[marklight]

iMAC choice #1

Specifications

2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Final Cut Express HD preinstalled
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
20-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

iMAC choice #2

Specifications

2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x512
250GB Serial ATA Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Final Cut Express HD preinstalled
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
24-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

[Eug]

Will you run Motion?

Dual screens?

[marklight]

Originally Posted by Eug

Will you run Motion?

Dual screens?

Dual screens- no

motion, maybe, but not in the near future

[tooki]

I'd go for #2, except with 2GB RAM.

tooki

[breakbeat46]

I've edited on a 12inch iBook 640MB Ram, 23inch ACD Quad G5 4Gig Ram, 23inch ACD 1.6 G5 2-4Gig Ram, 17inch iMac G4 1Gig Ram and 20inch intel iMac 1Gig Ram.

If you wont be doing lots of color correction then I'd go with the 20inch iMac. The 24inch if you do lots of color correction and/or lots of video/audio tracks. The 17inch is ok but a little too small, of course you could add a second monitor. But the best thing about the 24inch is the FW800 for getting an external HD cause I wouldnt edit on the system drive.

For FCP/FCPE on the current iMac line i'd put priority on, from high to low:

RAM
External TV Monitor (if output is to DVD or Tape)
External HD
Screen Size
Processor Speed
Superdrive Speed, Internal HD Size, Video Card Upgrade

[ecking01]

The 20" imac you configured is more expensive than the 24" you configured? Why.

These are things someone interested in video should keep in mind.

You made:

2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD�RW/CD-RW)
Final Cut Express HD preinstalled
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
20-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

Don't preinstall fce, I don't know if you're edu pricing or not but if you are definetly go with fcp studio. If fce is really all you need fine. But don't preinstall it buy it separately. It's always better to have a box and hard copy manuals to go back to, instead of a pdf on a cd somewhere.

There's no real need for the 2.33 proc, you might as well save yourself some money it's only 5% faster at most.

I suppose apple's ram prices today aren't too bad so you can keep that.

No need for a 500gb internal drive, you editing media should be on a second external drive anyways. And if it absolutely must be internal get 750gb sata drive else where. And slap the 250gb into an enclosure that does USB and firewire.

It seems like you're just trying hard to make the 20" cost as much as the 24".

If you're ever gonna work with HD the 24" will come in handy.

Base 24" imac with 256mb vram option is 2124 without edu pricing THAT is what i'd get.

As an editor myself I recommend this:

2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
250GB Serial ATA Drive
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB SDRAM
SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD�RW/CD-RW)
Apple Keyboard & Mighty Mouse + Mac OS X (US English)
24-inch widescreen LCD
AirPort Extreme
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

FCP Studio (if you really, really don't need all that then a BOXED fce is fine)

An external hard drive that can be connected by either USB, Firewire, or Firewire 800 (use it in fw800 mostly, also you can fit it and your camera at the same time)

Then you'd be set for a LONG time come. Hopefully you have access to edu pricing, if not it's all still good value.

Actually I'm probably gonna get that setup for myself in a couple months when I move.

[brokenjago]

Apple gives you backup CDs in the box with the program on them when you order preinstalled, so I don't see the problem with it preinstalled.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by marklight

Dual screens- no

motion, maybe, but not in the near future

If no dual screen, then go for the bigger screen. And if you have the least bit of interest in Motion, then get the better GPU with more GPU RAM. Plus that extra RAM will help you if you ever decide to go with dual screens.

So actually...

No dual screens? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.
Dual screens? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a 256 MB GPU.
Motion? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a faster 256 MB GPU.
No Motion, just FCE? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.

[brokenjago]

Originally Posted by Eug

No dual screens? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.
Dual screens? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a 256 MB GPU.
Motion? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a faster 256 MB GPU.
No Motion, just FCE? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.

I second that.

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by Eug

No dual screens? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.
Dual screens? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a 256 MB GPU.
Motion? Then get the 24" because you have the option of a faster 256 MB GPU.
No Motion, just FCE? Then get the 24" because it's a bigger screen.

3rded

A screen can't be big enough for FCE (orP).

[marklight]

ok thank you all, the 24incher it is

[Eug]

Try to scrape up the extra bucks for 2 GB RAM. $175 is a bargain to double the RAM.

And make sure you get that 7600 GT upgrade too.

ecking01's recommended system sounds great.

[jbleisure]

I'm in a similar position except I'm weighing up the 24' imac against a mac pro & 23 inch screen configured thus:

Two 2GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
2GB (4 x 512MB)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
One 16x SuperDrive
Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro/Power Mac
Five USB ports
Two FireWire 400 ports
Two FireWire 800 ports

I will be later in the year using it to rough cut some video footage for a project (then passed on to the editor for the completion). The plan is to maybe shoot in HD and for them to digitize the footage give me an external harddrive and then for me to build the rough cut in avid. Which we will install. This is also something that will be repeated. I'm no pro editor but need to do the basic non linear edit to fit the brief. Anyways......

will the 24 suffice for this or do people think the MP would be better. Aside from this it would be the main office desktop.

[scottiB]

Originally Posted by jbleisure

I'm in a similar position except I'm weighing up the 24' imac against a mac pro & 23 inch screen configured thus:

Two 2GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
2GB (4 x 512MB)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
One 16x SuperDrive
Both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme
Apple Cinema HD Display (23" flat panel)
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro/Power Mac
Five USB ports
Two FireWire 400 ports
Two FireWire 800 ports

I will be later in the year using it to rough cut some video footage for a project (then passed on to the editor for the completion). The plan is to maybe shoot in HD and for them to digitize the footage give me an external harddrive and then for me to build the rough cut in avid. Which we will install. This is also something that will be repeated. I'm no pro editor but need to do the basic non linear edit to fit the brief. Anyways......

will the 24 suffice for this or do people think the MP would be better. Aside from this it would be the main office desktop.

from here:

This is a pretty brutal tool for anyone who works with digital video or photography. We've used Macs that are half as powerful to edit full-frame HD video in Final Cut Pro and they've flown. Budding filmmakers take note: this is much more powerful than the Power Mac that Walter Murch used to edit Cold Mountain, and a fraction of the price. Expect a full review soon. -CS

That said, I'd probably get the MacPro you listed, but up the RAM to 4GB.

[breakbeat46]

I disagree. If you are just doing rough cuts and not hard core editing then the lower machine will do. The editor who will do all the finishing will need a good machine, simple cuts and transitions dont need a lot of horsepower. but if you ever change your mind and want to be an editor then of course the mac pro is the way to go.

[jbleisure]

If you are just doing rough cuts and not hard core editing then the lower machine will do. The editor who will do all the finishing will need a good machine, simple cuts and transitions dont need a lot of horsepower.

I do't even need to put the transitions in, although, perhaps if things progress it may be in my interest to learn and also do that. Yes the editor has a high spec machine and muuchhhh more experience than me. It's just that I understand the clients need interms of message. (I also organise the shoot, staff it etc) so I don't want to leave that to the edit suite, or have to be there for the rough cut. I just did that on the last project and realised that I could have been doing it myself saving myself days of travelling and days directing the edit.

if you ever change your mind and want to be an editor then of course the mac pro is the way to go

No, I never want to become a professional editor. However building on my skills and becoming a proficient editor maybe.....It really depends on how the business moves...so that in a way is my dilema....I don't know for sure. I do know however that the 24" looks very very sexy. There is isight but I don't want to get a machine that cannot cut the mustard even with the level of video work that I'm doing.

[breakbeat46]

With the current iMac Line Up, any but the lowest would work for you. Personally, I think the 24" is killer but the 20" would be just fine. Just buy as much ram as possible. Also FW800 might be the deciding factor. I've edited on a 1st gen intel 20" iMac with 1Gig of Ram and its more than enough for simple editing.