PowerBook rec. for FCP Studio

[Kevin Monahan]

Hi Bob,
Happy PowerBook user with FCP. You’re gonna be lovin’ life really soon. Don’t know how I ever got by without one of these babies.

My advice? Go here:
https://www.apple.com/powerbook/index15.html

Bump up the RAM to 2GB and you’re set. And yes, you can connect to a second desktop to expand out.

In fact, I’m doing that now on the DVI out of my older G4 800 mHz Titanium laptop, which incidentally will do anything Studio can dish out except Motion. The video card is just too old, unfortunately. This laptop has served me well for about 3 years now though, so I’ve gotten my money’s worth. It has been upgraded to include 1GB RAM, a SuperDrive and Blue Tooth. It’s been a great road warrior for me: NYC, Tokyo, BKK. Fairly extreme environments.

More expensive options:
You could get the 17″, but that’s a bit too big to be truly portable. I think the 15″ is a nice compromise on price/size.

You could also get an iMac G5 and one of those portable crash cases to haul from the office to the trade show or hotel. I prefer the ease of just grabbing the Ti Book and running out the door. The cafe makes better coffee than me and it’s got wireless. Kewl…

Kevin Monahan
Author – Motion Graphics and Effects in Final Cut Pro
fcpworld.com

[Jeremy Garchow]

Those kind of situations are how I got my start into FCP with v3 and a 667 powerbook, doing the exact same jobs your are talking about doing. I would recommend getting yourself a Biggerdisk extreme or Medea GRaid fw 800 raid so you can work faster. THere’ll be less rendering and more editing (until final output) and then you can even bump up to DV50 if need be. You’ll appreciate the power and speed when you are editing those smiling faces under the break neck deadlines those types of jobs lend themselves to. I would also suggest the 17″ as you’ll miss the real-estate on a 15″. The 17″ is not that much more of a hassle to carry around, just get yourself a nice rolling carry case/backpack/brief case that fits the 17 and you’ll be good to go. I know you want to be nice to your client and save them some money, but get the fastest mac you can possibly get. Perhaps you should check out some refurbs that come with the standard warranty and you might even be able to upgrade to the extended warranty for $300 bucks or so (out of your pocket, not your clients). Good luck in your travels and buy the fastest mac you can. you won’t be disappointed, and either will your client.

Jeremy

———–
G5 Dual 2Ghz <> 4GB RAM <> FCP 5.02 <> Kona 2

ATTO 42XS <> Huge Systems 1.25 TB 4105 Fibre

[Mitchji]

Hi,

You should seriously consider a G5 iMac with this case:
https://luggerbags.com/G5.htm

“OK, we all wanted a G5 Powerbook… but it doesn’t look like they are going to make one this year…. so make your G5 iMac portable! After all, its only 2 inches thick, weighs 18 lbs & has a dazzling display nicer than any notebook!

Just SLIP the iLugger over the monitor, then FLIP the bag over, then after putting you mouse, keyboard and misc. items in the iLugger, just ZIP it up! SLIP – FLIP – ZIP”

Here is what a friend who edits on location and used to use a Powerbook has to say (he got the iMac after I sent him the information about the case):
“I just got my iMac today – infinitely faster than any powerbook I could have bought at three times the cost. I got the cheapest I could find: a new 1.6gHz 17” with a CDRW/DVD and 256 RAM on eBay. I upgraded to 1GB RAM and got the iLugger bag.