[Al Bergstein]

If she really does what you say she does, buy her the iPad. It works fine. She can sell it if she doesn’t like it and likely sell it for what she paid for it, or close. I’ve had debates with friends about whether the subscription for 3G is worth it. Friends who have the 3G love it. For folks that really use lots of programs on a laptop, like Vegas, an iPad like device is likely not for them. And it’s lack of a physical keyboard (though you can get add one on a docking station) will take a bit of getting used to. The screen keyboard seems to work fine. If she likes the idea of using iTunes then she’ll love the iPad. (if she already has and uses an ipod, for example). But the iPad lacks some basics, like USB. It also doesn’t yet support Flash, which is a real problem for those of us who like movies.

The stupid hybrid netbooks are underpowered, they take longer to boot up than an Ipad, and can’t really be upgraded to any degree. I’ve used a few and they really seem like the worse of all worlds. They ought to be solid state with instant boot.

I’ve used an iPad that a friend had, and loved it. I assume I’ll get one some day, but my MacBook Pro and Samsung Windows 7 machines are fine for now, I use an iPhone for my cell, so I read email on it (but don’t respond to email on it) and I don’t really need another damn computer (G).

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Ok. I’m going to venture a wild ass guess. Could it be that you downloaded the 64 bit version of Vegas and are trying to install it on a 32 bit system? Since we have such limited knowledge of your setups, this is the only thing that makes sense. As you mention, many of us have successfully downloaded Vegas 10 on many different types of machines. I am guessing that the 64 bit version might not even install on a 32 bit machine. Other than that, I’m out of ideas.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

That’s probably a safer bet Mike. It’s probably a queestion of how many graphics and sound bites you use in your productions. I only have a couple of each on mine, in general.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Like Frederick, I have a project folder that includes the CANON (MOV) and AVCHD folders, with AVCHD retitled at the top level and individual clips renamed at bottom level.

I also add a MEDIA folder for JPGs, etc. MEDIA is used similarly on FCP. I also add an AVI folder so I can dump final AVI clips into it. When I archive I delete the AVI folders to keep storage needs lower.

I render to a second eSATA drive. Just so the renders don’t take up space on my project drive. I might do dozens of renders to get my final look. I go back and delete them after I’m done.

I also have a separate VEG folder, where all projects go. This gets backed up daily by Robocopy. Like FCP, I store the VEG files separate than the media for the files. Just habit.

I do not use a SAN for my clips or media.

I do use a RAID1 configuration for my clips.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

The T2i is a great camera, just sold mine after 6 months, in order to get an environmentally sealed body (in the Pacific NW this is a must if you shoot outside), and yes, white balance to match other cameras. The nice thing about the T2i is that the lens you buy will work with the 7D, which is probably the *right* one to buy. But it you are on a budget, then the T2i is a great starter camera. And Canon still has a commanding lead over Nikon for video, at least at this point in time.

The main issue with AVCHD, in my opinion, is that it is a more difficult format to work in. You need to maintain file structure with it. I know, I have an HMC150 also, which I love . It’s nice to have your Panny at work and have the ability to get DOF with a B camera like the T2i. You will need to work on balancing color between the two. See my recent 1 minute video on doing just that. You should also expect to spend more than you are spending. Neoscene is pretty much a ‘must’, as the T2i MOV format is not good for editing, despite what Canon says about drag and drop. I’ve ended up spending about $3k, to get the right lens, body and accessories. Just about what a 150 costs…but could do it over time.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

I should really sit down and work out the balance between the two cameras. I’ve sold my T2i and am currently working with the 7d and the HMC150. More and more I’m going back to the 150. It has it all. But the 7d is easier to carry around. Anyway, they are both great cameras. Now to figure out how to marry them up.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Would need a lot more info to make a definitive statement about your drives. Obviously, if they lasted 3 months, that would be much different than 3 years.

HDDs are all rapidly moving devices and it doesn’t matter if they are internal or external, except whether the external ones are being handled a lot and traveling. Then you might want to look into drives that are ruggedized, as the last poster said.

But most hard drives die quickly or last a long time. If you care about your footage, then invest in RAID 1, which will at least continuously back up one drive to the other. Or you can invest in a backup that daily or hourly backs you up. Try Robocopy as a utility that can help in that task.

best of luck.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

I also have been using AMD instead of Intel, and it has been working very well for me. No complaints. Also the NVidia cards seem to do a great job, though I think that I might need to go to dual video cards in my unit. My second monitor can’t seem to keep up, though AVCHD playback in Vegas 10 is fine on my primary monitor. So if I had to do it over again, I’d use dual cards.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

Thanks John. I ordered one today from OWC, whom I use for other hardware needs. Since it also works for FCP it will be a great addition for my editing bench, since I occasionally need to use both platforms.

Alf

[Al Bergstein]

It’s been discussed here before if my memory serves me well. But from what I’ve read the answer is likely no, in that core parking is usually used by servers, for low load levels you see in virtualized environments.It’s actually discussed by MS as more for virtualization than workstations. The goal is to shut down unused CPU cores when not in use, but I don’t think you want to be messing with that when doing rendering. I have not seen it happening on my machine, for example. The cores do not park when rendering.

However, if your machine is sitting idle all day, then yes, Windows 7 will likely idle your cores to save power. It’s tuning done by the OS, I couldn’t find any parameters worth tweaking.
But I might have missed something.

Alf