Need A New Video/audio Workstation..... Should I Go Windows Or Mac Notebook?!? Help!!

[TMalibu]

I am an aspiring filmmaker who attends college and is in progress of avidly making films. Though the pictures may be independent, nonetheless they are DEFINETLY top notch quality. I need help however, as do we all. I am selecting a new computer to obtain as a b-day gift. What will be the most versatile in terms of audio and video production? I'm currently in love with vegas 7 and sound forge 8! I have premiere, after effects, and audition for windows currently. Is it the same as the mac versions? What is easier to repair? Which has more compatibility in terms of connecting electronics (camera, printer, scanner, etc.). I've currently got a terabyte worth of disk space (1 int. and 2 ext hdds), do the macs have this? I need mac and windows specs and comparisons. How does the windows notebooks compare with the macs notebooks? Can you all give me your thoughts and opinions? I would seriously, SERIUOSLY appreciate them. Thank you all very much for your time and I look forward to reading your responses.

[gimpy530]

Macs are more common among vdieo editors and is an overall better choice for that

Intel based Macs have basicially an Intel Core 2 Duo, which is (for now) the worlds best processors, of couse many PCs today also have that processor

The actual hardware for a Mac is the same as a PC really......you can take any old hard drive and make it work on a Mac just fine, the only different with hard drives is file system, Windows 2000/XP/Vista usually run with NTFS, a Mac can now read NTFS but it cannot write to it, it can read and write to a FAT32 though, yet FAT32 has some limitations.......Macs have thier own file system that is not compatible with Windows........So if your external drives are formatted as NTFS you can only read the files on them when in Mac, you cannot do anythign with the files, if you convert you filesystem to FAT32 both Mac and Windows can do whatever they want to the files but FAT32 cannot have any single file larger than 4GB, which is a problem with video......of course you can always partition the externals so part is a Mac file system, part NTFS, part FAT32 or whatever

I'm not to sure about the repair of a Mac on the hardware level, you can always reinstall Mac OSX and stuff like that just like you can on a PC, but if you talk to most Mac fans they say it doesn't matter because Macs don't die like a PC......Macs do have problems just like a PC and od die sometimes, but the operating system itself (now Mac OSX) tends to be much more stable and reliable than Windows

Devices such as scanners and cameras tend to work easier on Windows simply because everything made today is made for Windows......nearly all manufacturers have Mac drivers for thier devices so this is not really a problem

If you get an Intel based Mac your can use Apples program "Boot Camp" to have both Mac OSX and Windows XP on your Mac, so this way you have the best of both worlds

I'm not sure if any of those programs have Mac versions of them, check with the manufacturer

Many people in the video editing world always use a Mac and many companies that do that sort of work use Macs

Search google and you will find hundreds of sites about Windows vs. Mac

oh and keep in mind, Macs don't get viruses


*edit* I never realized I knew that much about Macs, friggin-A *edit*

[TMalibu]

does anybody else has any opinions......... I was thinking a really suped up 'alienware' notebook/mobileworkstation and running pretty much premiere, vegas, dvd architect, soundforge8, and after effects. What should I do anybody else. Mac vs. PC notebooks cmon people my b-day is in 1 week i need opinions please

[gimpy530]

Alienware overprices for thier products, more or less you are paying for the name Alienware (which is now owned by Dell I believe)