Dell Vs. HP Vs. Apple Whats a Chief to do?

[Da-Chief]

So I have to replace my Aging Toshiba Laptop. While I have liked this beast, it is running "HOT" and the battery is shot.

So I am in the market by the end of the year for a New Laptop/Netbook..

Trying to gauge what you all think...

MACBOOK Pro? Pro's / Cons?

Dell Netbooks, or Laptops?

HP??

I need to get a mutha of a system to be able to run 64 bit system, so it can handle much more ram for video editing as well as for sound mixing and photo's..

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

D/C

[indy]

Ok, quick thoughts here:

Mac - don't use them personally, but not bad machines. Biggest con I see here is price... you pay significantly more for a lesser machine than you can get on the PC side.

Dell - one of the market standards, but since you are looking for a 'mutha', I'd stay away from a netbook form factor. By definition, it's a stripped down laptop, and isn't designed to be a desktop replacement or a significant-use laptop replacement. If all you need is email/internet, word/excel etc, then I'd say go for it - but running anything that requires processing power is going to be difficult on a netbook. Dell laptops usually have a decent reputation

HP - I've been using this brand for over a decade, and have yet to have any issues with them. HOWEVER, since the merger with Compaq a few years back, the company seems to have lost some of 'engineer'-type reputation/standards that they were known for in my opinion. Also their customer service has had some issues, but fortunately I've never had to use them for anything.

Also keep in mind that whatever PC platform you look at now will come with Vista (not sure if the public Beta for Windows 7 is still available) which may not be ideal either.

There are some other good brands out there as well: Acer, Asus & IBM come to mind as possibilities also...

[DominaMedicus]

Chief, I asked a ComputerGuru for his opinion, here's his reply:

benefits of 64 bit are superfluous to the average user as well as a pain in the ass more than a convenience or advantage. You're not even going to generally use that much RAM - ever. No real pros/cons to Mac versus Windows. It's preference. Although, Macs are well-known for "video editing capability"

[Laz88]

Chief I just bought a new macbook pro. I got the base model the new 13 inch one. But I have to say I have used a lot of computers in my life and this is by far the best that I have ever used.

Im not just saying that because I spent $1,200 dollars on it. :p

Its beautiful to use, its fast, you can do pretty much anything you want with it. It has a powerful processor, great graphics card, and a stable operating system. What more could you ask for?

[indy]

Chief, I asked a ComputerGuru for his opinion, here's his reply:

benefits of 64 bit are superfluous to the average user as well as a pain in the ass more than a convenience or advantage. You're not even going to generally use that much RAM - ever. No real pros/cons to Mac versus Windows. It's preference. Although, Macs are well-known for "video editing capability"

Good thinking, but the problem here is that Chief isn't an 'average user' - he needs the use of the 64 bit systems/software to help manage all of the processes he has running which primarily include the weekly AOTC episodes which place a large drain on his system resources. If we are talking about a user who typically uses Office, surfs the Internet and writes email for most of their use, then I'd agree that people buy far more computer than they need, but in this case the needs are a little more specialized.

[Fred]

A MacBook Pro can handle that. There will be an additional charge if you want the Microsoft Office for Mac (need to purchase software). I switched years ago to Mac and have never ever had a problem.

[Laz88]

Or you can just use OpenOffice.org for Mac. Its open source so its free to use. I have been using it since 2005 and prefer it over Office. :)

[Da-Chief]

As Indy said, Yeah I need the RAM BABY!! ;-)

When I am running "SEVERAL" proccesses Video, Sound just a lot.. Right now I am taxing a duel core @ around 98% when I do the show.. This causes problems and my sometimes the recordings don't go as planned! :-)

Thanks all of you. The problem with the APPLE, the software I use for video is Windows Only.. What Sucks is with APPLE, they aren't quite all 64 bit yet.

We shall see, it all depends on the donations for the site, so if you want to show some love.. Click the donate button and help support us.

Thanks everyone!

D/C

[MTWaddell]

In all the years that I have used laptops for work I have found that the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad is the best bang for the buck.
I retired from field service for an engine company and we used laptops in the field. They were dropped, left to get wet, frozen, dirty, dusty...name it and we did it to them. We also went thru every brand you can think off and the ThinkPad was the only one to provide the service and longevity we needed.
My first laptop was a ThinkPad A22M, made by IBM and is now 9 years old, been upgraded to its max potential is is still up and running well and in the possession of one of my kids. Works well even with a Grand kid pounding on it.
I have a year old Lenovo ThinkPad Z81M now and love it. Have never had any issue with either of them.
For the money you can't buy a better unit anywhere. I also believe that they are more customizable than any other brand offered. Pick and choose graphics, cards, processors, blah, blah, blah in any configuration you want.
I also believe they offer the longest standard warranty available. This last one came with a 3 year parts, labor, shipping, replacement/loaner 100% warranty with an option to buy another 2 years for 50 bucks....
Just my 2 cents worth.

[DominaMedicus]

I'll post just one more reply from computer-guru ( I had asked his advice):

RE: Good thinking, but the problem here is that Chief isn't an 'average user' - he needs the use of the 64 bit systems/software to help manage all of the processes he has running which primarily include the weekly AOTC episodes which place a large drain on his system resources. If we are talking about a user who typically uses Office, surfs the Internet and writes email for most of their use, then I'd agree that people buy far more computer than they need, but in this case the needs are a little more specialized.

I don't really agree. Especially if the broadcasting is done with a 32-bit application like Flash, where the application receives no benefit from a 64-bit OS/extra RAM, and is probably more dependent on high upload bandwidth. Not to mention that a third-party host, like Stickcam, would act as a middleman, handling incoming and outing packets which cuts your processing/ram requirements greatly.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X7-Xtreme_S1_Notebook/ (http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X7-Xtreme_S1_Notebook/)

[Da-Chief]

Here are the particulars for the program:
The Link for the site for the program: VIDVBLASTER (http://www.vidblasterus.com/software.htm)

VidBlaster Pro: http://www.vidblasterus.com/images/img0096.png

Modules (Studio only):
Audio Module
Camera Module
Player Module
Video Effect Module
Video Overlay Module
Preview Module
Program Module
Recorder Module
Streamer Module
Video Switcher

Output Resolutions:
320x180 (Wide)
320x240 (Half SD NTSC)
384x288 (Half SD PAL)
428x240 (Half SD NTSC Wide)
512x288 (Half SD PAL Video)
640x360 (Wide)
640x480 (SD NTSC)
720x406 (SD Wide)
768x576 (SD PAL)
854x480 (SD NTSC Wide)
1024x576 (SD PAL Wide)
1280x720 (HD)

Frame Rate: 1 to 30 Frames Per Second

File Formats & Player Module: AVI, WMV, ASF, MOV, JPG, MP3, WAV

Overlay Module: PNG
Effect Module: PiP (Picture-in-Picture)
PiP, Fixed Aspect Ratio
Split, Horizontal
Split, Side by Side
Split, Triple
Split, Vertical
Split, Vertical Corrected
Split, Quad
Split, 3D

Software Versions:
VidBlaster is available in three different editions: Home, Pro and Studio. The only difference between these three editions is the maximum number of modules available: 8 for Home, 25 for Pro and 100 for Studio.
The Studio version also includes the Preview, Program, Video Switcher and Auto Switcher.

Software Specifications:
Recommended for 320x240: CPU Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM
**Recommended for 640x480: CPU Core 2 Quad/Intel i7 920, 3 GB RAM, video GeForce 8800
Recommended for HD: CPU Intel Core i7 965 OC’ed, 6 GB RAM, video dual GeForce GTX280

Windows XP or Vista, or Win 7, with Windows Media Player 10 installed, QuickTime 7 (necessary to play Apple format video clips), any webcam, streaming video camera (USB or firewire) or video capture device with WDM driver, audio mixer. All hardware requirements are indicative.

[Da-Chief]

Understand.. I am not just running Video here, true the 64 bit won't help with straight Pipelineing for just video, but I am mixing Audio as well, hence the reason I need the extra Juice for RAM.

My Mixer (Which is a old Alesis USB Multimix 8) unfortunately is a USB mixer, I will be upgrading to a Firewire version later which does seperate the channels on incoming and can be assigned to seperate channels in our mixing software. When you mix all this togethor you can see how I need a beast of a Machine.

What I am finding, is Bang for the buck, The Win7 is probably the way to go. Yes Apple does make a great machine, but by the time I get what I want and need I.e big screen, more RAM etc.. it costs a fortune. I can't run this on just the basic MACBOOK.

I do love hearing all this from you though, keep th info coming.. I have been dying for some good Geek Speak! :-)

D/C

[DeeDee]

Darrell,
When Dan was coming home from Iraq he had a laptop built for him - have you checked out something like that? He went through xoticPC (http://www.xoticpc.com/) and let me tell you this thing is incredible. All customized to his specifications and he went top of the line since he is a gamer and you gotta have all the bells and whistles LOL.

If nothing else you can get on there and work up what you want and get a ballpark figure of cost.