Which Laptop to capture and edit video with?

[Elie]

Hi Guys,

I need to get a Laptop with video capture capabilities, so it must have video in and out, doesn't matter if it doesn't have S-VHS, but I sure like to have DV in if possible.

I prefer to have Mpeg-2, MJPEG, DV capture for an event in the Rockies and California.

Basically, we'll take some footage, capture it to the laptop edit it and upload it to a Web server using a Cellular modem

Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Elie

[CarterTG]

I've been exploring this same issue too, Elie. I thought it would be neat to have a mobile editor when away from the desktop editing rig.

At first glance it seemed that the <A HREF="http://www.sel.sony.com/">Sony</A> laptops would be neat (almost all have the IEEE1394 port)... but most of the models I checked only had a 6gig drive... and complaints about the IEEE1394 port not working with camcorders outside of Sony-brands isn't reassuring. We've all learned that using the primary drive for video capture is a no-no... so that's another negative for the Sony models. I tend to get the impression that their DV port will only work with their DVGate/DVMotion proprietary software... so that shuts Sony out for me.

The one I've been eyeing lately is the <A HREF="http://commerce.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.asp">Dell Inspiron 3800</A>. It's high on my candidate list because it features a versatile bay that supports a 2nd 18gig HD (dedicated to DV capture). Add a PCMCIA DV card, a CDRW drive in the other bay, and it oughta be a formidable slim (unlike the fat Inspiron 5000 & 7000) mobile editor... it looks good on PAPER at least. The 3800 has an S-Video out port.. but I'm fairly sure it's only good for showing the entire Win98 desktop and won't output just an AVI screen. I figure sending a watchable NTSC signal out would require doing it through the DV card and playing the polished video through the DV camcorder. The other minor reason for the 3800 is that it features a stick pointer (my preference).

PCMCIA DV card would either be the one that Dell is offering or else I'd check out the one from <A HREF="http://www.synchrotech.com/">SyncroTech</A> ..hinging on the hope that it works as advertised in Win98SE.

The other caveat that's keeping me from immediately buying is the report that the Microsoft DV Codec is a bit sucky... unlike the acclaimed DV Codec from Canopus.



------------------
Carter
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Abit BH6 v1.02 ATX motherboard
Celeron 433mhz Slot1
256mb PC100 SDRAM
[C:] IBM 10.1gig 7200rpm UDMA33
[D:] IBM 10.1gig 7200rpm UDMA33
[E:] FastTrak66 RAIDed 2x13.5 7200rpm UDMA66
[F:] 52x CD-ROM
[G:] SanDisk USB CompactFlash reader
Matrox Marvel G200 TV AGP
Canopus DVRaptor PCI
SBLive MP3+ PCI
SohoWare Fast Ethernet PCI
SupraExpress 56k USB
Win98, MSP 5.2
IntelliEye IntelliMouse
Canon L2
Canon XL1

[This_Idiot]

Hi Elie,

The Vaio's got a minor panning in CV mag, getting an overall rating of 55% for a number of reasons. The video RAM was only 2.5Mb which wasn't enough to allow spanning dual monitors, there isn't a mouseport (although you can use USB), it doesn't crack the 2Gb limit and takes approximately double the time of a "dedicated" PC to render anything.

They reviewed a Gateway 9300 a couple of months back, and equipped it's docking station with a Raptor. Apparently (although not produced for editing) it does a damned good job.

[Elie]

Thank you both Carter and Chris for the info.
it looks like I will go with the "Syncrotech" PCMCIA capture card for now, and if everything works out, we will be posting Mpeg1 or 2 files on our web site for everyone to see.

Thanks again

Elie