Mac under $1,300 for Video Editing

[ashleymhw]

Hello,

I would like to purchase a new MacBook or iMac for video editing. My budget is $1,300 (Canadian dollars). I am looking at refurbished models.

Which of the following options would you recommend? I also welcome other suggestions within my price range:

1. http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FE086LL/A/refurbished-215-inch-imac-27ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i5

Originally released September 2013
21.5-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology; 1920-by-1080 resolution
8GB memory
1TB hard drive1
Intel Iris Pro graphics
Built-in FaceTime HD camera


2. http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FD094LL/A/refurbished-215-inch-imac-29ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i5

Originally released October 2012

21.5-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display

8GB memory

1TB hard drive

NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M with 512MB

Built-in FaceTime HD camera

3. http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FE865LL/A/refurbished-133-inch-macbook-pro-24ghz-dual-core-intel-core-i5

Originally released October 2013
13.3-inch (diagonal) Retina display; 2560-by-1600 resolution at 227 pixels per inch
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM
256GB Flash Storage1
720p FaceTime HD camera
Intel Iris Graphics

Looking forward to your feedback.

 

[pigoo3]

First things first. You either need a laptop/notebook computer or a desktop computer. If you NEED the portability of a notebook computer then get one…and ONLY consider notebook computers. If you DON'T NEED the portability of a notebook computer…then get a desktop computer…and only consider desktop models.

Do this…and you already greatly reduce the 3 choices you listed (1 notebook model & 2 desktop models).

- Nick

 

[ashleymhw]

Hi Nick,

Thank you for your reply and for your feedback. I am comfortable with either a desktop computer or laptop. I just want to get the best quality for my money's worth.

Is there a big difference between these three options in terms of quality?

Thanks!

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Quality, no..

The other thing you want to look at is that the 21.5" iMac had user-upgradable memory for a while and then it no longer did. I forget what year that changed and that's important because both the machines you listed here have 8GB of memory and for Video Editing you really want to give it as much as you can and that's 16GB on these machines..

 

[pigoo3]

I am comfortable with either a desktop computer or laptop. I just want to get the best quality for my money's worth.

I understand that you may be comfortable with either a desktop or laptop…but the point is…why pay for the portability of a laptop computer if you don't need it??

You almost always get more "bang for the buck" if you purchase a desktop computer.

So if you don't need the portability of a laptop computer…and are quite satisfied with a desktop computer…then eliminate the laptop model from the list…then we only need to discuss the remaining 2 desktop models.

- Nick

 

[ashleymhw]

Great, thank you for your feedback! Both of you have been very helpful.

 

[FritzDaCat]

Video editing?
Then eliminate #3 unless you MUST have a laptop.

I would go with #2. The dedicated VRAM of the NVIDIA graphics card over the Intel Iris Pro Graphics.

Most important items for video editing are the Video Card with as much VRAM as you can get and the system RAM. You should get a minimum of 16GB system memory.

 

[chas_m]

^^^^ what Fritz said.

 

[lclev]

Video editing?
Then eliminate #3 unless you MUST have a laptop.

I would go with #2. The dedicated VRAM of the NVIDIA graphics card over the Intel Iris Pro Graphics.

Most important items for video editing are the Video Card with as much VRAM as you can get and the system RAM. You should get a minimum of 16GB system memory.

I agree. I don't know how big your projects will be but the larger the project the more video memory, computer memory, and hard drive size and speed you have the better. An SSD is nice too.

This is a big part of what I do at work and I use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. I will "stack" projects in the encoder and let them encode after I go home because it takes a lot of time even on a beefy system. So the more you can afford the better. When I get a new system, I go as top of the line as I can because in the computing world obsolete seems to happen over night.

If all you want to do is short clips or home project what you have selected will be okay. The larger the projects either in length or elaborate use special effects, stacking of video tracks or audio tracks, will slow things down considerably.

Just my thoughts!

Lisa

 

[pigoo3]

This is a big part of what I do at work and I use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing. I will "stack" projects in the encoder and let them encode after I go home because it takes a lot of time even on a beefy system. So the more you can afford the better. When I get a new system, I go as top of the line as I can because in the computing world obsolete seems to happen over night.

You're the classic "Mac Pro user"! Give me lots of ram, lots of cores, lots of fast cores, possibly a VERY powerful video card, and lots & lots of overnight rendering/encoding time!

- Nick

 

[lclev]

You're the classic "Mac Pro user"! Give me lots of ram, lots of cores, lots of fast cores, possibly a VERY powerful video card, and lots & lots of overnight rendering/encoding time!

- Nick

Yup! That's me.

When I left work last night I had 8 videos, all over a hour long, encoding for various formats I have to create. Came in this morning and all were done and ready for me to upload them, burn them to a DVD or what ever else needed to be done to them. I know I am a power user and, in my case, I have to be. I need the fastest I can get because I have large volume to turn out.

That said, for the hobby user, what the OP listed for options would be fine - just feel 16GB of memory would be a nice addition.

Lisa