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    Macbook pro 17" 4.1 for video editing?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by pauki, Nov 4, 2013.

  1. pauki

    pauki Notebook Enthusiast

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    Im looking for a replacement or a newer editing machine.

    A friend is offering his Macbook pro for 620 bucks.
    Its a Macbook Pro 4.1 17"
    Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks
    Is the last pre-unibody version
    Intel core 2 duo 2.5ghz 64 bits
    processor cache 6mb
    800 mhz bus
    250Gb HD
    2GB Ram (up to 8)
    GNVIDIA 512Mb graphics
    DVD rw
    firewire 400 and 800, USB, DVI, etc..


    Is that a good system for editing? I would be using avid and edit full hd clips. Thanks!
     
    pauki, Nov 4, 2013
    #1
  2. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    WAY too underpowered for AVID MC/MG in HD. ( Adobe Premier Pro as well ). I find if you plan to run AVID to even part of its potential you want 16GB RAM, SSD and atleast a second generation core series i5/i7 and a supported GPU ( high end Gforce but ideally a Quadro/Fire Pro to handle rendering work )
     
    KCETech1, Nov 5, 2013
    #2
  3. Zero000

    Zero000 Notebook Deity

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    A Core 2 Duo is quite slow for serious work. If you were doing basic tasks then that would be fine.

    Since you want to edit videos , I'd recommend a laptop with a modern era quad core.

    I use my ThinkPad W530 sometimes for video work and it's great. For reference my W530 has a Quadro K1000m and an Intel Core i7 3610QM.

    My W530 can support up to 32 GB of RAM and 3 SSDs (one would fit where the DVD/Blu-ray drive goes).

    You should be looking at mobile workstations for serious video editing.
     
    Zero000, Nov 5, 2013
    #3
  4. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    Agreed. I did the MBP 17" to workstation transition a couple years ago
     
    KCETech1, Nov 5, 2013
    #4
  5. jynbr

    jynbr Notebook Guru

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    This model is way too old, and 620 is too much for those specs
     
    jynbr, Nov 10, 2013
    #5
  6. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    Pretty much agreed with KCETech1 and Zero000 about the poor specs of this machine (especially for what they're charging for it). It might be closer worth to perhaps $300 or $350, but surely not $620. At that price, you'd be much better off with some sort of cheap Wintel APU system..

    But, your best option will be a workstation-class laptop, if you're able to roughly double the price of that particular MB.
     
    Jarhead, Nov 11, 2013
    #6
  7. Jobine

    Jobine Notebook Prophet

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    If you can't look at cheap gaming laptops (Clevo/MSI/Lenovo/ASUS), those will be your best bet until you can afford a big professional workstation.

    For around 700$ on eBay you can find a Lenovo Y580 with 3630QM, FHD display and GTX 660M. While no workstation, the performance will not dissapoint. This is just an example, other strong choices are Ivy-Bridge Clevo P150EM, Ivy-Bridge MSI GE60, ASUS G46VW (crappy display).
     
    Jobine, Nov 20, 2013
    #7