Help with a macbook suggestion?

djhalfface

Honorable
Feb 26, 2012
3
0
10,510
So, I've got a desktop pc and I was considering selling it, and buying a Macbook for whatever I get out of the desktop.

I do mostly photo editing, but have recently been getting into light video editing and making 3d rendered videos in after effects.

My pc:

AMD Propus Quad Core 2.6
8 gigs G.Skill RipJaws DDR3 1600mhz
1tb 7200RPM Seagate Barracuda
Geforce GTS 450 1gb
Corsair GS 600 watt psu
ASUS M4n68t-m V2 mobo
Win7 64 bit.

Now, I can easily edit clips together in a very basic way in AE, but as soon as I get into creating any projects from scratch (IE short intro videos, or anything in 3d with particles or motion cameras) it works, but starts lagging HEAVILY. As in, just trying to scrub frame by frame, can take anywhere from 3-10 seconds just to render. I know my pc isn't a hunk of crap, but it certainly isn't the king of desktops.

I was considering getting a macbook pro for a few reasons. First being, it's mobile. I would love to have something that I can just carry around and hop online, or offload my sd card, or edit up a project on the go with. Obviously I can't do that with a mid-sized tower. I don't care much for gaming on pc. I do it occasionally, but meh.

Other than video/photo editing, I pretty much just surf the internet and watch videos. Pretty basic stuff.

The problem is, that I can only get a macbook for as much as I can get out of my pc (which won't be a staggering amount). So, I can't exactly afford to just buy a top of the line macbook pro, but I still need one that can at LEAST do pretty basic stuff like loading up a bunch of clips, and quick cutting, color correction and maybe some small 3d effects. I'm not looking to be a hollywood movie editor, but I do clips for events, and other random projects.

What would the bare minimum be for a macbook pro that could hand pretty basic video/photo editing? I figure that I will buy used, since the new ones are very much out of my range.
 

djhalfface

Honorable
Feb 26, 2012
3
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10,510
Any other ideas then? I would definitely consider a windows laptop (I've been a windows user my entire life).

My budget is maxed at 500 bucks, which kinda brings down my options, I know, but what would people recommend? An i5 core, or an AMD?
 

riser

Distinguished
Feb 17, 2001
138
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18,630
i5 is fine or an AMD. Depends on what you're going to be doing. Good luck with anything Mac for $500 though.

Best Buy has a Dell laptop for around $450 which would do basic video editing without issue. In fact, it probably would cover most normal video editting. If you wanted to get really extreme and all, it probably wouldn't be ideal.
 

djhalfface

Honorable
Feb 26, 2012
3
0
10,510
Yeah I am kind of thinking Mac is out of the question until I am ready to drop 2k on a laptop haha.

Well, okay, good to know that the i5 would be sufficient for pretty basic stuff. I'll look into newegg and see what they have for that range! :D