Is my computer powerful enough?

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Level 1

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Is my computer powerful enough?

Hey guys,
I got a MacBook (1Gb ram, 80Gb HDD, 2.0 ghz intel core duo) and i'm trying out iMovie and iDVD. I am thinking about getting VisualHub (i think that's what it's called) to open up more possibilities. I just wanted to know if you think my macbook is powerful enough to handle these programs with no problem (and work smoothly too). Also, what do you think of VisualHub? (are there any alternatives that you would suggest instead?)

Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.8), 1gb ram, 80gb hdd, 2.0ghz intel core duo

Posted on Oct 16, 2006 10:19 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Karsten Schlüter

Level 7

34,086 points

Oct 16, 2006 11:24 PM in response to slewis88

see my hardware specs (down, in green...) - no probs.-

but...
I would recommend to buy an external, firewire connected harddrive - 80GB will be "filled" with a blink of an eye (I'm doing just homemovies.. 0.7TB storage space here); keep in mind: your Mac needs ALLWAYS a few GB (best practise: 10 - 15GB!) free... just to be "a happy Mac"...

tech background:
UNIX apps make widely use of socalled temp-files.. they are not displayed in Finder, but you need'em and they need disk space.. on internal drive.

so, to store large projects (=video), use your ext. drive.
BEFORE usage, use your Mac's DiskUtility (Utility folder..) to format drive into "MacOsExtended" (hfs)...

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Answer 2

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Oct 17, 2006 8:25 AM in response to slewis88

Also, what do you think of
VisualHub? (are there any alternatives that you would
suggest instead?)

VisualHub is great conversion software - what do you expect to use it for?

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Answer 3

Oct 17, 2006 11:10 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

Karsten's 100% right - that computer has got the guts, but Hard Drive space it lacks. I'm filling up most of 1TB with home movies and photos. 80GB is enough to get started, but your first hour of video will take up 12GB......

And if you've got a Canon Camcorder, I'd suggest getting a "Triple" (USB2/FW400/FW800) hard drive from LaCie. My Canon (and it happens with other Canons too) don't play well with other FW devices - so I use my Triples in USB2 so they don't conflict with the camcorder.

And like Karsten said, some of these drives ship FAT32(DOS) formatted, so be sure to reformat to MacOSExteneded, required for iMovie files.

John

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Answer 4

slewis88 Author

Level 1

0 points

Oct 17, 2006 5:43 PM in response to F Shippey

Thanks for the response... i plan to transfer my avi files over to my mac to make dvd's using iDVD. I heard that VisualHub is the app for that task (to convert from avi to something that a mac finds tastier)

-steve

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