Getting to the point where i want to replace my PC with something that can handle making DVD's from home video cam footage (to a good standard) will the £700/£800 imac be upto it? how much would i need to spend on a PC to be able to do the video editing??

Always had a PC but have oftern thought about getting a mac instead.

Only use it at home for net/email, want to be able to edit videos easily etc....

Ta.

Ash.

Probably mac for what you want, however you would probably get a much higher spec PC for the same amount of money, just the way apple are im afraid.

GET THE MAC!!

It comes with iMovie an excellent intro to editing with very high quality output, I have used it professionally for rapid editing and animations. Otherwise you will have no problems with dodgy .exe attachments or viruses. The mail app and browser included are pretty good and easy to use, there is a load of free software maybe not as much as for PC but a lot of it will be well made and work properly!

And if you really must run Windows or Linux there is a good application called parallels that allows you to build guest OS disk images that behave like a machine natively running the OS installed, if that's not good enough the current version allows you to natively run windows apps in the Mac OS interface!

In the office we have 2.8Gig pentium boxes and my macpro lap top runs most apps faster that these boxes.

I may be a bit of a mac enthusiast but I have seen no reason to change to PC since the first macs came out in 1984. I am a power user and do push my macs to the maximum and rarely get problems except with Microsoft apps!

Caber

Well I've been a PC user since the 80's but my next PC is going to be a Mac!! I'm just waiting on the iMac update which should see a better spec for the same or lower price. Keep an eye on www.macrumors.com for details as they happen. The update should happen in the next month or so.

I'm just bored with the humble PC and am looking for more of a complete computing system from the Mac rather than just a concoction of hardware and software which more or less works.

Cheers,
Craig.

I do a lot of video editing on my PC and have no problems. At the end of the day video editing, FX and scene rendering are very CPU intensive, particularly if you are working in HDEF. Just looking at the price/performance stakes makes the PC the better option. I know the Mac can to video editing, but its not any better at it than a PC, despite what people will tell you.

Phil

quote:

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Originally posted by pdw709
I do a lot of video editing on my PC and have no problems. At the end of the day video editing, FX and scene rendering are very CPU intensive, particularly if you are working in HDEF. Just looking at the price/performance stakes makes the PC the better option. I know the Mac can to video editing, but its not any better at it than a PC, despite what people will tell you.

Phil

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MAC!!!

i took me a looong time to switch from pc and i'n not going back....

you might be able to get a faster pc for less money but you wont get the longevity of a mac.... thats the hidden price of the mac. i'm still using a ten year old powerbook, running the latest os X and it goes brilliantly. can u say the same thing about pcs? nooooo hooo.... you'd be lucky if you bought a new pc and didnt need upgrading just to run Vista...

[Edited on 27/5/07 by robertst]

For the price a PC will outperform the Mac every time, especially if you build one yourself. The Macs have become a fashion accessory and as such have a high price tag for a low spec machine, rather like another well known Apple product.

I do loads of video editing and have a newish PC with all the bells and whistles. If you keep a decent PC clean, using equivalent software there will be little difference. As stated you would be paying more for the style rather than the content... depends how 'name' particular you are?

Having said that - Apple do make some exceptional gadgetry that is better than the competition as stated in a previous thread.

Steve

Cheers, for the replies, Hmm not clear cut then....

part of me wants a mac (maybe its the marketing getting to me) i know PC's, although i hate microsoft and the way that is dosn't really work that well. Dont really use much software at home except AutoCAD, word & excel (which i can run on the laptop i'm getting to tune the car) so i think, i'll keep an eye out and seriously look at Macs....

Where is the best place to get a demo of a mac?...PC world???

Hi,
Go to a Mac reseller and get a (proper) demo and you'll never go back to a PC.

I've been building PC's myself since the 80286 days and have used Windows, OS/2 and more recently Linux as my main operating system. Whilst it's true that the Mac tends to lag behind the bleeding edge in raw performance terms, it still manages to deliver better productivity through a much more advanced operating system and highly intuitive user interface.

Video editing is an area where it shines and anyone who says that a PC is better (or even nearly as good as) a Mac in this area either doesn't know what they are talking about or has some other agenda. Everyone knows the Mac is the daddy for video editing!

The other thing worth reiterating is the point about longevity and the associated reliability. Apple computers are renowned for exceptional reliability. Here is a link to a recent article: http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/display/20061019143213.html
Note that Lenovo is still relatively new to market and has yet to prove long term reliability which is one of Apple's strengths.

As I said, get a proper demo from an Apple reseller and make up your own mind. Take along some video footage and get them to show you the video package in action. Look at http://www.apple.com/uk/buy/ for a local reseller.

All the best,
Craig.

[Edited on 28/5/2007 by craig1410]

[Edited on 28/5/2007 by craig1410]

I used to do video editing for mates bands on my old pc years ago, never struggled.
Guess i'm just used to them now, been playing with them since the early nineties.