Mac video editing and projection question

[Newbie 0]

hi all this is not strictly related to skydiving, more of a general question about equipment and editing etc, but i know a lot of you guys here have a lot of experience with Macs so i thought i would try and tap into some of that knowledge.

Work has given me a budget of approx £3000 (about $4500) to spend on anything i like (as long as it's applicable to the project i run) and because the project is all about kids learning and presenting to classmates about business and social responsibility (or lack thereof!) in said businesses, i thought it would be great to get a good spec Mac which the kids could use to do presentations on, and to use as a video editing suite so that footage taken of the kids in business for instance, or during their presentations, could be edited and burned onto a DVD for them to keep and use.

I would also like to have a projection unit of some kind to be able to display the footage they have taken on a large screen, preferably one that would be big enough to display to a room of about 30 or 40 people.

I know nothing about Macs and less about video projectors. I know macs are designed to be easy to use and great for video and multi media editing like what i have in mind, but what do you guys think? Would i be better off getting a high spec PC laptop to use instead, as all the schools use PC based computers?

Thanks all

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[murrays 0]

An eMac with a DVD Burner is the lowest cost Mac option with a DVD Burner. They are designed to be tough for school use. Put at least 1/2 gig of ram into it.
Lowest cost Mac laptop with a Superdrive/DVD burner in it is the new 12" Powerbook....they come in all three screen sizes now..12, 15, and 17".
I think a Mac is a far better option for what you are proposing as all the software is integrated and ready to go. I could see you spending a lot of time trying to get a PC to do what you want...especially if you have no personal experience.
Projectors...don't know about them or how the eMac would connect. Projectors seem real expensive....maybe think about renting a projector when you have determined how much you will really use it. If your projector use is going to be limited, why buy one?
Hey, if you rent you could look at buying a new 17" Powerbook. Nice...but likely a waste of taxpayer's money.

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[freefalle 0]

the power books are sweeet but DAMN they are expensive almost 3000 for a 15 inch lap top.....

[rredman 0]

I couldn't agree more.. mac is the way to go and the eMac is a great little machine. And the software that comes with it will have you editting video in not time. I had never used a mac before I bought my eMac, and it took me 3 hours from opening the box, to my first finished movie. But, do yourself a favor and wait till next week to buy it.. ilife will then be included with it ... all new versions of imovie, itunes, idvd and iphoto (it'l save ya $50 US).

[Newbie 0]

cool thanks for the advice all

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[TomAiello 25]

Quote

Projectors...don't know about them or how the eMac would connect.

I don't know the eMac specifically, but I have a lot of experience hooking other macs (and other computers) up to a whole slew of projectors. It's pretty darn easy, and it's easier with the macs than the PC's.
But, in your budget range, you're going to have trouble finding a good projector.
If I was looking for an easy, kid friendly editing solution, I'd get eMacs or iMacs (I tend toward iMacs, because there are more of them so free support and knowledge are easier to come by, but it's not that big a thing), and just use the free software (iMovie).

-- Tom Aiello

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