Is this the computer I should get?

[CDink]

Well nearly all of the games I would want to play are on steam so theres no holding back there....can someone show me an affordable macbook pro that will still do what I want it too? My dad hates macs so I may need to convince him also.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Well nearly all of the games I would want to play are on steam so theres no holding back there....can someone show me an affordable macbook pro that will still do what I want it too? My dad hates macs so I may need to convince him also.

For some reason my post wasn't posted but here, http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB990 ... TA4MzQ4MDk

[Jungell]

Well nearly all of the games I would want to play are on steam so theres no holding back there....can someone show me an affordable macbook pro that will still do what I want it too? My dad hates macs so I may need to convince him also.

The cheapest 13" model will most likely suffice!
It's got a 10 hour battery, FW 800, SD card slot etc... It's got enough juice to edit videos. You could get a regular Macbook but for some highly idiotic reason it doesn't have a firewire port, so getting your raw material into the computer would be a pain in the anus, sadly.

I've got the last gen 13" Macbook Pro and I'm loving it. It's the perfect size in my honest opinion. Small enough to be carried around a lot and big enough to be comfortable to work on. It was a little small at first but I was so used to my 24" iMac.
If you want to convince your dad that the Mac is the right choice for your needs, show him the videos that they've uploaded about the Mac OS, the Macbook Pro and the videos about professionals; http://www.apple.com/pro/

If you can't afford it, you can't. You can do this sort of thing on a PC and end up with the same results. But it just seems to be easier to do this on the Mac for most people. I find it easier. So the Mac is not a must but it really is an awesome tool that will last a long time. Hell, I know people who have used the same iBook (the older version of the Macbook) for 12 years. So think of it as an investment. If you can edit videos on it today then you can also do it tomorrow. So never mind that whole e-penis thing because the computer is nothing more than a tool. You don't get more nails into the wall just because your hammer is big!

[Duane Dibbley]

Check out http://lowendmac.com/deals.shtml for some good deals on Macs. If you're going that route, you may want to look for a used Mac, or one that is not the latest and greatest to save some money. I've bought all of my Macs new, but a lot of people seem really happy with used Macs, considering they hold up really well.

Camcorders generally interface with either with FireWire or USB. If you get a Mac, you're covered either way. Also, consider that you may not need as much camera as you think you do. I recently got this camera. It will be good for at least 90% of what I want to use it for. If I need more pro-level equipment, there are places where I can rent it. I'd imagine your situation would be similar.

Also, regarding Steam, at the moment there are only a handful of Mac-compatible games, so keep that in mind. Hopefully more Mac games will be added soon. Getting Portal for free is nice though.

[Niode]

a 13" for video work? No thanks.

I have a macbook pro and I do video editing at a professional level (I have a freelance contract for the college I work for producing advertisements and teaching aids for them) Having used both final cut pro and Premiera CS4, I have to say, on a pure productivity level, Premiere is much faster, purely because it's accelerated by my HD4870 on my PC. I can make edits to video and audition them straight away, I don't have to wait for Final Cut Pro to render them. On a massively powerful system like a Mac Pro with the dual quad-cores that wouldn't be an issue, but on a macbook pro i'm having to wait around a minute at a time before I can see what I've done. This impacts productivity massively. I can get the same work done on premiere in half the time. Plus I prefer Adobe Media Encoder for queuing up encodes. HOWEVER I vastly prefer motion and it's integration to final cut pro for creative tasks. It is a million times easier to use than After Effects. After Effects is seriously hard to grasp, it took me a long time to figure out it's quirks whereas I jumped into Motion instantly. So yeah, use both and then make a decision which you prefer. I prefer to use Motion and Premiere, which is unorthodox but it works fine for me.

Regarding cameras. The vast majority of consumer cameras use Firewire. You can get firewire pci cards for desktop PCs but don't expect to find one on a PC laptop. They're usually only found on the high-end laptops. A lot of cameras will have USB ports on them, but you can't use them for capturing videos, just for copying stills over. However, all Macbook Pros have firewire ports (however, puzzlingly, Apple removed the Firewire 400 from the new unibody macs so you'll need a 800 to 400 converter).

[CDink]

Well heres thew deal, dad brought up a good point...i probably wouldn't need to edit anything to rediculously heavy for awhile...he said i could have 800 dollars, and im an adult i can do what i want with it as long as i have something to take notes and write papers on....so does this change things...shoiuld i get a mid-level(or even low level) lappy and put the rest towards building a desktop?


also Niode...are you saying i won't be able to get my videos on my PC?...also i'm now realizing i can buy an awesome camera later..and a decent one now.

[Duane Dibbley]

I have a macbook pro and I do video editing at a professional level (I have a freelance contract for the college I work for producing advertisements and teaching aids for them) Having used both final cut pro and Premiera CS4, I have to say, on a pure productivity level, Premiere is much faster, purely because it's accelerated by my HD4870 on my PC. I can make edits to video and audition them straight away, I don't have to wait for Final Cut Pro to render them. On a massively powerful system like a Mac Pro with the dual quad-cores that wouldn't be an issue, but on a macbook pro i'm having to wait around a minute at a time before I can see what I've done. This impacts productivity massively. I can get the same work done on premiere in half the time. Plus I prefer Adobe Media Encoder for queuing up encodes. HOWEVER I vastly prefer motion and it's integration to final cut pro for creative tasks. It is a million times easier to use than After Effects. After Effects is seriously hard to grasp, it took me a long time to figure out it's quirks whereas I jumped into Motion instantly. So yeah, use both and then make a decision which you prefer. I prefer to use Motion and Premiere, which is unorthodox but it works fine for me.

So basically you're screwed either way? I'm just getting into this video stuff myself, so I'm still learning the ins and outs. (Like I said in a previous post, I've only used FCP.) I like FCP for the most part, but it still feels like OS 9 software. Also, it seems like Compressor is the only Final Cut Studio app that takes advantage of multiple processors. Hopefully the next revision will take advantage of some of the features in Snow Leopard.

Regarding cameras. The vast majority of consumer cameras use Firewire. You can get firewire pci cards for desktop PCs but don't expect to find one on a PC laptop. They're usually only found on the high-end laptops. A lot of cameras will have USB ports on them, but you can't use them for capturing videos, just for copying stills over. However, all Macbook Pros have firewire ports (however, puzzlingly, Apple removed the Firewire 400 from the new unibody macs so you'll need a 800 to 400 converter).

Or get an 9-pin to 4-pin cable, like one of these: http://eshop.macsales.com/search/9+pin+to+4+pin+firewire.

[Jungell]

Well heres thew deal, dad brought up a good point...i probably wouldn't need to edit anything to rediculously heavy for awhile...he said i could have 800 dollars, and im an adult i can do what i want with it as long as i have something to take notes and write papers on....so does this change things...shoiuld i get a mid-level(or even low level) lappy and put the rest towards building a desktop?

Two shitty computers instead of one good?

I personally would not recommend that.

[CDink]

i didnt mean just using the remainder, i meant use it to start my desktop fund....either way what would you guys do...knowing my intentions?

[Duane Dibbley]

Well heres thew deal, dad brought up a good point...i probably wouldn't need to edit anything to rediculously heavy for awhile...he said i could have 800 dollars, and im an adult i can do what i want with it as long as i have something to take notes and write papers on....so does this change things...shoiuld i get a mid-level(or even low level) lappy and put the rest towards building a desktop?

If you just want a laptop for taking notes and writing papers, you could get a used iBook or a netbook pretty cheaply. I've never been too keen on note taking with a laptop though, as it's hard to quickly draw charts and diagrams. I did wind up taking my iBook to class in grad school, but that was mostly so I could check Facebook when I was bored. Check and see what you need for your program though. I know some technology schools want you to have a laptop in class. Otherwise, I'd say buy some notebooks and good pens for about ten bucks, and spend the rest on a good desktop that you can upgrade over time.