Cheapest way to get myself a mac for a video / photo editing.

Fr0dders

Fr0dders

Fr0dders

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Having played around with macs for a while, i always knew what they were like, but never really managed to get into them.

Fast forward a few years and imove 09 and iphoto 09 come out.

I never really sat down and attempted to use macs, till i got myself a HD camcorder for a family wedding. Trying to find what to edit the footage with on the PC was a tedious task. And then after a suggestion from a friend, i popped into an apple store with my camcorder, borrowed an imc and had a play. To say it was a revelation was an understatement.

Im now trying to think of the best way to get one without spending too much.

Currently im thinking one of a few options

1) buy myself a 13" apple macbook, preferably one of the unibody ones out this year (now renamed 13" mac pro) and then use a mini dvi to VGA cable to hook it up to my 20" PC monitor. This gives added flexibility in that i can take it on holiday etc..

2) option 2, as the cheapest unibody refurb mac is still £730 on the apple store, is to get myself a mac mini. £500 + £40 for 2gb RAM, and the same hardware as on the unibody mac with 2.0ghz Core 2 Duo and Nvidia 9400 graphics.

Given that money is tight, ideally id only have £500 to spend but am going to find a way to find the extra...

what would you do ?
 
I've just gone from the mini to a macbook. I have to say go with the macbook if you think there is a way to afford it, the ability to pack it up and use wherever is invaluable.
 
i'd get the notebook as the flexibility is awesome. If you have a pc, sell it to fund the difference, as honestly my windows laptop never gets used since i switched in january.
 
Well, strictly speaking, the Mac Mini would be smaller to lug around than the MacBook. Also, many people now have HDTV's and they often have either HDMI, DVI or VGA input. It's doable but not as simple as with a lappy.
 
MrLOL said:
1) buy myself a 13" apple macbook, preferably one of the unibody ones out this year (now renamed 13" mac pro) and then use a mini dvi to VGA cable to hook it up to my 20" PC monitor. This gives added flexibility in that i can take it on holiday etc..

what would you do ?
Click to expand...

This. You simply cannot skimp on spec when it comes to video editing and if that means you need to save up for longer then that's the way it needs to be.
 
Option one is probably better (i really like my macbook pro) and the ability to use it on the go is amazing. You'll have to spend £20 getting the mini display port to dvi (or vga) adaptor (or mini dvi to bigger dvi if its an older one) for it though to get it to the big screen (its what i do at uni for my monitor) but it works very well as a set up i think.

Admitedly the mini is the cheaper method but you miss out on the laptop aspect
 
i ended up using sony vegas in the end. Yes it was a very powerful tool, but nothing like the experience i had with imovie 09.

On another point. ive just been and bought this :o

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Aluminum
13.3-inch 1280-by-800 pixel LED-backlit display
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Standard keyboard

cant wait !
 
MrLOL said:
i ended up using sony vegas in the end. Yes it was a very powerful tool, but nothing like the experience i had with imovie 09.

On another point. ive just been and bought this :o

Refurbished MacBook 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo - Aluminum
13.3-inch 1280-by-800 pixel LED-backlit display
2GB memory
160GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in iSight camera
Standard keyboard

cant wait !
Click to expand...

How much did you pay by the way??
 
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