"O.T." stands for "Off Topic", or something that doesn't relate directly to Sony Vegas software.

I have an HP DV-7 1023cl laptop that I bought for around $1200 from Costco. Yes I've had some frustrations, but it is the first computer I've ever had that was adequately powered to run a typical Vegas session. There are quad cores that will render faster and preview at higher resolution, but to me that isn't nearly as important as being able to pop the thing out of it's docking station and tuck it under my arm.

I just love it. It has an nVidia card with 512 meg of dedicated RAM which is wonderful with Bluff Titler, 640GB of hard disc space (I put the second 320GB 7200RPM disc in myself), an eSata port for fast external storage, an HDMI port for color correcting with a typical HDTV, 4 GB of RAM (expandable to 8GB) and Bluray. I just love it.

Laurence:

How many bits is it and how long ago did you buy it?

And Josh, as I said in my post, I'm looking for a laptop that can run Vegas et al., with et al. being: Pixalen, New Blue, Radiance, Particle Illusion, Bluff Titler, Adobe Creative Suite
Standard cs3, and OnLine Software's Plug-In Suite 4 for Photoshop.

I purchased my Gateway FX Series Laptop with a great nvidea graphics chip, 4 gigs of ram, and 1.8 Gig Core 2 Duo Processor about a year ago. I have had some frustrations with the 64 bit Vista that shipped with the unit. I purchased it at Best Buy, almost all their computers are 64 bit now. Apparently that's what the gamers want since it support high ram (up to 8 gigabytes, but the FX I have is maxed out on 4).

Right now, until software vendors catch up, I'd strongly advise against getting a 64 bit OS. The only way you can know if a software is 64 bit compatible is to visit the manufactorer's website and check their support FAQs. Had I know I was going to have this much trouble I would have made sure I had gotten a 32 bit system--but it's too late now, it will be years before I will able to afford another one that is capable of good video editing..

I don't recall if I saw if your son was trying to edit AVCHD files. That's another important consideration. Don't skimp on the processor! With video editing it's more important than RAM capacity. I used many 3D graphics applilcations that do fine on my laptop, because they primarily use ram and video card resources to do their work. It's now apparent to me I will not be able to do AVCHD editing on my laptop without transcoding, and even then it's difficult. If he's editing standard definition video, you may have more wiggle room, but the more effects and fancy transitions he uses the more the need for a more robust processor. You would probably be able to get more processor bang for your buck if you went with an AMD, instead of an Intel, but since I am an Intel guy I can't give you any insight as to whether that would suit your needs. I had a bad experience with 2 AMDs a while back, but I think they've improved significantly since then. If I were editing non HD footage, I'd have far fewer problems with the types of things I do (which aren't effect intensive)--but from your description it sounds like your son is really into the effect packages.

Check out Tiger Direct and New Egg, read the customer's reviews, and good luck! Let us know what you end up getting.

Thanks TOMSDE:

My son is working only with SD, and even though he has all of these FX packages he uses them sparingly because he understands the beauty of a well executed quick cut or cross fade.

What's the minimum CPU you or anyone else on the Forum would recommend?

In the time between my last post and this one I tripped over a refurbished laptop from a reliable dealer that looks interesting. It is the HP T7250 2.0GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo, 3GB DDR2, 2MB L.2 Cache, 800MHZ FSB,160GB HDD (2), 512 MB Nividia GeForce 8600M GS with 4 USB ports, 1 Firewire port, LightScribe burner, and the OS isVista Home Premium (32 bit).

The price is $699.99. What do ya'll think?

I also saw a refurbished Toshiba Qosmio G45-AV680 loaded with all kinds of good stuff
including a WUXGA screen with 1900/1200 max. resolution. It's also a 2.0 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo, but it only has 2 GBs of RAM with both slots filled. Is that enough? It's supports 4MBs of RAM, so I suppose I could pull out one of the 1GB memory chips and bump that slot up to 2 GBs.

The price is $1249.97, and it's from Tiger Direct.

Not all laptops have a firewire port that can be used for transfering video from a camcorder.

Even those with firewire ports may not work. Why? I don't remember exactly (as I don't do this) but I think it was the connectors on the computer port either aren't enough or are not the right kind needed.

Thank you Brighterside for your interest. Both of these laptops have 4 pin Firewire ports.

I also don't remember hearing about any problems capturing video to laptops that had Firewire ports.

If anyone else has heard of problems I would sure like to know about it.

Hey no offense but I think my deal is a little better....
I got a HP DV5 1106 With
4GB's of Ram
Intel Centrino 2 (which is the newest!) 2.0 GHZ CPU
1066 FSB
3MB Cache (Is this stat even relavent to Video Editing?)
320 GB HD 5400rpm
256 Dedicated Graphics (not as good as yours)
Refurbished for $679 at Fry's.

All I am saying is that the more you shop around the better price you will finde (no duh, right?)

Josh

Processor speeds being somewhat comparable on under-$1000 notebooks, go for HD capacity and screen quality if you will be editing or rendering. RAM and graphics are lesser considerations with Vegas.

A 160 GB hard drive fills up rather quickly when a typical 2 hour project and media plus DVD prepare can take up 80 GB, and Vista plus apps can easily take 50GB or more -- doesn't leave much left, does it?

As far as screen quality, compare them side by side on the shelf until one stands out -- it's not a bad idea to take some familiar media on a thumb drive to the store to compare.

A brand of laptop I've had good results from is Asus. One thing that makes a difference it to get one with dual hard drives. For video it really helps to have a second physical drive separate from the OS. And 7200 rpm drives help also.

It might be hard to find one for under $1,300 with the dual hard drives and high ram. A good 17" 1920x1200 screen will take up a large chunk of the price leaving little for other good parts.

However I guess you can always swap out the hard drives later as long as supports dual bays.

Asus 17" laptops at Newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2034940032%2050001315%201040006723&name=1920%20x%201200


And my recommendation of a high end video system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220418

Can any one tell me (not to hijack this post but...) what the System Cache is? Is it important? More important than CPU? any suggs on this topic would be great....


peace,

Josh

Where did you see the term System Cache?

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't go with anything less than a 2.5 gigahertz Core 2 Duo, nor would I settle for anything less than a 250 gigabyte hard drive. If you could add a second drive for storing video and rendering your video, you'd be better off. i can add a 2nd drive to mine, and I will in the spring when I start traveling a lot more with the laptop. If your son decides to get into HD, he will be able to do more with his software with a higher speed processor. I did not know I'd be buying an HD camcorder when I purchased my laptop, so that didn't affect my decision.

I guess my point is, you don't want to have to buy a new laptop to edit AVCHD files in t he future if he decides to upgrade his camcorder.

And the winner is:

Toshiba Satellite P305-S8844 17.1-inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 500 GB Using 2 x 250GB Hard Drives, DVD Drive, Vist.

Plus:

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 with 512MB Dedicated Graphics Memory Labelflash DVD+-R/RW Super Multi Drive with Double Layer Harman/Kardon stereo speakers FM Tuner with Antenna Atheros 802.11b/g/n Wireless 10/100 Ethernet LAN 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter - MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro, xD ExpressCard Slot 54/34 Slot 4 x USB 2.0 (1 x eSATA/USB), Headphone S/PDIF; Microphone, VGA, TV-Out (S-Video), REGZA LINK (HDMI-CEC), IEEE-1394, RJ-45 Approximate Unit Dimensions - 15.8(W) x 11.4(D) x 1.50(H) Approximate Unit Weight - 7.4 Pounds.

Specs aside, what clinched this deal was the fact that the OS is 32 bit AND that the machine has a Firewire port. And if you think that that's not a big deal, know that this is one of the only 32 bit laptops I've seen with decent specs and a reasonable price that also had a Fire wire port.

Thanks for all the input.

I would not run any heavy duty multimedia applications on any laptop. laptops do not make good work stations for serious audio and video editing. They are limited in terms of resources. You are, for the most part, stuck with the original configuration - Little chance of upgrading hardware.