BootsnAll Travel Community

Now I know there are quite a few of you out there carting around your video cameras, laptops and other assorted tech gear while travelling RTW and a few who like me are planning to.

Now I've got my DSLR sorted, Canon D30 brought it my last trip and love it.

Laptop I'm thinking of getting a Sony Vaio (er sorry do not know the model number just know it when I see it in the shops ... it's the very small one gee how technical am I!)

Now I'm starting to look at the video cameras and the editing software.

So what have you got? what are you planning to get/use?

If you're already on the road and using your gear hows it going?

quote:

Originally posted by cmw1:
Laptop I'm thinking of getting a Sony Vaio (er sorry do not know the model number just know it when I see it in the shops ... it's the very small one gee how technical am I!)

Well, the very very small one (a handheld) is the Sony U series. The very small one (a 10" subnotebook) is the T series. I wouldn't want to do any video editing on the former, but with enough RAM you should be "ok" on the latter.

quote:

Now I'm starting to look at the video cameras and the editing software. So what have you got? what are you planning to get/use? If you're already on the road and using your gear hows it going?

I can move back and forth between Windows and Mac and don't have any particular loyalty to brands, BUT when it comes to video I'd recommend a Macbook. Compared to Windows offerings, iMovie is a very intuitive and very capable editing program. (You don't really need Final Cut Pro unless you're doing video compositing or working in a group.) If you end up hating Mac OS X, and I doubt you will, then you can always run Windows Vista on the Macbook instead.

If you're set on a Windows machine, or just set on Sony, then Avid Xpress DV is probably the best mid-range editing software available. It has a few more features than you're likely to need, but Avid's done their best in the last few years to make their software as approachable as Apple's offerings. Adobe Premiere is too top heavy, and you simply don't need all the bells & whostles they throw in. they will end up being a hindrance rather than a help.

Just my 2 cents, but your mileage may vary.

Thanks for the reply Continental Op. I'm not set on any particular brand at the moment when it comes to laptops. I think from what you've said it must be the T series that I've been looking at. The salesman advised holding off saying that a new one would be coming out with a better processor. So I will wait and see.

I've never used an Apple but everyone does keep saying how good they are. I'm half convinced to at least check out if they have anything comparable.

I've downloaded the free version of Avid and it certainly looks good. I'll give it a go and see if I like it. I really like it when they allow people trial copies of software. I hate shelling out good money for a program only to find out that it's useless or doesn't quite do what it advertises.

One does so like new toys to play with

quote:

Originally posted by cmw1:

One does so like new toys to play with

I hear ya. It can be addictive.

If you want to edit video, you should go for a Mac. iMovie is a fantastic starter option, and when you get good at it, you can consider upgrading to Final Cut Pro.

I would go for the 13" Macbook, but if you want to save space and money, a used 12" G4 powerbook or iBook would do the trick too.

Remember, digital video takes up TONS of hard drive space. Most editors have an external hard drive (or three) for video storage. One DV tape takes up 60 GIGS of HD space.

ok just thought I'd give an update. My computer shat itself so I had to by a new one earlier than planned.

So guys I finally took the plunge and brought a brand new laptop.

Tis a MacBook 13" so now I just have to learn how to drive it! So Continental Op and Skimaxpower thanks for the advice. In some ways it probably works out better that my puter died now since I get to play with the mac for a few years and learn how it works. If I do not like it then I can always go back to a pc before my RTW. I do not think that is likely though.

Is only my second day with the mac and I like it so far.

One thing you might know... er... the touch pad... sometimes it moves the pointer around the screen other times it scrolls the page up and down... now that is fairly normal I just can not work out how it is switching from one to the other... once it starts scrolling I can not seem to get it to move the pointer other than to go to a different program then back to the browser.... um.... ?????

quote:

Originally posted by cmw1:
One thing you might know... er... the touch pad... sometimes it moves the pointer around the screen other times it scrolls the page up and down... now that is fairly normal I just can not work out how it is switching from one to the other...

Congrats on the new Macbook. I love mine, and I'm sure you'll be a convert soon!

Regarding your touchpad situation: One-finger moves the mouse. Two-fingers activates "scroll" mode. Very handy for moving down web pages and such.

But really, do yourself a favor and plug in a USB two button mouse The old mouse from any desktop PC should work. I don't know why Apple continues to roll with one button. Two is better, and you'll discover all kindsa neat things that right click can do for you.

The Mighty Mouse has one clicker, but senses two buttons and has a 360 scroll ball.

Thanks Skimaxpower. Am starting to get used to the Mac and I do like it... of course since it is my new toy... well I always like new toys to play with.

Setting up was painless, for a change. The worst part is now I have to go through all my photo's and type in the comments section where/what they are of. Since there are over 600 odd of them, a small amount compared to what a professional must have I am sure but it is certainly a pain! Still that is hardly the Mac's fault.

I'll look into the mouse thing, I do not actually have one since I have been using laptops for years now and am used to the pads but this one button thing is weird.. I was wondering how the 'right click' functions were handled. Just figured there were more 'shortcut' keys I had to learn.

quote:

Originally posted by cmw1:I was wondering how the 'right click' functions were handled. Just figured there were more 'shortcut' keys I had to learn.

Hold the CONTROL key down while clicking.

well what do you know.....

it works!

Ta