Serato Video General Discussion

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 Serato Video General Discussion
About to buy new comp but unsure - I need some real good insight
Talk about Serato Video and Video-SL.

About to buy new comp but unsure - I need some real good insight

PopRoXxX 2:28 AM - 10 April, 2009
I know that everyone is "MacBook Pro! MacBook Pro!" And I wanna get one.

Dilemma 1:
I've been using this XPS tower since I got VSL because my PC laptop's video card is insufficient. I've been dropping money on new video cards, ram, cpu/motherboard, etc. so I can run VSL flawlessly with nothing limited at all. But I really want to get a laptop that can do what my tower can do. I visited my buddy here where I am and he has a brand new MBP & his VSL looks like glitchy doo-doo. lol. He most likely has the least expensive MBP with the lower specs. And I also asked him what his audio & video buffers were set at and where does he have is screen refresh rate & cache at. He says he doesn't know whatever SSL defaults them at. (Oh brother). So I couldn't make a fair assumption on MBP's standards with VSL.

Dilemma 2:
I built a new custom PC tower with awesome specs! Intel i7 Extreme, 12GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHz, 3 TB HD w/ 7200RPM RAID(ed), 2 NVidia 295GTX w/1.5GB (each) Video Cards, etc. The list keeps going. This was the same price as a suped up 17" MBP!

Question:
Does the 15" MBP with the 2.93 Intel Core 2 Duo, NVidia 9600GT 512MB Video Card, 4GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz & 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive run VSL flawlessly? And I mean perfect. Because I would much rather spend $3000 on the portable MBP then on the $3500 wholesale custom pc tower.

I need some GOOD insight on this, like moderators, etc.

And answer my question truthfully. I don't wanna make an almost good choice. I want the best.
PopRoXxX 2:29 AM - 10 April, 2009
And also,

Thanks in advance for your comments. :)
DJ Dub Cowboy 6:37 PM - 10 April, 2009
the mac will make you very happy

I spent $1400 on a clearance model from before the new unibodies. I would say that VSL runs perfectly every time on this computer, and the one you will get should work even better.

Oh yeah, I only have 2GB of RAM.

GO FOR IT!

you will not regret it, portability is key. I can set up a video gig in 10 minutes, decks, mixer, comp, midi controller, projector. I can almost carry all that in one trip to the car.

I have never had to update my drivers, tweek my settings, pull my hair out, replace a part, etc. I just mix vidyos...
PopRoXxX 7:07 PM - 10 April, 2009
yeah right now, i only carry 1 wire/accessory bag (you'll never know what you'll need till you get to the gig), 1 odyssey laptop bag (that fits hard drives, vinyl, etc.), and the odyssey flite ready coffin console case (keeps the tables, 57 and other stuff always hooked up --> so all i need is one main power cable and one main audio cable.) I would just love to replace my lappy with MBP mentioned above. I just saw one guy with a MBP and he doesn't know how to use it. He got me frowning on the MBP, BUT, i appreciate your input Cowboy! Thanks

Does anyone else have some more input for me? I'm a PC user going MAC so I'm gonna need a little insight from you guys, not insight from computer techs, because they don't know our programs and how much SSL/VSL takes in video and cpu processing!
DJMark 10:37 PM - 10 April, 2009
Quote:
Dilemma 2:
I built a new custom PC tower with awesome specs! Intel i7 Extreme, 12GB DDR3 RAM 1333MHz, 3 TB HD w/ 7200RPM RAID(ed), 2 NVidia 295GTX w/1.5GB (each) Video Cards, etc. The list keeps going. This was the same price as a suped up 17" MBP!

Question:
Does the 15" MBP with the 2.93 Intel Core 2 Duo, NVidia 9600GT 512MB Video Card, 4GB DDR3 RAM 1066MHz & 320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive run VSL flawlessly? And I mean perfect. Because I would much rather spend $3000 on the portable MBP then on the $3500 wholesale custom pc tower.


Did you already buy the $3500 pc tower you mentioned? And if so, how is it working?

As far as the MacBook Pro, in my opinion, the $300 you would spend upgrading the 15" model to 2.93gHz would be better spent on upgrading to the 17-inch model (at the standard 2.66gHz).

The CPU speed difference is quite insignificant (pretty much irrelevant to VSL anyway, since the graphics processor is doing most of the heavy lifting), but the quality of the 17-inch screen is a lot better and the higher resolution is (at least to me) very worthwhile.

Also the larger case and slightly larger, higher-quality fans in the 17 do a better job of keeping the innards cool under heavy use. That matters for long-term reliability.

I had the unibody 15-inch, and traded up to the 17 when they came out. Much much happier with the 17.
PopRoXxX 10:44 PM - 10 April, 2009
thanks mark. no, i haven't got the the new tower yet. still deciding. i have the tower i use now just for vid gigs and just put a new GTX260 Nvidia card. put the processor is intel pentium d (3.0 dual core) not a intel core 2 duo :( I really like portability but i also know that if i get the new tower with the crazy awesome specs, that it'll be great for a long time and i can always upgrade later down the line when VSL gets crazier. lol
DJMark 11:14 PM - 10 April, 2009
Glad you mentioned portability...I forgot to say that the 17 really sacrifices little in portability compared to the 15.

I wouldn't count too much on the "upgrade-ability" of a tower computer. I've been through that...by the time you really want to upgrade, you're likely to find there's a whole new generation of faster and incompatible components...making the proposition of "upgrading" your old system less attractive than you might think.

Just something to consider...
a-swift 11:19 PM - 10 April, 2009
i challenge anyone to say my gig MBP looks like glitchy glicthy doo doo (or whatever the hell he said)
DJ Pimp 11:39 PM - 10 April, 2009
Well the only way to go is the newest unibody 2,93 MacBook Pro, 17" or 15", makes no difference.
I have it myself, well the 2.8GHz, 15" since when I was buying that was like a month before they added 2.93GHz. The difference insignificant (0.13GHz).
So since I have it, I might say that it really runs perfect, no glitches at all and I am really happy with it.

However I had a previous version before unibody with 2.6GHz, DDR2 RAM & nVidia 8600 and it was not that good as the newest ones. It was flashing all over whe I would put to highest resolution, so I had to lower my res to run it OK.

So I don't know what is Dub Cowboy talking about, because for me that MacBook was a doo doo. Do not listen to him if u want the best quality that you can get out of it.
The unibody latest Mac's is the only way to go.
All before that can run it, but not without glitches.
DJMark 11:44 PM - 10 April, 2009
For Video-SL, the difference between 2.66 and 2.93 gHz is meaningless.

The 2.66 gHz 17-inch unibody that I have runs VSL flawlessly, and that's with the secondary screen set to 1920x1200 and quality set to highest.
PopRoXxX 11:49 PM - 10 April, 2009
very nice. thanks guys for all your input :)

anyone is welcome to keep me up to date with MBP's on this forum. trust me, i know pc's but mac's .... i need a little help
DJ Pimp 12:14 AM - 11 April, 2009
Quote:
For Video-SL, the difference between 2.66 and 2.93 gHz is meaningless.

The 2.66 gHz 17-inch unibody that I have runs VSL flawlessly, and that's with the secondary screen set to 1920x1200 and quality set to highest.


Agree
PopRoXxX 12:30 AM - 11 April, 2009
Quote:
Quote:
For Video-SL, the difference between 2.66 and 2.93 gHz is meaningless.

The 2.66 gHz 17-inch unibody that I have runs VSL flawlessly, and that's with the secondary screen set to 1920x1200 and quality set to highest.


Agree



Dizz-amn!