Mac Powerbook for video editing

[Roma]

Hey all,

Does anyone know much about mac powerbooks and if they're any good for video editing? They come with the program 'iMovie', but there's also a 'Production Suite' which I'm thinking of getting which includes a more advanced video editing program and a couple other programs.

http://store.apple.com/133-622/WebOb....woa/80205/wo/
This link shows the powerbook varieties. I'm thinking of going all out and getting the 17-inch powerbook.

I would like something which is portable too incase I travel so I've got somewhere to store and edit films anywhere I travel.

Do you think the mac powerbook is for me? Would be great to hear from others who have experienced using these (and the software for video editing) but general opinions from others would be great too.

Thanks to any who can help.

[Skyman]

The power book will do very nicely, get as much ram and as big a hard drive as your budget will allow. I movie is a very easy to use program, although it is a little bit limited in what it can do. for serious editors, final cut pro is the best option although apple puts out a light edition of this program that is good to get started with.

[Roma]

I'm planning on getting the production suite software (which comes with 3 programs, one of which is Final Cut Pro).

I've had a change of plan, I may not be getting the powerbook but rather a normal iMac. If I give up the portability of the powerbook I can get an iMac for much cheaper but from what I can see it's a LOT better than the powerbook.

So I may get a normal iMac (20-inch screen, 1.8GHz) and i'll go all out on the ram (hopefully 2GB) and all out on the hard drive (250GB). It could be a while off yet, I'm not going to rush into anything. I only plan to start producing films in 2006 (I may even get a better camera for it by then).

Cheers for the response. I'll keep the ram and hard drive in mind. Thanks.

[MJS]

A separate hard drive for putting all of the programs on would be a great idea. Keep the AV files on a drive by themselves for better playback.

[jwcfl]

I'm also thinking of getting a Powerbook for video editing. A few questions:

I'm thinking of the 15.2" 1.5Ghz powerbook with the 80gb hard drive and superdrive. I'll double the RAM to 1024mb.

What about the hard drive? Does it make sense to buy an external drive to keep my material on? Someone told me to make sure the drive is at least 7200rpm. Is that important?

Also, I think you can get the powerbook with a faster hard drive, 5400rpm, is that important? Why?

What about editing software? Basically, all I'm doing is stringing together commercials for a director's reel to send to clients, no heavy effects. Is Imovie good enough? Final Cut Pro?

Finally, is there a good site or resource that has lots of step by step pointers and instructions for editing?

Thanks!

[MJS]

The powerbook is a great machine and the I-movie is very good for home based editing and some non-commercial productions. It you want to make a living with it I would go for the Final Cut Pro, it is an excellent program. I still like the idea of the faster and separate hard drive. You can pick up a nice external firewire drive on sale with the holidays coming up. 7200 rpm is important so tha you can get glitchless videof and audio playback. As far as HD size, You get approximately 5 minutes of Mini-DV video and 2 tracks of audio per gig of hard drive.

I got your e-mail and will be giving you a call on Today, 11/14 during the day.
Good luck.

MJS