Asus makes great laptops and pc components. It should run VSL with no problems... I use an Asus F8 series (1 year old) which has lower specs than the one you list and it runs like a champ. However, VSL seems to run better on a Mac. If you got a few extra bucks, wait for the new MBP's rumored to be released next Tuesday...

I think it will be a solid laptop for video editing, but might not be the best for running vsl.

oh no? how come? what are your thoughts?

VSL is just not 100% solid on Windows. I've tried VSL on a 2.4ghz Quad Core desktop with an Nvideo 8800GT video card and it still didn't perform as good as my dual core macbook pro. It wasn't bad, but just not as good as the mac. I'd get random screen dropouts or slight freezes in video. Everything worked, no crashes or anything but it just wasn't smooth.

Twizzle.. do you think any of the problems you were having will be fixed with future updates for VSL?

what are the specs on your comp? how do you have your external hard drives connected? I know you already told me all this once, I just can't remember.. :)

and don't the new macbooks use intel core 2 processors anyway?


I found this Mac Book Pro.. priced about $500 more than the Asus listed about..

General Spec
Brand Apple
Series MacBook Pro
Model MB134LL/A
Operation System Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard
Processor 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2GB DDR2
Graphic NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB of GDDR3 SDRAM and dual-link DVI
Display 15.4" WXGA+
Hard Drive 250GB
Optical Drive 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Communication Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Weight 5.4 lbs.
CPU
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Speed 2.50GHz
L2 Cache Per CPU 6MB
CPU FSB 800MHz
CPU Features Dual Core Processor
Memory
Memory Capacity 2GB
Memory Speed DDR2 667
Memory Spec 1GB x 2
Memory Slots 2 x SO-DIMMs
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB
Graphic
GPU Type NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Video Memory Dedicated 512MB
Graphic Type Dedicated Card
Display
Screen Size 15.4"
Screen Type WXGA+
Resolution 1440 x 900
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 250GB
HD Interface SATA
HD RPM 5400rpm
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD±R/RW
Optical Drive Spec 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Maximum write: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R; 4x DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD-R; 10x CD-RW
Maximum read: 8x DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-ROM; 6x DVD-ROM (double layer DVD-9), DVD-R DL (double layer), DVD+R DL (double layer), DVD-RW, DVD+RW; 24x CD
Audio
Audio Feature Built-in omnidirectional microphone (located under left speaker grille)
Speaker Built-in stereo speakers
Communication
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n)
Bluetooth Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
Ports
Card slot 1 x ExpressCard/34 slot
USB Two 480-Mbps USB 2.0 ports
FireWire One FireWire 400 port at up to 400 Mbps
One FireWire 800 port at up to 800 Mbps
Video Port DVI output port
VGA output using included DVI to VGA adapter
Audio Port Combined optical digital audio input/audio line in (minijack)
Combined optical digital audio output/audio line out (minijack)

but when comparing.. the asus has a 7200rpm hard drive (faster than the 5400rpm on the mac).. a 1066mhz CPU FSB (faster than the macs 800mhz)

both have 512mb of dedicated video ram..

both also have intel core 2 duo's ?


sorry to be a pain, just trying to sort all this out..

I really appreciate all the help!

the mac has some kind of secret mojo that isn't listed in any specs that makes it work better.

Seriously, no one really knows exactly why, but the extra $500 is the difference between smooth sailing and the help forum.

if you do not believe this thread, there are many others that you can read.
It MAY get better for PCs, but macs work now. No one knows what the future will bring.

search posts from itchie, he had VSL working on a PC and even he he just got a mac

switching over to mac is not a nightmare. they are fun as hell to use. they run better because they can use both processors at the same time to where as pc use one then when its peaked it will go to the next. just look when building overviews.

Believe me I am die hard PC fan and never bought a MAC until I wanted to get VSL working smoother.

I still can't get VSL to work on my high end PC laptop...

I only use VSL on my MAC... that's it... everything else is on PC.

expensive but worth it for DJ-ing.... especially if that is what you do to make money.

I guess one of the concerns I have is... there are so many programs for PCs.. and the guy in atlantic city told me it is much easier to rip a track from a dvd, edit and convert it on a PC...


but from what people are telling me.. I am able to run WinXP on the mac book Pros? is this correct? so I would be able to use all my existing software?

I use an all PC workstation. I have 5 custom built PC's 3 PC laptops in my home studio. I own one MAC laptop... and I that I use strickly for DJ-ing. You can still do all your ripping, editing, whatever on your PC's and just DJ on your MAC.

Works great that way.

You can install XP on all intel macs. You need at least an XP Service Pack 2 install disk.

XP on my macbook works amazingly better than XP on my desktop. I installed it in the beginning so that I could use a few programs from my PC days. Since then, I have found ways to what I needed to do using mac only programs. My only PC holdout is quickbooks.

I am converting a DVD as I type this (on an imac), Mac the Ripper for DVD to VOB, Visual Hub for VOB to MP4, works very smooth. Very easy. I use imovie (Included with all macs) to make some clips for VSL, and they play right out of the program.

There are fewer programs for mac than PC, but you can get everything done with what's out there.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has posted in this discussion.. and I have decided to get a Mac Book Pro.. to only run SL & VSL on... and then also build a high end desktop PC...


I have also been warned by my friends, that once I go Mac.. I will never go back... haha so I guess only time will tell...


now the only problem is.. do I buy one now? or can I wait til tuesday to see what the "new" macs are going to look like....

geeeesh it's always something..

well... I went MAC only for DJ-ing so... I actually never lost my desire to still have PC workstations. There are too many applications I am proficient in on the PC side and I could NEVER give that up.


I would wait till the new MAC's are out.

Wish I had the money and I would buy a second one and use my current one as a back up.

do you think the new macs will be that much better? Ive heard rumors of quad cores vs the dual cores... diff hard drive sizes? the rumors are spreading like wild fire, and I have been saving up for awhile... I was literally going to buy the Asus listed at the top of this discussion.. until now... lol...


soo I don't know if I can wait.. but I will... and if the new ones come out.. maybe the ones out currently out now will drop in price.. and you are still getting one heck of a laptop.. just at a cheaper price? so maybe we will all benefit.. :)


time will only tell...

feed://www.appleinsider.com/appleinsider.rss

Keep your self busy with that for a day. By 11am PST on Tuesday, you will know what the new macs are all about. New cases, new speeds, & new prices are all just about guaranteed.

I think I may even wait for the next revision, even though cash is burning holes in the pocket. LAst time the new mac book pros cam out there was only firewire800 on the 17inch, by the second revision they added it to all models. I bought the first gen macbook, and the second gen macbook went 64-bit. If tuesday brings new models, those will stay out for 4-6 months and they will issue a "speedbump", thats what I am waiting for. If you think your wait until Tuesday is bad, my wait is worse.

I did just buy an iMac to tide me over....

by the way... I purchased this imac on the same day I took my macbook to the shop for repairs. I had some projects going that had some deadlines that were coming up. I opened the box, connected my 'time machine' drive and had my full computer working within a couple hours. That included reinstalling the entire CS3 suite and iworks, and transferring about 100GB of files. I never skipped a beat. I never imagined that I could have purchased a PC and finished a project in Premier the same day.

buyersguide.macrumors.com
www.tuaw.com
www.macrumors.com
www.appleinsider.com

the speed bumps won't be that high. i believe they will be 2.53ghz/T9400 and 2.8ghz/T9600 CPUs and probably ddr3 memory.

i was looking at the ibm/lenovo w700 or the dell precision M6400 laptops which have the quad processor in them. they are a little pricey tho, but will help out a lot with rendering times..

Wow.. am I glad I waited... the new specs are out.. and they look very nice... and the price is even a litter better...

thanks to everyone who posted in this thread!