MacBook Pro Question

I am considering making the switch from Windows to Mac for video editing purposes. The person I assist uses it along with FCP7 which makes it difficult for me to help with edits without borrowing someones MPB.
My question is, what are the minimum specs I should be looking for when purchasing a MBP for video editing?\
Ex:
GeForce GT 330M vs Intel 3000 vs Radeon 6750M
Is the 2.0 i7 sufficient?

As a Mac user who does video editing, I would recommend that you get the top of the line Macbook Pro 15" or 17" with the fastest i7 processor and then after you've got it, max out the ram from Other World Computing or Crucial etc. A fast multicore processor and loads of ram will make your life so much easier.

Im hoping to spend around $1500 since this wasnt a pre-planned purchase. I am also considering getting a refurb'd model from Apple.com.
Would getting memory from another company void the warranty?
Crucial claims in doesnt void the warranty, but you can never be too safe.

ChadAndreo wrote in post #13004319
Im hoping to spend around $1500 since this wasnt a pre-planned purchase. I am also considering getting a refurb'd model from Apple.com.
Would getting memory from another company void the warranty?

No, getting memory nor installing it yourself will not void the warranty. Nor will swapping out the hard drive.

awesome. So that means I can get a base model and save money upgrading it myself.

ChadAndreo wrote in post #13004356
awesome. So that means I can get a base model and save money upgrading it myself.

Exactly. Well kinda, just the memory and hard drive anyway.

ChadAndreo wrote in post #13004356
awesome. So that means I can get a base model and save money upgrading it myself.

No, that is incorrect.

For $1500, you are not going to get a computer that will handle the editing tasks at all well. It will do it, but you will be pulling your hair out at the wait times for rendering, etc. I have a 15" MacBookPro6,2, purchased new in December of 2010. 2.8 GHz i7 processor. This machine is bare bones and the cost was north of $3000. Upgraded processor and hard drive made a big difference in the cost.

Buying a refurb means you will most likely not get the latest and greatest. If you really want to edit video on a MacBookPro, you need a solid state drive. Physical hard drives, even 7200 PRM drives, will be a major bottle neck for you.

Take your time and save your money and get a more powerful computer. You will be much happier in the long run.

Ok.
The reason why I have to rush this purchase is because one of the companies I work with wants me to do some editing and they use FC7 and until I get a MBP, I will not be of much use.
I have a few questions if you dont mind answering.
With the SSD do you keep everything on a external since they usually only come with around 128GB?
On the post February refreshed MBP 15" models, they have the i7 2.0, 2.2 and 2.3 models available. Will I notice that much of a difference between the models?

Here is a LINKto the refurb MBP offerings.

CalmAsToast wrote in post #13004288
As a Mac user who does video editing, I would recommend that you get the top of the line Macbook Pro 15" or 17" with the fastest i7 processor and then after you've got it, max out the ram from Other World Computing or Crucial etc. A fast multicore processor and loads of ram will make your life so much easier.

+1 go top of the line.

ChadAndreo wrote in post #13004356
awesome. So that means I can get a base model and save money upgrading it myself.

As others have said, no you can't. You want the fastest processor with the most processing cores. You can't upgrade the processor so you're stuck with what it comes with.

Hard drive is not a big deal when it comes to editing because you need a second drive anyway. (Editing software on your boot drive and media on a second drive.)

The existing fastest MBP on Apples site with an upgraded Proccessor and AppleCare is $2800.00. Don't waste your time or money on a less expensive and less capable machine that won't do the job.

Yea the dual HDD is a pretty big deal too. There are aftermarket kits that will allow you to swap out your optical drive and put in a second hard drive, but thats more money added to the build.

Since you are time limited and the answer is clearly that you need a MBP and not a base one...

can't you just do payments on a top of the line??

this way you have it NOW and you don't have to shell out 3k right now...

im pretty sure Apple does payment plans....

idk.

I have a colleague that uses one of the new mac book airs 4gb and 128 ssd and seem to work well with him.

Photo99

I have a 2006 iMac and a 2011 MacBook Pro and I actually prefer editing on the iMac just because editing video on a laptop can be a real pain. I say you spend your money on an iMac and max out the RAM. But if that's not an option and you want the best, go for the top of the line and max out the memory.

how much does FC Pro use the video card? premiere cs5 uses it a lot. I cent even imagine editing without something like the mercury playback engine.

Optimal is actually 3 hard drives.
1 for OS and applications
2 for video editing cache files
3 for the raw video and audio files

And yes, CPU is more important than ram.