New Mini's and video editing

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So this question has been brought up, but as far as I can tell not recently since the Intel models have been released. I just got a 20" iMac Core 2 Duo, 500GB Hard Drive all for video editing, unfortunately I'll be moving out within the next couple weeks and I can't take it with me since it's not just mine. I have a 12" PowerBook but I've done video editing on it quite a bit before and it seems to be a bit of a hassle compared to using a desktop. My question is this: would buying a Mini and maxing out the options (2GB RAM, 160GB HD, 1.8GHz IC2 processor) would it be close to if not equal to the iMac's performance with Final Cut Pro, or at least better than my PowerBook? Or would my money be better spent elsewhere? I was considering dropping ~ $2K on it (23" Cinema Display included), all assuming I can accumulate the funds of course. What do you guys think?

If you're wondering what kind of video editing I'd be doing it ranges from wedding videos, retreat videos (church events), but predominantly short films as short as 7-8mins or as long as 30mins. Would the Mini be a good idea? Trust me I'd love to get a Mac Pro but unfortunately it's not in the cards. What do you guys think? What would you do differently?

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it! :)
 

rman


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I don't know about anybody else, but I would get a MacBook Pro and an external hard drive.
 
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A MacBook Pro would blow a Mini out of the water in video editing.

The Mini's loss comes from it's lack of a dedicated video card.
 
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20" iMac C2D 2.16ghz, 13" MacBook 2.0ghz, 60gb iPod vid, 1gb nano
Why not just go for almost the same machine that you are using now?


Subtotal $1,949.00
* 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* 500GB Serial ATA Drive
* ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM
* SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
* Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
* 20-inch widescreen LCD
* AirPort Extreme
* Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
 
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I would have to agree ^^^^
 
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Eh, I probably wouldn't buy the same computer, twice.

I'd go with something portable, something different.
 
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it calls for a MacBookPro, no doubt.
 
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Eh, I probably wouldn't buy the same computer, twice.

I'd go with something portable, something different.
Well he won't have the original computer so hes getting his own machine
 
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Well, to be honest, I have no idea. However, give me a couple of weeks (I have a mini on order) and I can give you an answer.

And besides, the way I look at is is thus: Go back a couple of years (Even just 1 or 2) and look at the computers then: Doesn't the low-end mini have more computer power than they would have had? And aren't we essentially trying to do he same thing? It may not do it as well as a present top-of-the-line machine, but if less-powerful computers have been able to do it, so should a current model.
 

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