On 31 May 2003 20:33:35 -0700, austincruelite@yahoo.com
(Kilgore Trout) wrote:
>I'm in the market for a new PC. I'm looking to do some
MiniDV editing
>on it. Right now, it'll be mostly home movie type stuff.
However, I
>have some filmmaking experience, and I might want to
edit some
>indy-type festival-kind-of-stuff later on (likely with a
Sony VX2000,
>Canon XL-2 or the like). I'm not likely to want to do
any really
>intense image trickery, just straightforward fades,
dissolves,
>titling, audio, etc. I'll be using Premiere or Vegas. In
addition to
>the editing, this will be my internet/screenwriting/mp3
>ripping/occasional video game machine. I'm also not too
interested in
>building a system from scratch.
>
>So...
>
>What should I be looking at? Here's what I've gathered so
far...
>
>- P4. 2.x processor.
>- 512 megs RAM (2100 or 2700)
>- DVD burning capabilites. What format?
>- Separate HD for media. Looking at ~80 gig, 7200 rpm.
>- Video card. What's adequate?
>
>Here are a few machines I'm eyeing:
>
>HP 754n. P4 2.54, 80 gig HD, DVD+RW, 512 RAM. I'd need
to add a HD and
>video card.
>
>HP 854n (media center). P4 2.53, 120 gig HD, DVD+RW,
nVidia GeForce 4,
>512 RAM. I'd need to add a HD. Has composite outs as
well as firewire.
>
>Sony Vaio PCV-RS220. P4 2.53, 120 gig HD, DVD-RW, 512
RAM. I'd need to
>add a HD and video card.
>
>Medion (can't remember the model). P4 2.6, 120 Gig HD,
DVD-RW, 512
>2700 RAM. I'd need to add a HD and video card.
>
>The Medion seems like a REALLY good deal. Any opinions
on this German
>manufacturer? I've heard some iffy things about Compaqs.
Warranted?
>Anything wrong with anything I listed? Anything I'm
overlooking? Help!
>
>Thanks,
>
>KT
Surprisingly, any good basic machine P-3 450MHz or so
will do fine (assuming good parts). BTW, I bought a
Medion computer recently, and wrote this about it on
rec.video.production this morning:
"We used to design and build (and sell) our own editing
computers when this was still difficult. Now almost any
decent inexpensive computer will work... I just bought
a 2.66GHz P-4 with 256 megs RAM (and added 512 megs for
$30), 120-gig HD, and a fancy 128-meg dual-head Geforce
4 TI 4200 video card etc. - with all other parts also
good, for $700 (!!!) from an Aldi grocery store(!!!). I
replaced the DVD reader and CD writer with a $170 CenDyne
(Pioneer) DVD/CD writer, and added two 80-gig drives and
a fancy 24-bit/96KHz sound card. Total, minus two cheap
used 17" monitors: about $1200 (and it comes with a
handy
front-panel patch bay for everything under the sun,
including slots for all the common still-camera memory
media). We can't build computers from parts this good
for this amount of money anymore..."
The Medion also has USB2 and FireWire connections,
and WinXP, which includes a basic editor. You do not
need to add the sound card (I want to do good transfers
of live recordings from open-reel tapes, so I got a good
24-bit/96KHz card), and you can add just another HD,
if you want (you can match what is in it [a 120-gig
Western Digital] fairly cheaply). The MB is an SIS, which
is a good one. Only thing more I would do is add at
least one more fan blowing in (it tends to run a bit
warm) and replace the mouse with an optical one.
Total cost with DVD burner replacement and extra drive:
about $900 (plus monitors and about $50 to bring the
RAM up to 768-megs). This computer is a steal...
If you want to go cheaper, though, I've got a couple
of good Raptor-Premiere 800/850MHz computers to
sell...;-)