MBP for Video editing? (mainly HDV)

Greetings all!

So having purchased my first Apple product last week in the form of an iPod Touch (loving it!), I'm slowly considering the move to having a Mac for a computer. The main reason I'm thinking of it is because I just don't feel I have/can have a proper system for video editing in windows as I don't like working with Avid, not too fond of Vegas Video, and Adobe Premiere Pro is closer, but I was tought in college on a Mac and using FCP, so I want to switch over to OS-X. Of course my other thing is being able to run windows since I'm still an avid gamer

I'm just wondering how well the MBP fares with regards to editing, mainly in an HDV format (I've got a Canon HV20 currently and may purchase a more pro-sumer camera this year, possibly Sony EX-1). If it could possibly handle footage some something like a Varicam or F900, that'd be awesome. 'm assuming that the CPU and GPU (for whatever part it'd play) would do pretty well, but I'm wondering about the 5400RPM drives... I've got a 7200 RPM 200GB drive currently in my laptop that i suppose I could get installed though another thing I'm unsure of is compatibility (it's a Hitachi 7K200 i believe). I've also already got a fairly high-res monitor to hook it up to for dual-monitor setup.

Of course, another question is how well MBPs run Windows...I'd be doing a bootcamp install since I really don't need to have both OS' running at the same time.

The main reason I'm inquiring is because I'm actually considering selling my barely 6 month old laptop, and custom built desktop in order to fun the purchase of a MBP (ideally the 2.5Ghz CPU, 512 MB Videocard version i figure the extra money for a bit better specs will help its usefulness last a bit longer). I'm worried that making the switch and relying on a notebook as my sole computer might be a bit iffy, since I've always had a desktop computer as my main.

Anywho, i had a lot more questions but i can't remember them... kinda wondering how Leopard's holding up...the exec of the company i'm currently contracted to said he had issues with FCP and photoshop once he upgraded to Leopard, and ended up having to upgrade both of those just to get them running again...

Thanks in advance!

-Jeremy (a possible Mac convert)

 

In general, if you do a lot of video editing, you really want a workstation like a Mac Pro. However, if you are happy with the editing capabilities of your current notebook, you will probably be happy with the MBP. It will have a faster processor (most important in video editing), more base RAM, and at least the same video card (not sure if the Asus has GDDR3).

Leopard is coming into its own, especially since 10.5.2. That update fixed any remaining issues I had with my machine, though as always, I am sure there are some bugs out there.

As for a notebook as your only computer, I was fearful as well. After doing it though, I don't notice any difference. I have an external monitor, so I can run dual monitors, and it is plenty fast for my uses. If you edit video on your notebook now and are happy, I would say go for it because the model you are looking at will be faster than what you have now. And depending on your desktop specs, may even be faster than that as well.

 

thanks for the advice!
actually the ASUS model I have only has DDR2 RAM on the videocard, so the MBP would be much better for it. I do some editing on my laptop right now, but also my desktop. Thing is, the only thing on my desktop that's better than the MBP is my 8800GT videocard, so it'd likely not be too much of a step down.

I'm also hoping having a Mac might help me get a bit more creative with programs like Garage Band and such

 

I used my MBP almost exclusively for video-editing late last year, using Final Cut Express HD, and had no issues, especially connected to an external display. And yep, that's with a 7K200 as well. You'd do even better if you got a Firewire 800 drive connected to that port.

 

awesome, that's good news!
I was actually considering looking into options for an Expresscard e-Sata adapter so that I could use my current external drive (the enclosure I've got is currently a USB 2.0 and E-Sata with a 750GB drive inside).

I'll actually have to take it into an apple store to get the drive changed though, right?