Which Laptop to buy for video editing?

[MannyBothans]

I really want to do video editing on some home movies and even a few
projects for my job at a nonprofit agency. I would like a laptop so I
can work from different floors within the same building.

I have been looking at Tablet PCs like the Toshiba M700, the HP
TX2000, the Gateway C-140X, the Fujitsu T4220, the Lenovo X61, and
even some toughbook tablet options -- because I have a 5 yr old at
home and I think it would be really cool for him to be able to use a
tablet PC to practice his writing skills. However, when I look at the
graphics processors in some other machines, I just canâ??t help
but think I would get more bang for my buck if I went with a gaming
machine instead of a Tablet. I have also heard good things about Clevo
and some others, but all this is totally new territory for me.

I can wait as long as maybe April to buy a machine if something
awesome is just around the corner. I would prefer to keep the price
at or below the $2000.00 mark, I'd really like a Desktop
Replacement 17" to 20" screen so I can enjoy movies from a
bit further back. I don't care as much about battery life or
portability, but I do care about performance, so if supporting a large
screen would reduce performance, I would be happier with a more modest
15" - 16" screen. I reside in the United States, and would
like to find a machine that would last for a long time, upon which I
could do video editing, movie watching, DVD-burning, web surfing, word
processing, e-mail, a bit of gaming. I will rarely ever leave my home
with it, but I will be taking it to three different levels in my
house, and might occasionally need to take it to my office. I will
always be near an electrical outlet, but I don't want to haul
a docking station around or buy three stations for all three floors (I
might as well buy three desktops if I am going to do that). I do want
to get Spore when it comes out, and I want to be able to run it on a
Vista machine-- with high frame rate and without hanging up pr
crashing, but I am not a huge gamer. I might want a few other, more
demanding games in the future so I don't want to skimp on CPU,
RAM, or video processors since I want Vista, video editing, and even
some gaming. I do not mind buying online without seeing the notebook
in person. I would prefer WSXGA+ or UXGA, if WUXGA wouldn't substantially reduce the performance and inflate the price too much: I do enjoy more screen real estate,
but I don't care about watching hi-def movies in the best
resolution on a laptop. The notebook's looks and stylishness not
important to me at all. I would like a machine with plenty of space
to store video for editing.

I want a DVD burner built in, but it does not need to be Blu-Ray or HD. It
would be nice if it had an SD card reader built in (that also accepted
mini and micro), but no big deal if it doesn't.

My problem is my budget, and I don't know where to make the tradeoffs
to get the best video editing performance. I did some web
investigating and found xoticpc.

> Which is better for video editing?
>
> Penryn Core 2 Dup T9500 2.6 GHz w/6MB on-die & 800 MHz FSB
>
> or
>
> Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz w/8MB L2 & 1066MHz FSB
>
> I am sorry I am so ignorant about such matters, but it seems like I
> would be better off going with a more minimal NP9262 than a more
> maxed-out NP5792, if the 9262 offers the possibility for future
> upgrades.
>
> I could spend about the same amount of money on either a 5792 (Clevo
> M570RU) or
> a 9262 (Clevo D901C) if they were configured as follows:
>
>
> Sager NP5792 at $2889.63 with:
> Penryn Core 2 Dup T9500 2.6 GHz w/6MB on-die & 800 MHz FSB 512MB
> PCI-Express nVida GeForce 8800GTX DX10 4,096MB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 (2
> SODIMMS) Dual Channel 200GB 7200rpm SATA II 300 17â?? WUXGA
> Glossy (1920x1200) Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit
>
> or
>
> Sager NP9262 for $2831.43 with
> Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz w/8MB L2 & 1066MHz FSB 512MB PCI-Express
> nVida GeForce 8800GTX DX10 4,096MB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 (2 SODIMMS) Dual
> Channel 100GB 7200rpm SATA 150 17â?? WSXGA+ Matte (1680x1050)
> Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit

Argh. I just noticed that xtremenotebooks.com has a 22" tablet
that can house the nVIDIA GeFORCE Go 7600 PCI-E with 256MB DDR 3
VideoRAM and Intel® E6750 (2.66 GHz) Core� 2
Duo CPU - 4MB L2 Cache 1066MHz FSB for about the same moolah as the systems below, and 4096MB 667MHz Premium Micron DDR2 (2x2048MB). Now

I am even more confused than ever. I feel like I am swimming in
alphbet soup because I don't know anything about these graphics cards
or processors.
I have no idea how this compares to the 5792 or the 9262 (above) configured around my pricepoint.

Does this XN1 have a Wacom active digitizer, or are folks calling
this a "Tablet" just because there's no keyboard?

[MannyBothans]

FWIW, I just found a very helpful review online at http://www.techspot.com/review/36-intel-core2-quad-q6600/page6.html

I just wish there was such a powerful little laptop that had tablet functionality.

I'm liking the possibilities of http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9262-ultimate-custom-laptop-built-clevo-d901c-p-2273.html?wconfigure=yes&change_view=rbm

I am still pretty ignorant about whether or not it would be effective to have two hard drives in Raid 0-Stripe. Does anyone here know anything about how this affects video editing?

[Jason Dunn]

I am still pretty ignorant about whether or not it would be effective to have two hard drives in Raid 0-Stripe. Does anyone here know anything about how this affects video editing?

RAID 0 is a dangerous game, because you're doubling your chances of data failure - it one of the drives fail, you lose everything on both drives. If you have a good backup plan (nightly mirroring of all your data), that might not be a big deal, but it's something to be aware of. In terms of performance, RAID 0 will help with things like moving your data around, copying, and perhaps even seeking along a video track, but it won't help with rendering the video. I'd say skip it - or go with RAID 1 to project your video projects (which are hard to back up until they're done).

Just make sure you get a 7200 RPM hard drive (or two) and a fast CPU, and the rest isn't worth worrying about. You seem to have two very conflicting desires: a small, tablet device, and insane power and storage. That combination doesn't exist.

[Sven Johannsen]

Here you go. http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m2010?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

Yea, that is a laptop. Dell says so and I've seen my son use it that way. Sorry it isn't a tablet.

Don't get a tablet thinking it will help your kid learn to write. It frustrates me and I've been writting a long time. As a matter of fact, I learned language skills before there was much of an option.

As Jason says, a powerful tablet is an oxymoron. These days you may be able to find an actual laptop that can handle video editing, but get yourself an asbestos towel to put under it if you insist on doing it on your lap. It's not the graphics card that is your biggest enemy in video editing BTW, it is the processor and RAM. Most any old video card will show regular movies. HD needs a bit more and gaming more yet.

Don't worry so much about screen size. Every tablet/laptop has video out. I am sitting here at my 12" screen tablet, which is great for portability, but at my desk I'm looking at a 24" monitor.

I don't see a 22" tablet at xtremenotebooks.com. I do see a 22" wall mount monitor with built in PC that actually looks pretty interesting for smaller Media Center applications. I don't see anywhere it mentions that thing having a touch screen though...unless I am looking at something different.

If it were me, I'd go for two devices, a nice desktop for the real intensive apps you are thinking about and a laptop/tablet to carry around.

BTW, IMHO, tablets are still not much good for regular folks. Have a couple, have had others. Getting the kind of things I do, done, is less efficient than on a regular laptop, trying to do it via the pen. I see them used very effectively in vertical markets. Couple of doctor's offices I know use them very effectively to fill in forms, do rounds, that sort of thing.