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First MAc

For our MAC users, questions about the various Video Editing software products.

First MAc

Postby Clayton » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:24 am

I am considering purchasing a mac laptop for traveling and just as an extra machine. I looked at the mac book air and the mac book pro. The air is very light (would be great holding in lap while watching TV). The price is very similar for the 13" models, but I am leary of the restrictions of the flash drive system in the air models. Ho much would I be limited. Any users of these model please chime in. :-D
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Re: First MAc

Postby Briantho » Wed Mar 21, 2012 11:58 am

I've had an iMac for a couple of years and last year I bought a Mac Book Pro 17" giving me a lot more freedom of movement. I use Premiere Pro and it handles AVCHD multicam (I always use four camcorders) effortlessly. Sorry I can't tell you how good a Mac Book Air might be for either Pro or Elements. Certainly I had to upgrade the 500GB 7,200 internal drive to a 750GB (7,200) from OWC recently even though I keep all my media on external drives. I've no idea how good flash drives are in the video editing field...
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Re: First MAc

Postby Steve Grisetti » Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:47 pm

Even a low-end Mac is a world-class computer.

But whether a computer is good enough or not depends on what you plan to use it to do.

For basic office work, internet and e-mail, the Air can't be beat. I sure wouldn't try to edit video on one though.
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Re: First MAc

Postby Clayton » Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:21 pm

I would be using it for basics mostly, no editing. I was concerned about the lack of DVD drive for installing apps and other things on the air. The pro has a firewire connection too. Pricewise I can get a 13" air with 128g flash drive for $1299 and a pro 13" with 500g drive for $1199. For traveling I would want to download pix to it. Weight is 2.96 to 4.5. What do you know about the flash drive, I am afraid I don't understand how it works ](*,) Why is it so expensive? Upgrade to 256 for $300 more.
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Re: First MAc

Postby Steve Grisetti » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:24 pm

Well, flash drives have no moving parts. And since, in a typical computer, that spinning hard drive is the most vulnerable part and the part most likely to wear out or fail, a flash drive is a real advantage.

They are terribly expensive though compared to traditional drives. But five years from now, maybe everyone will be using them and they'll be dirt cheap.
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Re: First MAc

Postby sidd finch » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:23 pm

Clayton it is nice to see you posting again. We've missed you nice to hear from you again.

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Re: First MAc

Postby Dave McElderry » Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:35 am

Clayton wrote:What do you know about the flash drive, I am afraid I don't understand how it works ](*,) Why is it so expensive? Upgrade to 256 for $300 more.


Flash drives are a type of rewriteable memory that holds the information even when power is removed. Compare to regular computer RAM, except that RAM loses the information when you shut the computer down. As Steve said, no moving parts - it's just chips on a circuit board ("solid state"). Hard drives store their information on spinning magnetic platters. Make no mistake, though, solid state flash memory can and does fail. Backups are still needed. It's expensive because it's a technology that hasn't yet been developed for mass production in memory capacities rivaling hard drives. Like any other new technology the price will come down as the production processes are refined and everyone starts using them.
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Re: First MAc

Postby Clayton » Thu Mar 22, 2012 1:48 pm

Thanks sidd and Dave. I am still leaning toward the pro. On some forums I noticed complaints about the air bending easily. I still wondering about not having a cd drive. Would this cause problems when loading new programs?
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Re: First MAc

Postby Bob » Thu Mar 22, 2012 3:00 pm

The Air doesn't come with a DVD writer, Apple is pushing buying apps from the Apple store and downloading. The Air can connect with another PC or MAC and share the DVD reader/writer on that machine. I assume you could also buy an external writer.
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