Christian Filmmakers

Joshua Warren wrote:

I forgot 1 thing :?  I would like one with iTunes so, I can download songs and videos onto my iPod.

Thanks

I don’t know anything about iTunes. We’ve had trouble with the Apple products (quicktime) taking over (i.e. slowing down) our windows machines so we just use alternatives.

I hear it’s possible to make it work, tho. Lots of Windows users own iPods.  I don’t have an iPod so I haven’t bothered to try it.

And iTunes is downloadable on any computer; I just don’t know how well it works.

Argh, nearly forgot one more netbook detail:
There is no CD drive. That isn’t a problem for me—anything I need, I bring in via the internet or USB drive—but it could be for some people.
You can also buy an external CD drive; Newegg.com carries them.

Joshua Warren wrote:

I just need a computer to take notes, search the internet, write screen plays, and do school on it

Do you really need Windows to do all that? If you don’t absolutely need it to be Windows, you can get some big advantages (No malware, ease of software installation, ease of use, speed, etc.) by using Ubuntu for all that.

IPod sync may be a problem (Apple doesn’t have a Ubuntu version of iTunes) , but if you have an 4th gen or older IPod, Rhythmbox (The default music player) should be able to sync to it.

Victor Noordhoek wrote:

Joshua Warren wrote:

I just need a computer to take notes, search the internet, write screen plays, and do school on it

Do you really need Windows to do all that? If you don’t absolutely need it to be Windows, you can get some big advantages (No malware, ease of software installation, ease of use, speed, etc.) by using Ubuntu for all that.

IPod sync may be a problem (Apple doesn’t have a Ubuntu version of iTunes) , but if you have an 4th gen or older IPod, Rhythmbox (The default music player) should be able to sync to it.

I’ve never heard of Ubuntu. Is that a better one than Windows?

I’m not to sure about the CD rom, I don’t know if I need one or not. I won’t be playing any games or anything on it, so I don’t think I would need one.  :|

Thanks,
        Joshua Warren

Joshua Warren wrote:

I’ve never heard of Ubuntu. Is that a better one than Windows?

It’s different. It boots faster, runs faster, is more secure, is easier to use in most cases and works better on small screens. However, like a Mac, it doesn’t run Windows programs. If you’re okay with that, it’ll probably work quite well for you.

It’s free, and you can run it without installing it, so if you want to try it out, you can download it from it’s website. You can also request a free CD, in case you don’t have access to a CD burner or broadband internet.

I won’t be doing any video editing

If you want to make films, count on editing.
Your friend who has a mac could leave. (I’ve also had bad experiances with losing footage when editing is done on someone else’s com.)
Plus, if you ever decide to do editing, you’ll want something that can handle the space. Celtix does not take up very much space, but you will need an internet connection. (ditto with iTunes)

I’ve never heard of a NetBook!
Mac claims to be the king in indie film production and other artistic vocations.

Windows is good for anything but cheap editing. (arrgh)

Everything you say you want to do will work just fine on a netbook running Windows 7.

Victor will slap me, but I recommend staying away from Linux as a fairly new user (which you sound like you are.)  There’s a learning curve, and it sounds like you want to just turn on the computer and start writing and playing with your iPod.

There are netbooks which you can get with Linux pre-installed if you’re feeling adventurous.

A netbook is simply a scaled-down PC laptop - no CD, slower processor in many ways, smaller size, less opportunities to upgrade (even compared to a laptop) but usually longer battery usage and much easier to carry around.

So I’d recommend finding that sub-$300 netbook and starting with that.

Cheers,
Calix

(,,,my netbook gets almost as much use as my laptop, because people are borrowing it all the time…)

Calix Lewis Reneau wrote:

Victor will slap me, but I recommend staying away from Linux as a fairly new user (which you sound like you are.)

I was going to say the same thing.

And since all your needs don’t sound too resource intensive, you should be fine with getting a notebook instead of a laptop.

ok, so now the question is, which Netbook do yall recommend?  :D

Also, I don’t want slow internet. That is the main thing. I would like a real fast internet connection, with Windows 7.

Joshua Warren wrote:

ok, so now the question is, which Netbook do yall recommend?  :D

Also, I don’t want slow internet. That is the main thing. I would like a real fast internet connection, with Windows 7.

I don’t know how to get a faster internet connection. Sorry! That’s a Victor question.

I recommend the netbook that I have, obviously.

Flipping over my netbook to see the model number…mine is an Acer eMachines eM250 series. Model Number KAV60. Found at Walmart apparently on some kind of sale/clearance for $228.
A look on Amazon told me that the same deal was to be found all over the country, and Amazon has/had it for $279.
Also, the reviews told me that it was basically a Acer Aspire under an eMachines label—eMachines is the ‘generic’ brand from Acer. Acer Aspires are supposed to be good.

The other netbooks that I was looking at - Dell Mini or Dell Inspiron Mini were the main ones - were up around $300-350. That was direct from the manufacturer, of course! They looked like nice little netbooks.

If you shop the ads - Walmart, Best Buy, even Staples, Kmart, Target, etc - you can pick up a good deal…the online daily deal site woot.com often has refurbs or new-in-box of discontinued models too.

I honestly don’t see a lot of difference between netbooks except price and brand. Compare the stats - choose what works best for you. (hard drive space, type of harddrive, how much memory, whether it’s the new processor or the old one, etc)