$1800 max. budget

[baker]

Is it possible to put together a package capable of video editing for $1800 or less? My dad gets an educators discount so that means everything's a little cheaper than normal. I was messing with all kinds of configurations and thought I'd hit a good one with a dual-processor G4 but then realized I still needed to add the keyboard, mouse, monitor etc etc. So would I be able to get a good video editing Mac for $1800 or less, or should I give up? Thanks for your help.

 

[the_New_guy]

"Blistering 3D effects
To power eMac’s brilliant CRT, we’ve included an ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processor with 32MB of dedicated Double Data Rate (DDR) video memory. The Radeon processor offers dazzling 2D, 3D and video performance, a feature you’ll really appreciate when editing footage in iMovie."

"$999.00
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
SuperDrive"

according to the site(apple.com)

i think a emac with ram maxed out will be the best choice,super drive model is $999(us$) + $300(2 * $150.00 Apple Memory Module 512MB PC2700 DDR333 DIMM)

 

[hype.it]

a PowerMac would be more suitable, giving you more expandability.

You ever thought of looking through the classified section of your local paper? Maybe someone is selling a used mac.

 

[johnnyluu]

Is it possible to put together a package capable of video editing for $1800 or less? My dad gets an educators discount so that means everything's a little cheaper than normal. I was messing with all kinds of configurations and thought I'd hit a good one with a dual-processor G4 but then realized I still needed to add the keyboard, mouse, monitor etc etc. So would I be able to get a good video editing Mac for $1800 or less, or should I give up? Thanks for your help.

How intensive will your video editing be? Are we talking straight dv cam capture, quick edit, transfer back to DV cam, imovie, spare time work; or are we talking DV cam capture, multi track audio, special effects, transitions using final cut pro/after effects/adobe premiere etc.?

If it's a simple and short term solution you're looking for then an emac or imac with superdrive will do just fine, and with your budget you could get one of the higher end models: Or a bottom to mid range powerbook which would also be fine.

If you're thinking of a bit more professional and long term solution then you really need to add another $1000 to your budget and get either a dual G4 or Dual G5 system.

Failing that buy a custom built PC: It'll get the job done fine, but you won't have as much fun doing it. ^_^

 

[Osiris22x]

From personal experience I can safely say STAY AWAY FROM PCs when it comes to video editing. I'm a PC guy who recently got his first Mac. The PC is faster, and rocks for games, but video editing is hands down down strictly on my Mac with Final Cut.

Honestly, the 32 MB of VRAM in the eMac would kill any possibility of using it as a video editing machine. If you're really stuck with that budget, I'd say get a single proc 1.6 GHz G5 and drop two gigs of aftermarket (not Apple) RAM into it. That will just about max out your budget.

You didn't mention how intensive your video work would be. If you're just going to tinker and make home movies or school projects, then any G4 Mac with 768 MB of RAM would be fine. But if you need a lot of effects and transitions, you'll want something a little better. Realistically you'd want a dual processor G5 with a couple gigs of RAM, but that of course goes way over your budget.

Also keep in mind, Steve Jobs is expected to announce a new lineup of G5s on June 28th, and at that point, it's rumored that all G5 systems will be dual processor, while the baseline system keeps the same pricepoint. This, would be ideal for your situation.