[GWJ]

I am considering my first Apple purchase being a long term windows user and come seeking advice.

I have been considering the purchase of a 15" Powerbook - largely because I can buy a laptop through tax arrangements at a much cheaper price than a desktop.

I have some investment in video editing in Windows but am attracted to the POwerbook and Final Cut Express.

In Windows I have learnt that maximising the RAM and having plenty of storage space is required. Some of my holiday videos have been up to 3 hours long. These I had broken down into smaller units then joined them otherwsie rendering ground to a halt.

So if I buy a Powerbook - recognizing that a desktop would in normal ( ie normal pricing) circumstances give me more for my money - how should I option up?

1 or 2 GB of RAM; 5400 HD or faster external; what else.http://forums.macnn.com/newthread.ph...ad&forumid=69#
http://forums.macnn.com/newthread.ph...ad&forumid=69#

[Carl Norum]

Whatever you do, don't buy extra RAM from Apple. Unless, that is, you are willing to part with the cash.

[SupahCoolX]

Agreed, Apple RAM is expensive. Go to www.ramseeker.com to find the best prices, or www.crucial.com for good quality at a usually decent price.

For the HD: For serious video editing you may consider an external FireWire800 drive. www.lacie.com has some really roomy 7200rpm drives. Other brands may be good as well, but I'm a satisfied Lacie customer, so I'll shill their products Otherwise, go with the fastest internal drive available.

Things like having lots of RAM, fast/large hard drives for video, etc. are common across all computing platforms. So, your Mac hardware needs will likely closely resemble your PC needs.

[pdot]

If you're going for max ram in a PB, make sure you find out if the default RAM is removable. Sometimes, Apple permanently attaches RAM to some laptops. I can't remember if they do that with the current PB line-up or not. If the do, upgrade to where it's just one stick of RAM (depending on what max RAM you want) and buy the rest from a third party like the other posters suggested. ramseeker.com is a good place to look. I usually go with Crucial memory.

[JKT]

The RAM in the PowerBook is user-replaceable in both slots.

[tooki]

Not necessarily. The 15 and 17" models have two RAM slots that you can put whatever you want in. In the 12" model, 256MB is soldered to the motherboard, and then there is one slot.

tooki

[JKT]

I stand corrected.

[olePigeon]

For a video setup, these are my suggested upgrades from the base, 1.5GHz 15" model:

128MB Radeon
5400RPM HD
SuperDrive (DVD-R)
Extra battery

Then buy a 2GB kit (2x1GB) of PC2700 DDR SO-DIMM from either PriceWatch or NewEgg. If you go with cheaper generic or house brand, only get it if it has a lifetime replacement warranty. Most namebrand RAM comes with a lifetime replacement warranty anyway.

Next, grab a 7,200 RPM FireWire 800 drive for scratch/storage.

That'd be my recommendation for an awesome on-the-go video workstation.

[GWJ]

Thanks Folks

That gives me a good bit to go on.

GWJ
Melbourne Australia