Looking for a decent "off the shelf" Computer for HD video

Hello Fellow enthusiasts.

I realize I am pulling a bit of a newbie move here by posting a thread as soon as I registered but this is a somewhat urgent issue for me.

Yesterday I smashed my old, dying laptop by accident. I had been waiting for it to die, and have been trolling this forum for months trying to find what I NEED to be able to have a solid enough computer that I can mess around with the video from my T2i on efficiently. Looks like many of the people on here build their own computers, however that’s not my style. I'm a college kid on a what some would call a budget, I would like to keep this new computer cost under $1600 if possible.


Here is what I need.
- Something that can view, and edit HD video efficiently
- Can store not only some occasional HD video files, but also my thousands of RAW images I take.
- Just a computer I can buy, take home, Turn on and start going to town on processing pictures, and beginning to learn HD video.

That’s pretty much it. It doesn't seem like to much to ask, but I have been having a real run around trying to find something that can meet those needs effectively. I have had my T2i for six months now and still haven't really gotten to use its video feature yet; my laptop would shut down trying to play the video on there.

Also, I have access to CS5 right now. But would like some input on Video editing software/What you guys suggest running for a format converter.

Yes that was a lot of questions, I should have searched. But I have been scanning this websites for months and all I have taken from it is either 1. Buy a Mac or 2. Build your own. So I am looking for some input, thanks for your time.

Just logging onto Dell.com, this should be more than sufficient:

http://www.dell.com/us​/p/xps-8300/pd

And I use adobe premiere.

I hate dell but have to admit that they make good take home PCs. If that's what you're looking for they're probably the best bet for it.

It may not be the best deal, but its about the going rate for a PC of that calibre.

Nooooooooo anything but Dell.

Are you comfortable building your own computer?

gibsonla wrote in post #13909604
Are you comfortable building your own computer?

No, I don't have the time or knowledge to build one.

I just want something I can turn on, buy relatively cheap software for, and begin editing pictures and video with. I am leaning towards a desktop, just becuase they are so much cheaper.

With a $1600 budget, you shouldn't have any problems.
Get as much RAM as possible. At a minimum 6g, but more is better!
Get a dedicated graphics card, not an integrated Intel card or the like. Bigger the card, the better.
Get at least an i3 processor (or AMD equivalent) but i5 or i7 is better if you get my point.
Storage space is up to you but a 2 or 3TB external hard drive isn't very expensive anymore.

I have an almost 3 yr old Dell 8100 desktop and has never had a problem.

BrickR wrote in post #13910084
With a $1600 budget, you shouldn't have any problems.
Get as much RAM as possible. At a minimum 6g, but more is better!
Get a dedicated graphics card, not an integrated Intel card or the like. Bigger the card, the better.
Get at least an i3 processor (or AMD equivalent) but i5 or i7 is better if you get my point.
Storage space is up to you but a 2 or 3TB external hard drive isn't very expensive anymore.

I have an almost 3 yr old Dell 8100 desktop and has never had a problem.

With those specs, Adobe CS5, and some sort of Video editing program (also a video format converter) I should be good to go?

Thanks for the input. Anyone know of a computer that comes with specs close to that right out of the box?

www.ibuypower.com

Get 8-20gb of RAM
Get an NVIDA cuda enabled card (I use the gtx 570 and love it)
Get enough storage that you'll think you need
Get a nice i7 processor

If you have any more specific questions feel free to ask =)

Those computers top Dell any day

gibsonla wrote in post #13910468
www.ibuypower.com

Get 8-20gb of RAM
Get an NVIDA cuda enabled card (I use the gtx 570 and love it)
Get enough storage that you'll think you need
Get a nice i7 processor

Those computers top Dell any day

And these computers are just a simple turn it on, install programs and away I go? I just dont want to buy something I can't figure out to use, or wont be efficient at what I need it to do.

As long as you know how to work windows. There might be better custom PC shops online. I used these guys a long long time ago before I learned to build my own PCs. Was happy with it back then, can't comment on their current level of customer service/quality.

But I've also owned dells. Both Desktops & Laptops, had wayyyyyy to many problems with them to ever buy one again.

Start with the editing software and any supporting hardware you intend to use and see what interfaces, video cards, etc. are best supported. That may narrow your choices a bit. Video generates a lot of data. Assume that you will be storing video on external drives.

I never had a problem with the dell xps series. Here's an i7, 8gb ram, 1tb for $799
http://configure.us.de​ll.com …&cs=19&model_id​=xps-8300&

I'd upgrade the video card and hard drive to 1.5 TB. Cost another $200
You can get the U2412 for $400(IPS monitor)

That's $1,400

Buy cineform neoscene For $129
http://cineform.com/pr​oducts/neoscene/

Vegas movie studio 11 - $99
http://store.sony.com …spvms11000:dg_g​glsrch:pla

Movie studio is the same as the $600 Vegas pro except for some features you'd never use. I' have the same specs and have had up to 150 gb of files and 20 tracks running without a glitch.

Drozz119 wrote in post #13914329
I never had a problem with the dell xps series. Here's an i7, 8gb ram, 1tb for $799
http://configure.us.de​ll.com …&cs=19&model_id​=xps-8300&

I'd upgrade the video card and hard drive to 1.5 TB. Cost another $200
You can get the U2412 for $400(IPS monitor)

That's $1,400

without a glitch.

Any reccomendation on a graphics card? There are a few options on the dell website.

I checked out the site Michael linked, and they are gaming heavy computers, so you get a lot of power in those systems with good graph cards and processors. Liquid cooling would be overkill but they throw that in free on some of those!
Of course you could spec something that will work fine if you do go with Dell or similar, just a matter of preference. Dell, HP, insert brand name here, will have people who've never had a problem and those who've had nothing but problems. Just life I have an '05 Dell laptop that still works (just slow as heck of course), and a Dell desktop that gets a LOT of work. No problems from either. My best friend is one of those who got bit by HP so much he no longer will touch them. C'est la vie

So I went to best buy last night to scope things out.... Learned a bit.

Computers are far cheaper than I expected.

I scoped out this HP, and was looking for some of your guys's input about it.

AMD Quad core a6-3620
AMD Radeon HD 6530D graphics card ( I expect this to need to be replaced)
8GB RAM
1TB harddrive

All of that was 500$ at best buy.

I guess I should get the performance I need out of most computers in the 500-700$ range there, and just expect to upgrade the graphics card. Computers have come along way since I bought my last laptop almost 6 years ago.