Discount the Sony. I suspect you would be paying more for it than you would a similar spec machine.

Discount the HP. 3.2 Pentium 4 will be toasty, only really worth considering if it is very cheap or you need it to double as a room heater.

That leaves the Fujitsu. It seems perfect, powerful, good graphics and plenty of HDD space and if loaded as in the review and within the budget, it is a good bet.

Can any Fujitsu owners out there comment on reliability?

 

[Moosh]

I'd agree with Cable Monkey.

The Sony Vaio looks nice but it's expensive for what you get (more style than substance)!

I used to use a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo a few years back and would say from personal experience that they are superb. Very good build, decent screen and they manage to squeeze just that tiny bit more out of their processors and graphics cards. And for the money, when comparing to other similar specified systems, you really can't go wrong.

Moosh

 

[herojig]

Some reasons to get a sony, and one of them is NOT service, is that some of the models are very cool. I have had TRs now for years, and they are best darn little machines. See a pic of my setup here:
Sony TR3 setup
But of course as everyone has mentioned, it depends on what you want to do. For me, the TR3 does it all and I don't own a desktop. The only thing that I have run into that kinda s*cks is the video chip on the TR, that has been upgraded on the newest model, the TX. The Intel Extreme graphic chip is not set up to be a gamer's machine. It will play them, but not all of them, and not as good as other chip sets. But the Xbrite display rocks. Okay, but probally the best thing about this box is the online support at Sony TR World
This forum has been the best source for everything about the notebook, and if I ever have a problem, it's get's fixed because of these people. I am sure other products have great forums, but this one is exceptional.

On other models, from my own expierence, I would avoid Dell and IBM. Overpriced and quirky. The larger Sony's I have had also have QA problems, and you can't get service zip from Sony. An interesting budget laptop available in Asia (not sure about anywhere else) is a singaporian company named Prestigio. http://www.prestigio.com/products/show.cfm/notebooks
They are dirt cheap here, and while bare bones they are pretty good machines.

My all time favorite is here, where I've written a review (this model currently not on the market):The Most Durable Laptop Ever!

Good luck,
jigs!

Ps. in regards to Fujitsu posts, they also are great so my friends that have one say...

 

[broochie]

thank you all for your contributions you guys are really the best. Thanx hey. Well so far l've seen the Fujistu-Siemens at Microanvika going for £1,499.00 incl. vat. & l'm still digging in for bargains on the machine, any more references would be greatly appreciated as well, but as for the great tips & contributions that have been made so far l really do appreciate them. THANX GUYS. keep it up.

 

[MarkE19]

As has already been stated, you will need loads of HDD space for video editing. 4 minutes of video will take up 1Gb of space, that's a massive 14Gb per hour of video. So as has been advised you should get as much disc space as possible. But you should also be aware that a disc is pushed hard during capture, therefore if possible you should have a dedicated HDD for the video with no programs installed on it. This could be a problem with laptops as most can't have more than a single internal HDD. The way around this would be to get an external firewire HDD, but don't get tempted by cheaper USB2.0 drives as USB can't always keep up with the transfer rates needed for video capture.
Another problem is that many laptop HDD's have a low spin speed that makes their overall performance lower than a normal desktop HDD. This can result in dropped frames when capturing.
If going for a laptop then it might be worth looking at a system designed for video editing such s This.

Mark.

 

[rdhir]

I'd second the need to get a firewire external drive and use that. Make suer you have firewire on your laptop though. You can build your own quite easily by buying a case and drive separately. Or you can buy ready made. see here

case £20

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11549424979&action=&product_uid=74827

drive 300GB £120 400GB £195

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=89520

Ready built 300GB £145

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=84862

 

[nwgarratt]

That is expensive for the 300GB Maxtor. Komplett do it for £85.

http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=309274&cks=PRL

 

[broochie]

thank you MarkE19 for very the informative post u dropped in & l'm now looking into the link you posted about the system designed for video editing. As for the external HDDs' l think l'll consider those as well as l have loads of analogue tapes l'd love to convert into digital. And guys which video editing software would u recommend, as the one that came preloaded with the family desktop provides only the basic stuff u would need for basic video editing. I WONDER WHERE U GUYS WHERE, WHEN MY DAD DECIDED TO GET A DESKTOP PC? thanx so much guys l really owe u one.

 

[MarkE19]

Well you can normally find me lurking in the 'camcorder & video editing' section of this forum

The current popular video editing packages are:
Adobe Premiere Elements
Sony Vegus Studio
Ulead Video Studio
Pinnacle Studio (this can be a bit unstable, so be aware)

all the above can be bought for arounf £40 - £50 and include basic DVD authoring. Movie Maker 2 that is part of the Windows XP install is a free but very good starting point for editing, but does not include any DVD authoring so this will need to be bought if you want to burn discs.

You state that you want to capture old analogue tapes. To do this you need additional hardware for getting the analogue video onto the PC. If you have a DV camcorder with AV-in then this can be used, but most cams do not have this feature. The other option is to get a Canopus ADVC converter. This connects to the PC via firewire and the analogue device plugs into this via standard phono/S-Video connections. They cost from around £150 up depending on the model you get.

Good luck with finding the perfect system. If you have any more questions then feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them.

Mark.

 

[broochie]

Thanks Mark, well the past few days l've been reviewing & getting details of some of the laptops l've been recommended & l must say l was, & still is in a dilemna as l can't select the one l'd want. But of all the systems l've seen so far, l still got a hunch on the Fujistu-Siemens, the one with a 200GB HDD . Honestly l dont know what l would use that for but l think it will come in handy some day. Mark, You did mention about some hardware l'd need so as to convert my analogue tapes into digital right, well the Sony VGN-FS315z, is bundled with a Entertainment Docking station which has got AV inputs & outputs, but considering that if l dig in about £150 more, l'd get the Fujistu-Siemens which has more space & is a bit powerful as they say. thanx mate

 

[Monty Burns]

Hey Broochie

with reference to the Fuji-Siemens lappy. I have one (a Lifebook\E Series) and it is extremley good. The model I have would not suit you, its got shard video ram but I would recommend a Fuji-Siemens lappy anytime although, I have never used the model you are looking at. Lifebooks are aimed at buisnes users, which i sadly fit snuggly into!

Hope you have fun with whichever you use

 

[broochie]

Fujistu-Siemens Amilo M 3438G
Intel Pentium M 770, 2.1GHz
1024MB DDR2 533Mhz SDRAM Memory (2 x 512Mb)
200GB SATA Hard Drive (2 x 100Gb)
DVD±RW/±R Dual Layer Writer (8x speed)
256MB nVidia GeForce GO 6800 Graphics
17.0" WXGA+ CrystalView TFT

OK ladies & gentleman this was the toughest decision l've ever made, to come to this conclusion, the Amilo. If there are any more machines to consider before l place my order online, PLEASE POST AS YOU ARE MORE THAN WELCOME TO DO SO

 

[Monty Burns]

Just an after thought!

I'm suprised no-one has mentioned Alienware - myself included!

You can get awesome systems from these guys but, you need to get them from the USA direct and not the UK site (if you can)

Check this out

Remember its, roughly 2 dollars to the 1 pound so give everything at half the USA value and then add a little, maybe 10% to get your realistic price. Oh and assume your gonna pay VAT, if you don't then fantastic!

Just something to confuse you at the last minute

 

[broochie]

Thanx Monty Burns, l'm juss configuring my personal system on the Alienware website, will give u the update when l'm done.