[DammitJanet]

Hi there. I'll be attending film school next fall, and after visiting the campus I found that we'll be using Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Pro only. I'm used to editing with Sony Vegas on my PC, and I'm not looking forward to having to learn the program amidst all my classes. I'd rather learn it before I have to go to the school.

So now I'm in the market for a Mac that will allow me to do so....but on a budget. I'm assuming a used Mac is the way to go. It needs to be able to run Final Cut Pro efficiently, and most likely have a sizeable hard drive, though I guess I can use an external one if need be. I'd also prefer it be a desktop, and under $600.

My only other option would be one of the new Mac Minis which run for $699, but I'm not sure they're able to handle FCP.

What do you all think?

[beyondglory]

definitely check your school's bookstore to see if they carry final cut pro, it will save you LOADS of cash, if your going to go for a new mac, check the apple website many schools have set up 'stores' at apple.com that wil help save you a few bucks, my only recommendation is that you have at LEAST 1 gig of ram, anything less and you're going to be doing a lot of sitting around waiting for things to complete

[DammitJanet]

Getting ahold of FCP won't be a problem, but I'm still open to suggestions!

[linskyjack]

I mean your budget isn't very high to run current versions of FCP. I guess you could see whats out there in used power Mac G4's. In order to make FCP go you will need 1 gig of memory---two drives---one to hold your applications and one dedicated STRICTLY to your DV (I assume thats what you will shoot most of your student work in). Another option would be to get Final Cut Express----you can run that on a less powerful machine, and if its straight cuts you are doing, it works fine. The interface is pretty much the same as FCP so you will learn the software.

I think your problem (and I am a professional who uses Vegas) is that running FCP on a mini or a similarly powered machine, will be quite sluggish. Vegas is optimized and pretty much does everything FCP does and can run on a Pentium 3 700 mghz machine. I know someone selling a G4 that has an old copy of FCP on it---he wanted 1000 for it about six months ago but hasn't sold it yet. If you want me to, I can check availbility.

[DammitJanet]

Well, like I said before, getting the newest FCP won't be a problem as I think the school will help provide me with it. That just leaves a competent system to get. Yes, all of the footage will be DV. I'm looking at used G4's on ebay right now.

Please ask your friend for the specs on his G4. I'm interested. Thanks.