computer geeks i have a quesiton for you

[elana i am]

i'm looking for a new laptop, and my most important priority is being able to run 3 or 4 programs concurrently and edit photos and video, what's more important? the ram or the processor? i can either do 6G ram and intel core i5 processor or 4G ram and intel core i7 processor. both 6G of ram and a intel core i7 is out of my price range.

[struggle4progress]

1. If I were you, I'd try to pin down more precisely exactly what kind of video edit work

you plan to do on the machine, which editing programs you intend to use, and what exactly your machine options are. I'm no expert, but I don't think the question can be answered when asked in the general way you ask it

Whether it makes sense to choose the i5 or the i7 might depend some on whether the editing program, that you use, really takes advantage of the differences between the processor. And depending on other facts about a particular motherboard, using a faster i5 (or i7) instead of a slower one may or may not make much difference

It might also matter some how long the videos, that you plan to edit, are and how much processing you intend to do with them. One major time bottleneck in the computations will be data transfer between your hard drive and ram: I might expect that to dominate if you have long videos requiring complicated edits

[elana i am]

2. yikes.

<<<Whether it makes sense to choose the i5 or the i7 might depend some on whether the editing program, that you use, really takes advantage of the differences between the processor. And depending on other facts about a particular motherboard, using a faster i5 (or i7) instead of a slower one may or may not make much difference>>>

see this is part of the trouble i'm having. i didn't know the motherboard mattered enough to affect the the processor. the info i've been reading says that both the processor and the ram affect how a computer performs. basically what i need to know is which one really matters more.

the videos would mostly be fairly small recreational stuff for youtube. the important part is going to be photo editing large files. i'll be bouncing around between photoshop, illustrator and indesign a lot. my 3-year old laptop has an intel core 2 duo processor and 2G ram and it's worked well for what i've needed up to now. i'm a graphic artist (with a PC background instead of the ususal mac) and i'm going to try freelance.

[struggle4progress]

5. If the machine is potentially for freelance work, why wouldn't you get a desktop?

[elana i am]

9. in about 2 months

when my lease is up i'm going to be transient. living in relatives' guest rooms and the hide-a-bed in my 'rents apartment.

[Betty88]

4. also look at the video card

if your doing video work you want a good video card, also a dedicated video card will have its own ram so in very simple terms it wont be borrowing from the on board ram when running video.

[elana i am]

8. good to know, thanks.

[Betty88]

3. you can always upgrade the ram later, the processor...

not so much on a laptop. When I shop for a laptop I buy the best processor I can justify then a year or so later I upgrade the ram if need be, its the simplest upgrade you can do on a laptop. Take a look at some of the laptop/notebook review boards something like this http://forum.notebookreview.com/ see what other people are doing with the same machine.

[Duer 157099]

11. ^^^ what they said

Check to make sure that you can upgrade the RAM to, say, 6gb. If so, go for it. Add more RAM later.

[lukasahero]

6. Best to ask your question in the computer support group

here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=242

The folks in that forum know more than god about all things computer. Good luck! :)

[elana i am]

7. i'll do that thanks.

[DeadEyeDyck]

10. A quad core processor

My Dell E6410 Latitude 2.4GHz is a quad with 4G. I cannot load it down. A bit pricey but if that is not a factor, it is the way to go.

The more cores, the more stuff you can truly do at the same time.