goin to college, need to decide what kind of laptop to get

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:33 PM

hey, u read the title, im tryin to decide what kind to get, i have the money to get a laptop from about 1,250 to 1,750$
i was lookin at getting either a macbook pro, when the next gen comes out or a sony vaio cw or z series

i am into light video editing, possibly gonna take a class on it, other than that i dont need a lot of like gaming capabilitys, battery life is a big thing for me, thats why im lookin at a macbook

thanks for the help

toolbandfan · 03-02-2010, 08:34 PM

Buy a cheap laptop/netbook, and get a good desktop for home. No good reason to spend that much on a laptop.

Shockingly enough, there are other laptops with good battery life besides a macbook.

digitard · 03-02-2010, 08:38 PM

If you're going to get deep into video editing go with a Macbook Pro. It's a no brainer.

Generally you'll learn 2 major applications:
AVID
Final Cut

AVID is available on both platforms.
Final Cut is a Apple OS specific application

So you'll want to go Macbook so you can not only have FCP, but you can run AVID as well. Not to mention Garage Band is nice to have for project ambient background music, and other sound effects.

My first class was all AVID based so while you could get around with a PC it made no sense to limit myself to school computers when you get into FCP oriented classes. I'd rather be able to work from home, or just not in a lab, so I went with a Macbook Pro.

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:39 PM

yes i do realize that but i dont want to sacrifice performance for battery life, which is kinda what happens with the uber thin ones

im lookin for a powerful battery savvy laptop,

sonys got the x series which gets 14 hrs...

about ur desktop, no thanks, i dont want to build another computer

toolbandfan · 03-02-2010, 08:40 PM

Not sure what you're talking about, they sell regular size laptops with better batteries now.

FYI, most laptops that claim that much battery life have weak, CULV processors, or the Atom processor. Don't bother.

Just my preference I suppose, If I'm spending that much I'd much rather have a desktop which will be easily 5x more powerful at least than a laptop and probably $500 cheaper.

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitard

If you're going to get deep into video editing go with a Macbook Pro. It's a no brainer.

Generally you'll learn 2 major applications:
AVID
Final Cut

AVID is available on both platforms.
Final Cut is a Apple OS specific application

So you'll want to go Macbook so you can not only have FCP, but you can run AVID as well. Not to mention Garage Band is nice to have for project ambient background music, and other sound effects.

My first class was all AVID based so while you could get around with a PC it made no sense to limit myself to school computers when you get into FCP oriented classes. I'd rather be able to work from home, or just not in a lab, so I went with a Macbook Pro.

thanks, that is very helpful

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolbandfan

Not sure what you're talking about, they sell regular size laptops with better batteries now.

FYI, most laptops that claim that much battery life have weak, CULV processors, or the Atom processor. Don't bother.

Just my preference I suppose, If I'm spending that much I'd much rather have a desktop which will be easily 5x more powerful at least than a laptop and probably $500 cheaper.

alright im still lookin, and yeah i am wantin more dual core or core i5 or i7

i want to get something that will last all or at least most of college, ik desktops are better for price and performance but i need somthing i can take with me to class

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:47 PM

oh and tool is awesome in concert

toolbandfan · 03-02-2010, 08:49 PM

Do you actually need to do the video editing in class with a laptop?

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolbandfan

Do you actually need to do the video editing in class with a laptop?

i think in some classes they do demonstrations and to have the program in front of you its becomes pretty helpful, and if i go with mac then why would a get a regular mac, they r just as expensive as the macbooks

digitard · 03-02-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolbandfan

Do you actually need to do the video editing in class with a laptop?

If you're taking classes in it you're restricted to "class time" and "lab time" when you do your projects as you'll need to have access to AVID or FCP.

If you have your own you can do it on your own schedule, and not pre-scheduled lab time with tons of other students wanting in.

I did 3 major projects my last class, and I was able to do them all at home because I had my MBP (just plugged in my Firewire HDD and opened AVID and since my project files were on my external HDD it worked identical on both school and personal) and did my project on my own schedule.

Does he "need" to... no.
Will he want to... probably.

You do your class work on the class computers, generally they're MAC PRO desktops, but because they all require you to save your data to your own external HDD you can simply plug it in and open the project identical on your laptop when you're not in class to work on it (for major projects).

SUR3 S}{oT (Banned) · 03-02-2010, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toolbandfan

Do you actually need to do the video editing in class with a laptop?

Probably would need it for assignments if he didn't feel like going to the library/lab.

EGO_FREAK · 03-02-2010, 08:56 PM

I dont know about you, but every lecture hall at my university has power outlets in every seat regardless of the class. If you are in a computer lab, there will be outlets. dont worry too much about battery life when you would be really taxing the cpu.

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 09:06 PM

alright, thanks

Jebus Christ · 03-02-2010, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffytomato

hey, u read the title, im tryin to decide what kind to get, i have the money to get a laptop from about 1,250 to 1,750$
i was lookin at getting either a macbook pro, when the next gen comes out or a sony vaio cw or z series

i am into light video editing, possibly gonna take a class on it, other than that i dont need a lot of like gaming capabilitys, battery life is a big thing for me, thats why im lookin at a macbook

thanks for the help

Do you know what your major is going to be?

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 09:12 PM

undecided right now, but i am considering everything from dentistry to video editing

Brocasta (Banned) · 03-02-2010, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffytomato

undecided right now, but i am considering everything from dentistry to video editing

That's quite a range, chief.

jeffytomato · 03-02-2010, 09:14 PM

yeah ik, when i took the act everyone else have a very specific feild of careers it directed them to, it told me i could be whatever

Jebus Christ · 03-02-2010, 09:18 PM

Trust me when I say this, build a desktop and buy yourself a netbook or a cheap lappy that is light enough to carry around.

You are undecided meaning you will probably be doing nothing but prerequisite classes for the first two years, dipping your feet here and there in random departments trying to find your major. You will not require anything intensive.

Wait what, the act said you could do whatever? What did you get......

digitard · 03-02-2010, 09:20 PM

Jebus,
If he goes into video production he can take quite a few courses with no "general" pre-reqs. Most colleges will allow you to take those at any point, but you'll need the regular "X amount in X subjects" to actually obtain the degree.

So he could start with Digital Multimedia (or whatever your first course is) without any math, english, etc, type classes taken.

For me the only pre-req to start the film courses was a TCM100 course, which is just general digital work, and that was it. You can quite a bit of the other courses w/o anything until you get into things like the writing courses, etc, which will require pre-reqs from the general field. So he could take an easy year of just video/audio production w/o a math or english class.

Jebus Christ · 03-02-2010, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitard

Jebus,
If he goes into video production he can take quite a few courses with no "general" pre-reqs. Most colleges will allow you to take those at any point, but you'll need the regular "X amount in X subjects" to actually obtain the degree.

So he could start with Digital Multimedia (or whatever your first course is) without any math, english, etc, type classes taken.

For me the only pre-req to start the film courses was a TCM100 course, which is just general digital work, and that was it. You can quite a bit of the other courses w/o anything until you get into things like the writing courses, etc, which will require pre-reqs from the general field. So he could take an easy year of just video/audio production w/o a math or english class.

Most places will still require him to take courses no matter what his major is. The liberal arts and gordon rule classes. In these classes he pretty much just needs something that can view docs and go on the web. If he does decide to go into video editing, the computer he builds can step into play. He can build a very nice rig with enough money for a netbook or light lappy. While I know there are great programs for apple's OS, I am pretty sure he won't have a problem finding something similar on windows.