Mac Mini enough to HD Edit...

Hi everybody,

Here's my situation, I've looked all over the internet for this answer and I've recieved mixed messages. I have a laptop right now and I've been doing some video editing on it but it's too slow. It's a inspiron 1520 2.2 Ghz with 4 Gb of ram and i'm editing with Sony Vegas 8. I've known for a long time that mac is the way to go when it comes to video editing but I'm a student to be honest I can afford it but I wish I could. I have a 40" samsung 1080p HDTV...I know I said I'm a poor college student but I won the TV...I wanted to get a mac without the screen b/cuz I can just use my current TV as a monitor. I've looked at the Mac Mini which sounds like it would be perfect for me but I was wondering if anyone has used this for video editing. The type of editing I would be doing is for myself...home movies and such. I plan on getting a camcorder...it'll probably be an HD video cam so I was wondering if anyone has used a Mac Mini to edit HD video. Thanks in advance for your comments guys.

It's not going to be faster than your laptop. Here's why- it has an integrated graphics chipset. HD editing will require a lot of power as you already know. You'll need something with a fast processor, lots of RAM, a dedicated video card, and a very large HD. The mini falls short in all categories.
Apple gets the nod when it comes to video editing and that's because it's professional equiptment like the Mac Pro. The mini is the base consumer model Mac. It's not going to perform any better than any other $600 PC.

Thanks for your input bryphotoguy...I figured that would be the case...am I pretty much stuck getting an unnecessary imac or getting a mac pro which is a little overkill for my purposes...?

If you only need a tower, you shouldn't get an iMac and you said you're poor so the Mac Pro is out of the question, right?
Is there anything wrong with Vegas and Windows? If not, stick with a PC and research some custom builds you can afford. And buy a Mac after you graduate. I wanted a G4 iMac in college. I stuck with my custom built PC until I could afford a Mac.

vesonexavier said:

Thanks for your input bryphotoguy...I figured that would be the case...am I pretty much stuck getting an unnecessary imac or getting a mac pro which is a little overkill for my purposes...?

Click to expand...

In addition to what bry said, it's worth pointing out that the higher-end video editing software will not even run on a Mac with integrated graphics. Final Cut in particular states this in its requirements.

As fir a Mac Pro being overkill for your purposes... well if that's the machine that's needed to get the job done, then it's hardly overkill. But finances are what they are.... I understand that all too well also. You could be better off than you are now if you seek out a used PowerMac G5... they are readily found on eBay.

How is your system slow? Playback, applying effects, etc? I noticed the specs for V8 start at 1GHz and recommends 2.8GHz for HDV. Since you're 'poor', I think you should concentrate on the things first such as straight cuts and cpu consuming effects last. Perhaps you can find a Vegas forum with some recommendations.

The Mac mini might handle HD as Final Cut Express is able to run on that system. The issue maybe that you will find it 'slow' too.

Assuming you're getting rid of the PC regardless, I'd go for the iMac:

The 20" model isn't that expensive and with the better graphics card and 4 gigs of RAM will handle Final Cut Pro nicely. )When it comes to editing you can never have enough screen real estate and you can connect your existing screen via the iMac's mini-DVI out).