Computer Upgrade??

Hi Everyone,

So I am looking at making a computer upgrade and I need a little bit of input because I am very far from being a computer guru!

Currently running: Toshiba Intel® Core 2 Duo CPU T6600 @ 2.2ghz 4GB Ram 320GB 32 bit system NVIDIA Gforce G210M vid card

Editing with Adobe Premiere Elements 8

Looking to Upgrade too: ASUS G73JH-A1 Intel Core i7 720QM 8GB 2X500GB 64 bit 17.3IN FHD Radeon 5870 Bluray Win 7 Premium Notebook

Editing with CS5

Ok so this is where you come in!!!

I know the upgraded comp will be faster and be able to run more programs at the same time but is it worth it? Do I just upgrade my NLE with the computer I have? Should a MAC be considered? I am currently making vids just for myself but might be returning to the tourism industry to free lance so maybe an upgrade is needed? I have never owned an ASUS but a good friend of mine SWEARS by them and his knowledge of computers makes mine look like a childs haha.

It is a costly upgrade with the computer and NLE but I also have the chance to sell my old only losing 400 on the origonal price while owning it for 6 months.

I def should have done more research prior to that purchase but it was a quick decision for work and I didnt know about Wetpixel yet!

Please help Gurus!!!!!!!

Cheers

Kelly

Hi there.

That new i7 laptop will cut up stuff no problems.

I was cutting up HDV and even raw Canon 7D mov files on my Vista Core2Duo 2.4 ghz.

A i7 chip is much faster than a Duo or even a Quad.

yeah the i7's are pretty slick. and i am a big fan of Asus... though my guess is in a laptop with that buff hardware battery life may fall by the wayside... but as long as you dont plan on doing intense video work where your without power sounds like a sick comp

To add abit more

I got a Win 7 64 bit ASUS i5 lappy with 1 Gig dedicated graphics.

It runs on the built in graphics for normal work giving longer battery life but hooks up the dedicated one for heavy stuff.

Its got USB 3 so plan to get a external USB 3 drive with is much faster than even eSATA for the video files.

Everyone knows I am a Mac person and I have a new 8 core sitting in the box just waiting to be set up but you have other things to think about. If you are a big After Effects user and are going to CS5 then you should be aware that in order to utilize the new Adobe Mercury 64bbit engine you will probably need a new video card to enable CS5 to its full capacity. Nvidia just sent me their new FX4800 graphics card which I will install in the new Mac so that I can review both it and CS5 under the best conditions. A lot depends also on whether you want to switch NLEs as well. You can, of course, use the Adobe Premier Pro on a Mac if you get the CS5 Mac version or switch to FCP. CS5's new engine will allow you to really utilize any amount of ram you want to put in. The processor speed is not as important as the number of cores and ram. Hopefully, the next version of FCP will also be written from the ground up from the current 32 bit to 64 but who knows when that will be. Currently FCP only uses somewhere between 2.5 and 4 gigs of ram. Not completely sure on that.

Steve