Another newbie from Birmingham UK

Hey all...!!!

Well after a few days with an iMac G5 17" I decided I needed something better so I just bought and expect delivery tomorrow a new white Macbook.

I have had Macs as far back as the old 512k Mac with OS6 which was used for noting more than Crystal Quest.

At the same time I had an Amiga A1200 and then kept down the PC route.

Over the years I have had a few fossils by the time I got them, Mac LC, LCII, LCIII, Quadra, Performer and even a PowerPC/TV but by the time I got them they were of little practical use.

More recently I was given a blueberry iMac G3 with OS X on it which I played with for about 5 mins and went back to my beloved PC.

So this brings me sharply to the present...

In the Christmas sales (UK's equivalent of black friday) I managed to get a Sony HDR-SR5 HD Camcorder and one of my other passions being preserved railways I wanted to start a new hobby of video editing etc (as cheap as possible tho) and I staretd with My PC.. I have tried Sony Vegas and Adobe Premiere on the PC but find neither of them do a great job as I think a PC is like a jack of all trades.

Now I can imagine you all thinking a 2Ghz Macbook with 2Gb ram will be painfully slow. I dont really care about the speed, its the quality it produces tahts the most important. I plan very very quickly to upgrade the memory to 4Gb if that would help and also have a 320Gb drive fitted very very soon as I know how much drive space HD video will take.

I was also very unhappy with the way that the PC could manage to totally ruin the quality of motion video, Different applications would cause different problems so I figured the Mac might fare better as the Apps do seem to be so much better written...

As far as Which I will prefer, I have no clue yet. I havent used a Mac enough to say its better or not but I know graphics and proper work is what they are designed for. Even the free basic apps like Garage band and iDvd are amazing compared to anything you get from windoze that I instantly put the G5 up for sale and made me want to get an intel based machine so I can give the mac a fair chance. Also the fact that Even tho the G5 is reasonably fast at day to day tasks like iTunes,Web Browsing and stuff, no video editing software would support AVCHD without an intel processor. Even worse is that most also needed teh Nvidia chipset fr Quartz compatibility. So it was a nice surprise to find the new macbook white haveing the nvidia graphics and not the intel.

A little history of me before I bore you all to death...

I am I T Manager of the Midlands, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Warwichshire areas of FedEx UK and have been a computer nut all of my life with a strong lead towards the hardware. I could never get my head around programming and also for some stupid reason I have never been able to get on with Linux. as a Hobby I am technical in a vintage way although I also hold qualifications in microelectronic systems I prefer old Valves or Radio Tubes...

So...

That is Me and I say a big HELLO!!! to everyone... I know taht this forum is mainly American but there isnt a great Mac following here in the UK..

So the simple question after all of this is....

Will an extra 2Gb of memory and the bigger Hard Drive help for video editing.

And even tho I am technically not a Mac newbie, I am still learning from scratch as anything I do know about Macs I could fit on a gnats wing...

Kindest Regards to anyone who has managed to read this far....

Andi

Ooooh, Crystal Quest. That takes me back. Not too far mind you, I have a G4 PPC mini which can still run that. Well maybe not since I think that now that I've upgraded it to Leopard it doesn't do Classic anymore. I used to play that on the Mac 512K we had in the computer room I worked at university when I was there in the mid 1980's. Good times.

But anyway welcome, and I think you'll find that a 2GB Macbook 2Ghz will not be painfully slow. Perhaps for video editing, but it should be able to handle it. Getting 4GB would be even better if it can use it. Might also want to get a huge external drive to store movies while you're working on them since you can get bigger drives in an enclosure than that which you would put on the internal.

Then again, I've only done some limited video editing for such things like YouTube, but my Macbook has been quite able to handle it. Even with only 2GB of RAM and a 160GB drive. Otherwise when you combine Intel + lots of RAM + lots of space, and you have a pretty winning combination in a sexy, highly portable package.

Hi,

Thanks for that, apparently the new white Macbook supports 4Gb in 2x2Gb and I do have a 1Tb external drive albeit only USB2. I can get a 500gb laptop sata drive but I dont know if the Macbook supports past 320Gb, I would have thought it should but dont want to spend if it cant.

I still need to get a Bluetooth kb and mighty mouse as I have an external 19" screen for desk use and will run it in that config mainly at home and use it portable at work.

Andi

Your not alone in the UK

Hi,

I too live in the UK, although I am from the states. I just bought the white Macbook too (2 days before the new version came out, but they let me bring it back and return it to get the new one) from the Birmingham store and I love it. I have used PC and windows since the beginning of time, but always wanted to make the switch. Everyday i am learning something new about the Mac and find it very exciting. I am currently still working on getting everything sorted out in the switch.

For what it's worth Jari Ayari. Remember that the new Alum MB do not have firewire. If your Sony Camera have a firewire. I have a White MB 2.4. I thought about selling and getting the new version. Instead I upgrade memory to 4GB and new Hard Drive to a 320GB 7200rpm. Better money spend, I thought.

I have my MB hooked up to an external monitor 90% of the time. So, I didn't care for the new display and new trackpad.

Just my 2cents.

I have now done the 320Gb HDD and 4Gb ram and an external 19" widescreen monitor. I am just after the wireless KB and mouse to finish the kit. Te MB itself has surprised me in both performance and style and I think is more the style associated with Apple in tradition. I dont use firewire often but its always a usefull addition.

Thanks for the replies guys...

Andi

I love love my Alum Bluetooth Keyboard. When I first got it, I thought it was kinda small. But, now I luv it. Everyone, that has ever used it also luvs it.

I just recently started using the mighty mouse. I am liking it so far.

Well I can say I am a very very happy switcher. The macbook is a breeze to use and quite simple really...

Its great!!!

Andi