What about this Laptop for VideoStudio11+?

oblivion2076 · Post by **oblivion2076** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:34 am

I have a high-definition video camera (Canon HV20) and I have VideoStudio+11. I'm currently shopping for a laptop and I have my options narrowed down to 2 or 3. What about this machine...

Dell Inspiron 1720
Vista Home Premium
Core 2 Duo T7250 (2 GHz)
3 Gigs RAM
160 gig Hard Drive, 5400 RPM
NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS (w/ 128 MB graphic memory)

As far as I can see, this would seem to be a suitable machine for what I need it to do. Could I get a confirmation or two?

Sorry to those who have read VERY similar questions from me over the last couple weeks. I just want to be extra cautious when buying a PC, so hopefully I don't have to come back here to ask questions! Ever since I bought a Compaq Presario a few years ago and found after after the fact that it had unique compatability problems with the video software I was running, I feel I can't be too careful.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:57 am

... and it has a Firewire port?

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:14 am

Firewire port is a must.

That hard drive spec.....to me 5400 speed might be a tad on the slow side. But that could be laptop limitations.

See if they will give youa free upgrade to 4gig RAM...no harm in asking.

Hardrive is OK but knowing me I would fill that up pretty quick.

oblivion2076 · Post by **oblivion2076** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:25 am

Ken,

Well, I don't know for sure if it has firewire. Here's the link:

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/product ... l=en&s=dhs

I click on the Inspirton 1720 "product details", and then "tech specs" and straight away I notice listing for 4 different types of Core 2 processors. That's what I mean by weird. It doesn't seem to be a "build your own" page.

oblivion2076 · Post by **oblivion2076** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:29 am

Clevo,

The 3 gig RAM is actually a limited time offer free upgrade from 2 gig.

And I have an external hard drive, so I'm not too worried about the HD space.

And this is from Australia's Dell page, by the way. I haven't bothered shopping here in Australia because American electronics are far cheaper. But this particular machine seems to be a solid bargain; similar spec and price wise to the acers and asus's I've looked at on newegg, etc. Unless, of course, there's something I need to know about Dell. Hence why I'm asking.

Clevo · Post by **Clevo** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 8:49 am

I thought Centrio chips were like "light" versions.

Honestly... I'm not up on laptop specs. Which ever of those you buy are much better specced than my destop...which reminds me.... to start shopping for bargains around Xmas time.

I wouldn;t expect any problems with any of those laptops.

Dell used to have a mediocre image but have come pretty good lately and their prices are hard to resist.

My trend is to buy a new PC every 4 years or so and splash $3,000(AUD) on getting the latest with decent future upgrading potential.

My current PC which I had put together from parts I bought separately back in early 2003 is still going OK.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:07 am

It is certainly still a 'build your own' from the buttons on the page. And if you press the Product Details button, then the tech specs make it clear that all four models have Firewire.

And the Centrino is far from being a "light" version. I have the 2.0 GHz model T7250 Core 2 Duo in my own recently purchased HP Pavilion dv9200 laptop/desktop replacement.

Mind you, I went for a second on-board hard drive (120 GB each) and the HP docking station I bought came with an extra 300 GB. But the specs on the Dell look pretty good to me. An excellent graphics card as well, though a bit light on its on-board RAM. But with 3GB of system RAM, that is not a worry. Be warned, though, that Vista is a resource hog, and I am afraid that VS11 is proving to be so as well.

oblivion2076 · Post by **oblivion2076** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:21 am

Thanks you guys.

As for Vista being a resource hog, Ken, I've definitely heard. I almost would prefer XP on my new machine, I think. Are there ways around the resource hogging? Does running a program like "End-it-All" help?

Post by **Ken Berry** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:47 pm

You could set up a special video editing profile which you can switch to when using VS. That will minimise the number of background programs etc which are running and thus free up resources.

I guess something like End-It-All might be useful, but I have to confess I don't know if they have a version which is Vista-compatible yet. There is a difference in the way Vista does these things, of course. And if you go to Task Manager in Vista and compare it with TM in XP, you will see that Vista show not only background processes, but also Services which are running (not shown in XP). You have to be pretty careful when you start shutting some of these down as they affect Vista itself...

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:59 pm

Further goods news is that if you decide to dump Vista and use XP, they appear to have all the XP drivers for it:
XP Drivers for Dell Inspiron 1720

Because it has a SATA hard drive it would however mean that you would need to create a purpose built XP setup disc slipstreamed with the SATA drivers.