BleepingComputer.com: New Computer for (Old) Video Editing?

I want to replace my old (2007) HP Pavilion, and can't decide on another desktop, laptop (used as a desktop half the time) or an all-in-one. Asking questions tonight at Best Buy though while just browsing "in person," I realized we might have a problem. I do a LOT of video editing, and most of it is from older family videos on miniDV. (or converted to miniDV from VHS) My Sony miniDV camera uses firewire. NONE of the computers there had (IEEE-1394) firewire, and the kid on the floor said firewire was completely non-standard now. Here is my question: is it something I can even get? Or is there a possible conversion cord? What are my options here? Anyone? I am only moderately capable at all this hardware stuff.
(I will probably continue to use a PC for now, since I edit with Adobe Premiere...)

Its kind of a bummer that its not offered much anymore, in all reality the 1394 (firewire) standard is far superior to USB in nearly every way, nearly every computer in my house comes with one. A lot of custom motherboards and cases come standard with it still, but a lot of the store bought ones do not, though in most cases you can add it by add on cards such as this if the computer has a PCI slot or this if it has an open PCI express lane. PCI express is far more standard with modern components-so if you want to go with the PCI slot youd be best off purchasing the computer first and findng out if it has a PCI slot or if youll have to use PCI express or not.

Do you have a budget?

Yes, we have a budget of about $1000-1200, probably. I looked into the PCI firewire things, and we could probably make them work (ie they don't seem too difficult). We're also looking into a laptop that I could dock and use as a desktop half the time. Firewire additions for laptops seem to mostly be expresscard. Do most laptops have this capability?

So are you still purchasing a desktop or now laptop? I believe most laptops do have expresscard slot.

We haven't decided whether we want a desktop or a laptop. There are pros and cons to both, obviously. If we got the laptop, I would have it set up so I could plug it in (with a hub or a dock or whatever) and use it as our desktop as well. Is the expresscard slot faster than usb?

This post has been edited by ctrsara: 30 January 2012 - 01:47 PM

Skip the all-in-One
Desktop that has slots you can add the firewire card to. USB3 ports to future proof they are much faster.

Since you are working with video I suggest a Intel I7 2600 CPU. For working with Video the graphics card is less important then the CPU. BluRay burner for the future when you want to author BluRay movies. The second use for a BluRay burner is data backup since a single sided disc can hold 25Gb vs 4.7Gb for a single sided DVD blank. I also suggest Verbatim blanks. (Not the Ones sold in stores either) If the video is worth the time spent editing and tweaking it to you satisfaction then a few extra cents on good media is a no brainer to me. 1/2 of the cheap no name blank CDs I bought and used some years ago can not even be read.

Laptops are not good for Video work. Rendering usually runs the CPU at 100% generating a lot of heat. Laptops by their design do not have great cooling systems.

Also having a large monitor can be a advantage when working on something.

Thanks for all the great things to think about! I was interested in the comments by rotor123:

On Verbatim media: it's interesting you should say that, because I have a big stack of Verbatims (DVD-R) that I'm mostly just using for data burning, because they will not play on our Sony DVD-player. (The other DVD players and blu-ray will play them, but still... I don't have that trouble with any of my Sony discs - and I haven't had trouble with discs I burned 10+ years again playing yet.) Where do you suggest getting the Verbatim discs? I have tried not to order online, as I heard single packages go through a lot more rough handling and the blank discs can get a bit of a beating...)

Is the "i" (as in i5, i7, etc.) more important than dual-core, quad-core, etc? And brand-wise, is there any reason I can't go with an HP? We were leaning that way...

I definitely agree on the monitor size. I find my 21-inch monitor a little confining when working on a project. I had planned to do a dual-monitor with the laptop and my current one when I was editing or digital scrapbooking (don't judge, it's very satisfying to do it in Photoshop! ;-) if I went with a laptop. Main reason we considered going with a laptop was so I could be working on my stuff and not be away from everyone in the computer room in the evenings. (we are renting, and our living room isn't big enough for a computer set up) But if you really think overheating would be a problem (I usually only render 4-6 minute clips at a time with the type of editing I do, and I would think the higher processor could knock that out pretty quickly, as my current processor <Intel Pentium Dual-Core Desktop Processor E2220> doesn't have too much trouble with it.

I am really appreciating the feedback and discussion. I want to make a choice we'll be happy with for the next several years!

I've been buying my verbatims at Newegg.com
The current crop of Verbatims in the stores are a second tier quality disc that they came up with to meet the demand for cheap. Life series = Junk

Side note: I usually use DVD+R. Sony DVD Players can be funny sometimes.

Sony DVDs are OK. I will say that I've never had problems playing Verbtim DVD in my Sony Changer or my Other brand 400 disk changer or my newest player a LG BluRay player.
To a certain extent the Software used to create or burn as well as the drive itself can be a factor.

Also take note that Laptop drives are usually 8X whereas Desktop drives for DVDs get up to 24X depending on the brand.

If the clips are that short then a laptop should be fine. Just keep in mind that if you hear the fans really speeding up that means it is getting hot. They are thermal controlled to lenghten battery life. At that point wait til the fans drop back down to silent.

HP desktop no problem. I've seen a lot of recent, 2 to 4 year old, dead HP Laptops. Especially the ones with AMD Processors as they run hottter than the intel CPU.

I7 930 for example would be the first gen I7 desktop CPU, I7 2600 would be the second gen of I7 CPU. Faster!

My I7 930 is slower than the I7 2600 I built for my brother for example. It is also a year older....

Laptop I7 CPUs run slower than Desktop I67 CPUs.

Good Luck
Roger

This post has been edited by rotor123: 31 January 2012 - 04:12 PM

Thanks Roger! Definitely some good advice and factors to consider! That is good to now about the Verbatim discs, thanks. Maybe I have a "junk" set. I think I bought it some time early last year, probably at Wal-mart or something. I burned the exact same project onto that disc and onto a Sony (using Adobe Encore) and repeated the experiment twice and came up with the same slight problem with it not playing on our main DVD player. My husband and I will definitely take all this into consideration and see what we come up with!

That is most likely the problem. The good Verbatim discs stopped showing up in the stores a couple of years ago.

One way to tll poor quality discs is if they start to freeze up or pixelate towards the end of a video. The outer edge of the disc is where the problem shows. IE the last 10 minutes of a 2 hour movie that fills the disc.