need advice for PC setup

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 19th, 2006 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by smooth

for that budget mahirap ata lalo na kung plano mo mag-LCD monitor. if you're planning to do video editing and DVD-authoring, you're going to need a lot of RAM (at least 1GB), a lot of HDD space (think SATA), and a nice DVD-writer (unless you're planning to have a lot of shiny coasters). the thing is, these "video-editing computer stuff's" usually require other equipments that are also pretty high end (nice video-cards & expensive motherboards). figure on budgeting about 45K for the set-up (without monitor).

the only work-around to this is if you've got a lot of time for your DVD projects.

If it's strictly video-editing, you don't need a high-end video card. After all, I was doing video-editing in a P3/TNT2 video card/320mb ram/W2k. But some more expensive cards have Video In/Video Out which is useful for capturing analog video. CPU, hard drive space, and ram do matter. The more, the better. As for coasters, it's more the brand of media. I found out that DVDs I made using Memorex DVD+R discs sometimes won't play in my LiteON DVD recorder, but plays fine on the pc. The TDK DVD+RW erasable media I use have much better compatibility than the Memorex ones.

One good thing about motherboards today is that many of them now include firewire as standard. It's definitely better to have onboard firewire than a PCI firewire card because it frees up the PCI bus for other things. Of course, I may be wrong about that last part. So, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

If time is really important, it's best to just buy a DVD recorder. The time it takes to do the dvd is the time it takes to record......

**smooth** · May 20th, 2006 05:25 PM

sorry, i guess i was vague. what i meant was that when you get the high RAM-high HDD combo, you'd probably get a nice new mobo (to make full use of the high RAM thing) which, in turn, would require pretty high-end stuff (like an expensive video card). i faced the same dilemma when i assembled my present rig sometime in the 4Q of 2004. at the time, my only requirements were a SATA drive, high RAM and a mobo that has hyperthreading and prescott. well, things got way out of hand and i went way over-budget, right down to the cooler master case (a frivolity actually i will admit). (the thing is, i don't even like play computer games and worse, i barely have time to indulge in video editting and DVD authoring -- but that's another story altogether.)

**cordi** · May 20th, 2006 06:04 PM

Sorry guys for this OT. What is a mobo?

**ILuvDetailing** · May 20th, 2006 06:09 PM

motherboard

**cordi** · May 20th, 2006 06:16 PM

Nickname pala ng motherboard. And to think that I have been wondering about this computer part everytime I encounter it in this forum. Thanks for the quick reply ILD!

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 20th, 2006 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by smooth

i barely have time to indulge in video editting and DVD authoring -- but that's another story altogether.)

And that's why a dvd recorder is the best option for many people. No need to upgrade a pc. The quality is better, even when using SLP mode (6 hours VCD mode in a single-sided dvd disc). The time it takes to make a dvd is the time it takes to record. It's also relatively cheap (~P5k). I'd say it does 90% of all my recording needs. It's also easy to use. You'd use it like you would a vcr except a basic menu is generated after recording.

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 21st, 2006 04:00 AM

Just to show what VCD quality from a DVD recorder look like..... Here's a frame capture from a movie I recorded last night using SLP (VCD 352x240) in a DVD+RW disc and then rerendered as an mpeg2 file (720x480). Even though it was extrapolated from a smaller resolution , it still looks faithful to the original on tv which wasn't that good to begin with.

It's not easy to do VCD on a computer without becoming pixelated and washed out when expanded to a res like this one.

**Boy Torotot** · May 22nd, 2006 02:02 PM

if you don't mind getting a used PC, here's a good deal for 15K. a dual processor setup, though the seller is only including 1 processor, you might get the other processor for an insanely low price. i haven't checked the mobo but it should have pci-x for scsi harddisk setup, nice for rendering videos. it should also have firewire port, otherwise just buy a firewire pci card for arounf P500.

http://www.tipidpc.com/viewitem.php?iid=486210

**july23** · May 22nd, 2006 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by Jun aka Pekto

Just to show what VCD quality from a DVD recorder look like..... Here's a frame capture from a movie I recorded last night using SLP (VCD 352x240) in a DVD+RW disc and then rerendered as an mpeg2 file (720x480). Even though it was extrapolated from a smaller resolution , it still looks faithful to the original on tv which wasn't that good to begin with.

It's not easy to do VCD on a computer without becoming pixelated and washed out when expanded to a res like this one.

sir, what brand is your dvd recorder? how much? thanks

**Jun aka Pekto** · May 22nd, 2006 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by july23

sir, what brand is your dvd recorder? how much? thanks

LiteOn. It's a totally alien brand among electronic appliance freaks (hence the low price of < $100). But for us pc users, LiteOn is a well-established brand. There are other "brand" name dvd recorders and some even have TiVo with a hard drive built in.

The automatically-generated menu is very basic with either a thumbnail view or text view. Here's the thumbnail view. It's disorganized because I plan to erase the disc and use it again: