Setting up a Video Editing System

[timberwolf1]

Hi All!!
I want to purchase a video editing system for my son. He is asking for the Sony VAIO RX 580. In general I need some comments as to how good is this Sony system. In addition, if one had around $2,000 to spend on a video editing system - what would you recommend.

Here what I know about the Sony VAIO 580:

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 1.80 GHz†
• 512 MB PC-133 SDRAM (expandable to 512 MB)
• 400 MHz Front Side Bus
• 80 GB†† Ultra ATA/100 hard drive
• DVD-RW Drive
• High-speed Internet ready with
10Base-T/100Base-TX Fast Ethernet
• i.LINK® (IEEE 1394) chipset on motherboard1
• Front accessible i.LINK® (IEEE 1394) interface
and USB connections1
• 4X AGP 3D Graphics Hardware Acceleration
(nVIDIA® TNT2 M64)
• 32 MB Video Memory (SDRAM)
• Programmable VAIO Smart™ Keyboard
• V.90 compatible data/fax modem
• Wheel mouse
• External Stereo Speakers

Has anyone used this system? If so, is it good?

What other type set-up would be good?

Many Thanks in Advance


Gary Hendricks
<A HREF="http/www.digital-music-guide.com" target="_new">www.digital-music-guide.com</A>

 

[Boilermaker]

there are far better options for video editing than that sony system. for 2k, you could get a p4 3.0c processor, motherboard and 1GB of ram, two hard drives in raid-0 configuration, dvd writer, sound card, video card, capture card and still have money left over.

 

[the_Prisoner]

Try <A HREF="http/www.zeuspc.com" target="_new">http/www.zeuspc.com</A>. About 500.00 USD cheaper and alot faster.

the Prisoner

I'm not a number, I'm a free man! 😡

 

[phono_mas]

i know it may sound silly, but i would look into more than just an 80gb disk space arrangement. i use a raid controller (by promise) - it affords me the luxury of never being in need of space. dv eats up the hard disk space!

 

[xboxizdope]

I'm sorry but I thought for a second this thread was from 2 years ago. Dude that computer is OLD! I'm not a computer expert by no means, but I do know what most computers come with today. Stay away and buy something worth your money, I'm sure it's cheap, but I'd suggest buying something much faster and newer with at least a P4 2.8 GHZ processor, and 1 Gig of DDR-400 ram would be a good idea as well.

As for that Sony system, it might have been good 3 years ago, but the PC-133 Ram, the 4X AGP, and 400 MHZ bus speed is all old old standards!

Here are my personal recommendations:
P4 3.0 GHZ processor w/800 MHZ front side bus
1 Gig DDR-400 Ram memory
At least 120 Gig of Hard drive space, and a SATA drive would be better than standard EIDE hard drives.
Also You should have no problem finding a computer with 8X AGP, because that is the standard for today. Probably 128 MB of graphics memory would be good.

I would suggest building a computer yourself, that way you can choose exactly what parts you want. It might cost you about the same as buying a prebuilt computer, but many prebuilt computers are very difficult to upgrade because they use incredibly small cases, or awkward sizes, or proprietary hardware. At least if you build your own computer, your $2000 will last much longer than on a prebuilt system.

If you do choose to build your own computer, this site offers some GREAT guides on how to do so, and if you are still stuck with a problem you can probably find some good help on these forums. A great place to buy computer parts at very cheap prices is NewEgg.com.

Good luck on your sons computer!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by xboxizdope on 03/07/04 09:00 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dbadick]

I am looking at building my own as you suggested. I am leaning to the Intel board and wondering which chipset is recommended for video editing?

Also what software are you currently using? Are you happy with it?

Thanks in advance for your reply.

 

[meBigGuy]

875 chipset,with SATA Raid set up for speed, not mirroring. Be careful about on board raid controllers. The reviews at newegg are always worth reading.

If it's really going to be a video/multimedia machine and not a game machine also, you may want to check out an apple. This is mostly because of iMovie. (I add this only because for many serious multimedia professionals, apple is the only way to go. Personally, I'd stick with the PC, but I'm not a multimedia professional.)

Otherwise, windows XP and Ulead MediaStudio Pro if you can afford it.

http/desktopvideo.about.com/cs/toppick1/tp/topvideditsw.htm has info about editing software.

You also will want to make a careful choice with regard to your graphics card. Check out some video editing forums, such as the one at http/www.digitalvideoediting.com/

 

[davemar14]

I got a Digital camcorder, and when I rip the movie to the hard drive, it takes around 18 GB per hour of video. So I would reccomend getting large hard drives. I am thinking of getting 2 Western Digital 120 GB Serial ATA drives in RAID 0.

 

[rhbourque]

Hi All!!
I want to purchase a video editing system for my son. He is asking for the Sony VAIO RX 580. In general I need some comments as to how good is this Sony system. In addition, if one had around $2,000 to spend on a video editing system - what would you recommend.

<A HREF="http/www.digital-music-guide.com" target="_new">www.digital-music-guide.com</A>

Okay.
You said 2000 bucks.
I just speced a system out for a fellow (1100) that would blow the doors off that machine.

http/forumz.tomshardware.com/software/Help-build-computer-ftopict10804.html
with another grand. i would
remove 3500/80gig hard drive/speakers/mousekeyboard
update the processor to an X2 4600 552.00
dual 74gig raptors for your os 334.00
another 2 gigs of memory 329.60
and it still only clocks in at 1649.15
+ the cost of the case


Cart Number: SC509694
Title: davmar14
Date: 02/24/06


Item No.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unit Price
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

101222-316604 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer and Serial ATA Cable Bundle *** Free 2nd Day *** 2 $167.00
101570 Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823A 250GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $104.99
170649 Liteon SOHC-5236K DVD 16x + CD-RW 52x32x52 Combo Drive (Black) Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $35.99
247018 Asus A8V-E SE Via K8T890 Athlon 64(FX)/Athlon 64 X2 Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $79.99
273503 Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 500W Power Supply Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $66.59
321050 XFX PV-T42E-UDE3 GeForce 6800 Xtreme PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/TV-Out & Dual DVI Out Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $145.99
80098-50 Kingston KVR400X64C3AK2/2G 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Memory Retail *** Free 2nd Day *** 2 $164.80
80727-R AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Processor Socket 939 Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** 1 $552.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subtotal $1649.15

With the left over money buy your son a sweet 19lcd gaming monitor.