http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ Videomaker Community Forums » User Favorites: CMR en Thu, 16 Feb 2012 02:14:24 +0000 http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-50431 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 18:46:37 +0000 fox5shooter 50431@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ </p> <p>Hi Kids,<br /> There is money to be made in Real Estate Video.<br /> You have to sell it. Sell it as a "Evolution" in the way "they" (agents)<br /> do their business. Sure they dont have to use video, but when their competion does...watch out! Then the fireworks start. Its just a matter of time.<br /> Everything evolves, always does.<br /> The trick is to be in position when it turns.<br /> "The future of advertising isn't on TV, its on your own website",<br /> everyone and their mothers have a website and something to push.<br /> I just give them a hand.</p> <p>John </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-50344 Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:52:05 +0000 JohnCrawford 50344@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>My recommendation for marketing property videos is to upload them to a website and post links to them on as many real estate websites as you can or care to since people looking for videos of properties for sale on the Internet usually google for "real estate videos."</p> <p>It is toward this end that I have created The Real Estate Video Show for videographers all over the country to post links to their videos on websites. The name of the game is to organize listings in an orderly fashion by type and location. The more videos that one website shows or links to by area the higher the google rating will become as more and more viewers click on to it. </p> <p>Eventually, you will need a bulletin or forum board like this one to list all of your videos by property type and location but suitable ones are available for as little as $50/yr if not free. </p> <p>Anyone can set up a bulletin board for listing videos in their area and even for the entire state they live in if they want. Viewers just click on the state they live in or want to buy in and check out the listings in that area. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-50246 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:22:11 +0000 Evan Patrick 50246@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ </p> <p>I posted this already, but I'm not sure if it was in the right location (I don't blog much)</p> <p>Well, I happen to be in the opposite situation, in that I'm starting my career instead of retiring. Coincidentally, I went to Chico State, which is where Videomaker is located. Anyway, I've had a bunch of people suggest making Real Estate Vids. With video production, it's about finding that niche. And this is definitely a market that hasn't been tapped in to. After reading all of these posts, I would definitely agree that it seems a lot of marketing would need to take place to get clients, even if you are offering a low price. I've never bought or sold a house, but I get the impression Realtors are pretty stingy.</p> <p>I've already invested in HD equipment for weddings, but that stuff is time consuming. Brides insanely undervalue a good HD production until their wedding is over. Then they want a fricken Hollywood production, and its too late. So I've been trying to figure out other ways to make money with HD video.</p> <p>So here is what I am thinking. It seems pretty easy to shoot and edit a Real Estate video in a day. It's basically just a B-Roll video with music and a couple of titles. If videographers can do same day wedding videos, than I better damn well be able to do a same day real estate video.</p> <p>So if that goes to plan, I am totally willing to charge 100 bucks. And again, this is just to start out and get the feel of things. After figuring out how to market the product, I could charge more, take on bigger projects, and maybe it will lead some where. But AT WORST, I'd have a ton of quality HD video demo material.</p> <p>Not that anyone cares, but my two ideal jobs are A) make travel videos, destination video, etc. (Travel Channel) and B) get into buying and selling real estate.</p> <p>So the whole Video Realestate idea doesn't seem like a bad thing to experiment with for awhile.</p> <p>Do you guys think I should just go for it, or continue along the HD wedding path? </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-50205 Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:31:38 +0000 JohnCrawford 50205@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>It seemed to have happened only when I edited that post. I'll be more aware of it next time and clean up my own mess in the future. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for the info. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-50165 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:40:06 +0000 EarlC 50165@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>John, doesn't take but a minute to go back in (I know, it is frustrating but in the interest of a clean post - and keep in mind we get this forum with all its wonders and warts for free) and clean things up. Makes it easier for EVERYONE to read. Took me less than a minute to clean the A's out. You can do it next time :-)</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49841 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:44:35 +0000 JohnCrawford 49841@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> Dear pkuning: Why don't you just upload it to Youtube or WelcomeMat as is and email your friend a link to the webpage address where your video can be simply clicked on?  You can always delete it later if you want to replace it with a final version.</p> <p>Otherwise, try SendThisFile.com</p> <p>They claim to have no file size limitation and you can use the service for free for awhile. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49818 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:56:45 +0000 pkuning 49818@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Can anyone tell me what file size I should shoot for (pardon the pun).  I'm doing a real estate video (my first) for a real estate agent friend of mine, who asked me to e-mail it her.  But Comcast limits e-mails sizes to 15 MB, and the compressed flash video I just created from my 4-1/2 minute video is 18 MB.</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49655 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:23:35 +0000 JohnCrawford 49655@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Oh, man. All those A's showed up again in my last post.  What gives?</p> <p>Surely, Videomaker.com can provide a better Bulletin Board than this one. </p> <p>The problem only seems to arise upon the editing of a post. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49654 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:17:30 +0000 JohnCrawford 49654@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>With the convenient and relatively inexpensive hi-def video hosting services that Motionbox offers professionals, the only other Internet tools that real estate video makers need are inexpensive Bulletin Boards like the ones being used on The Real Estate Video Show.com</p> <p>My introductory board divides NY City up into Manhattan districts and adjacent boroughs on which any videomaker living in those areas can post a link to their own Video Production Bulletin Board listing real estate for sale or rent within that area.  Real estate sales are all about location, location, location, and local brokers and video makers should know more about what is for rent and sale in their neighborhood than some broker or video maker living in another city, town or state. </p> <p>I further divided NY State into counties and regions in order for real estate video makers in those areas to post links to videos of properties for sale or rent in those areas.  All you need is a local Bulletin Board like the second one I am using as a resident of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Staking out and laying a claim to your own neighborhood does not restrict your video services to that area but merely indicates where you are located on the real estate map of the country.  Anyone, except brokers and agents, of course, can post videos of real estate for sale or rent on the Upper West Side on my Upper West Side.yuku.com Bulletin Board including you if you are are member and happen to have a client on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.</p> <p>The jist of all this is that if video makers who want to make and show their real estate videos on the Internet work together we can create a network of video producers dedicated to doing just that.  Without giving away a little trade secret by intentionally publicizing it, if that were possible, the future of real estate sales and rentals lies with the video makers who can show videos of properties for sale or rent as well as any real estate agent can show the property in person. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49582 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:00:54 +0000 NashuaVideoTours 49582@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>MotionBox does allow commercial real estate videos, but you have to have a pro account and pay a higher fee, based on usage and bandwidth.  I pay about $100-$150 per month depending on traffic.  Their basic plan is for personal use only. </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49421 Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:13:14 +0000 JohnCrawford 49421@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p> To flogonojo:   Motionbox offers professional video-hosting to people like you and I for $10/month, cancellable any time. </p> <p>I like the convenience, hi-quality and professionalism of their video service and plan to make extensive use of it in the future so I signed up. </p> <p>I highly recommend Motionbox for uploading AVCHD files without conversion and for giving viewers the choice of playing them back in either standard or hi-def formats. </p> <p>I don't even have to bother embedding them in emails or on my website but just copy and paste the URL where a particular file folder is located on their site.</p> <p>I couldn't have found a more convenient solution to the problems I was having with people viewing my old .wmv files. </p> <p>Thanks for asking. I enjoy sharing info with other real estate videomakers now that I am in the business of promoting real estate videos on <a href="http://www.TheRealEstateVideoShow.com">http://www.TheRealEstateVideoShow.com</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49377 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:10:25 +0000 flogonojo 49377@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hey JohnCrawford,</p> <p>I'm just starting up my own real estate video business as well here in Northwest Indiana (go Midwest!). Anyways, I was looking at the upload rules for Motionbox, and it says they don't allow real estate videos or tours. So, I'm about to upload my first tour, but I want to make sure that Motionbox won't take my video off their site when I have already given the realtor the link. So, my question is have you ever had Motionbox take down any of your real estate videos from their site?</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49056 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:42:19 +0000 JohnCrawford 49056@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>I charge on the basis of a client's willingness and ability to pay for the amount of work that I have to do and am very flexible and adaptive in most circumstances since I am just starting out and have yet to build up a very impressive portfolio.  If a job looks attractive in terms of building up my portfolio I will usually leave the amount to paid me up to the client.  This works well with brokers whom I want to cultivate and develop an ongoing business relationship.  I'm pretty much satisfied at the moment with earning about $50hr on a job even though I don't make that much on most of the jobs I have done so far. </p> <p>My problem is that I am still working full-time in a regular job and will not be able to devote more time to making videos until I retire this summer. I'm lucky to have accomplished as much as I did during a recent 5-week vacation and do not expect to be very active again until I am fully retired from my day job. My most recent shoot was of a Condo in Queens for a real estate broker there.  I am now uploading my videos to Motionbox and they look about as good as it gets. </p> <p><a href="http://www.therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/430">http://www.therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/430</a></p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-49019 Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:06:15 +0000 larafiction 49019@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Can you tell us please how much do you charge to record the video?</p> <p>Thank you</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47454 Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:24:02 +0000 NormanWillis 47454@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Charles.</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Hmmm... I'm not sure why rendering in Premiere Pro wouldn't have activated those extra cores....</em><em>Although I'm now scratching my head as to why none of the benchmark utilities woke up the extra cores either. Now I'm the one with more questions.</em></p> <p>Is it possible that you guys could please borrow that Z800 again, and see if you can still edit while it renders something else out?</p> <p>I am thinking that if you switch the second processor on-and-off while simultaneously rendering and editing multiple instances, that might give us a much better idea of what the second processor really does.</p> <p>I would ask myself, but they probably won't loan it to me...(lol).</p> <p>Thank you very much for your help.</p> <p>Norman</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-47341 Fri, 29 May 2009 08:52:27 +0000 JohnCrawford 47341@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hello LDPLDP:    I prefer the on-site audio to a musical background for the exteriors and prefer a deathly silence in the interiors to any narration by me since I stress in the opening post of each Topic on The Real Estate Board that neither the videos nor the videographers represent either the buyer or seller of the properties shown and that only the listed owner, broker or real estate agent is legitimately authorized to represent the seller of the property.  My role as salesperson is limited to advertising and promoting the idea of using videos on the Internet as a tool for real estate brokers and agents to use in their rental or sale of properties. </p> <p>Check it out for yourself here:  <a href="http://therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/420">http://therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/420</a></p> <p>I also prefer the panoramic scenes and opportunities that video provides when it comes to shooting real estate since the process of shooting and uploading videos to my website appeals to the video producer and network organizer in me.  I am just as interested in advertising and promoting other people's real estate videos and websites as I am my own.  I put an ad for real estate videographers on Craig's List last week and three have already registered on <a href="http://dvdmoviemakers.yuku.com/">http://dvdmoviemakers.yuku.com/</a> so far. </p> <p>Anyway, thanks for your advice and for sharing your interest in making real estate videos with us. </p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-47337 Fri, 29 May 2009 05:58:56 +0000 LDPLDP 47337@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Technical suggestions:  I agree with Eric regarding background sounds.  I would suggest investing in some royalty free music to replace the on-sight audio. I would also suggest adding a short audio narrative about the realestate, giving locations (you did some of this) but add more information about the area, transportation, etc.  You are trying to represent the seller so you now also take on the roll of salesperson for the realestate.</p> <p>I have a procedure that I use video for things that move, and photographs for things that don't move.  For photos, I use a program called "Photo to Movie" (lqgraphics.com) to create a video clip of a photo - it gives me the control to pan around the picture to what I think is important.  Most realestate sites either have photos or movies but rarely have moving photos.  This may help you stand out from others.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47213 Tue, 26 May 2009 09:17:18 +0000 composite1 47213@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman,</p> <p>Keep an eye out on the 'To build...' thread as I don't want to hijack this one.</p> <p>CMR,</p> <p>You're welcome. Also, there is a nearly identical monitor to the Hanns-G one called an I-Inc. Same company but the I-Inc is $100+ less. However, after some thorough digging I found the main diffs are the I-Inc's run much hotter and the Hanns-G's run much cooler and have a 3-year warranty. If there's a Best Buy nearby, that's where you should be able to see one in person.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47146 Sun, 24 May 2009 18:14:20 +0000 NormanWillis 47146@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>CMR, </p> <p>You are most welcome.  I hope you get the best monitor for you.</p> <p>Comp,</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Oh, and Norman with all of this discussion I have already begun investigating components for a in-house build of a comparable rig. I'll keep you appraised.</em></p> <p>I am very much looking forward to it, and I hope you can educate me about render farms somewhere, sometime.</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Norman</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/making-real-estate-videos-in-your-area#post-47136 Sun, 24 May 2009 06:50:11 +0000 JohnCrawford 47136@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Just to keep those of you who are interested in making money shooting real estate videos up to date I actually earned my first dollar from a broker who hired me to shoot about 10 of the retail properties he is trying to rent in Manhattan. The first one was a three-room restaurant in Chelsea and I have these shots up on my website now for your viewing pleasure.  I'll keep you posted as I get the rest up over the next few days.  Man, I can't wait to retire from my full-time job and spend the rest of my life promoting real estate videos.  Enjoy.  <a href="http://therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/417">http://therealestateboard.yuku.com/topic/417</a></p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47112 Fri, 22 May 2009 18:18:04 +0000 CMR 47112@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>composite - thank you.  Good suggestion and very good price.</p> <p>CMR</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47111 Fri, 22 May 2009 18:12:24 +0000 composite1 47111@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>CMR,</p> <p>Take a look at the Hanns-G 28" LCD HD monitor. We've got two for our main NLE and they are PDG for the money! They worked great out of the box and have a great image resolution. You're definitely going to want a GPU that will do them or the Samsung justice.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3224143&amp;CatId=12">http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3224143&amp;CatId=12</a></p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47109 Fri, 22 May 2009 17:17:10 +0000 CMR 47109@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Norman and Charles - thank you for the monitor info.</p> <p>CMR</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47098 Fri, 22 May 2009 08:53:53 +0000 composite1 47098@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p><em>"Since regular video editing does not tap processor speed like full-on<br /> 3D or serious heavy-duty CAD, the primary processor never exceeds the<br /> threshold.  In other words, it handles everything within the primary<br /> processor itself, and never 'calls for backup.'"</em></p> <p>Norman,</p> <p>Actually, I'm not surprised after reading that. To really get a feel for what the Z800 could do on the video side you'd need to do some hardcore VFX compositing with AFX or better yet Nuke. When I first mentioned the Z800 to you I said it was for 'serious finishing work'. Apparently, 'Jes' bears that out. </p> <p><em>"... Now scratching my head as to why none of the benchmark utilities woke up the extra cores either."</em></p> <p>If the primary core is able to handle much of the initial heavy lifting percentage, then it is not unreasonable for the benchmarks you currently use didn't cause the unit to 'break a sweat'. Load up a densely nested HD AFX comp and see how it performs during preview and in the render queue or toss in a 3D HD quality scene from Blender with lighting fx, grass and hair/fur with some water fx and you'll probably get a rise out of the extra cores. If it doesn't, that's scary because that means the unit should be capable of doing some mega-lifting and is far beyond the needs of the micro to small sized production house. On the otherhand, it would be very nice to have one machine that could do the work of a small to medium-sized renderfarm for $10k.</p> <p>Oh, and Norman with all of this discussion I have already begun investigating components for a in-house build of a comparable rig. I'll keep you appraised.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47092 Fri, 22 May 2009 07:40:26 +0000 cfulton 47092@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hmmm... I'm not sure why rendering in Premiere Pro wouldn't have activated those extra cores. But RAM is cheap; 12GB would be a good place to be if you had a processor that addressed memory as triple-channel. (8GB would be where it's at for dual-channel.)</p> <p>Although I'm now scratching my head as to why none of the benchmark utilities woke up the extra cores either. Now I'm the one with more questions.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47058 Thu, 21 May 2009 15:22:13 +0000 NormanWillis 47058@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Oh, he also said to stack it with 8 to 12 GB of RAM.</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47056 Thu, 21 May 2009 15:07:45 +0000 NormanWillis 47056@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hello.</p> <p>It turns out my query to HP did not go through, so I called their Sales Department.  They put me in touch with a tech rep named Jesus ("Hey-Soos"), who seemed fairly knowledgeable.</p> <p>Jesus said that the only people who really need Z800's are people who do full-on 3D (like Dreamworks).  He said that the reason there was no performance difference with CS4 (whether the second processor was on or off) was probably just that the machine did not get taxed hard enough.</p> <p>He said that the way the architecture works is that the primary processor does not send anything to the second processor unless it starts to reach a certain load point.  Since regular video editing does not tap processor speed like full-on 3D or serious heavy-duty CAD, the primary processor never exceeds the threshold.  In other words, it handles everything within the primary processor itself, and never 'calls for backup.'</p> <p>He recommended that unless I was going to do some serious full-on 3D or some ultra-heavy-duty CAD (which I'm not planning on), that all I would really need would be a fast single-processor model, like a 3.2 GHz Z400, and a graphics card with 1GB to 1.5GB RAM.  Then he also recommended large hard drives, etcetera.</p> <p>He seemed like a decent guy.  Does it seem like what he said makes sense?</p> <p>Norman</p> <p> </p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47055 Thu, 21 May 2009 14:31:49 +0000 NormanWillis 47055@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Charles.</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;I'm not in a position to comment about dual-processor overhead. The last major machine I reviewed that was dual-processor was about 5 years ago; and at that time our reviews didn't focus on performance as much as experience (that, and at the time, that machine was indisputably the fastest machine we'd seen to that date.) So it's only recently that we would've shut off a processor to see how fast a machine really was.</em></p> <p>I do not mean to beat a dead horse here, but I need to know the answer to this one, because I have been considering a Z800 for my next machine (which is why your review set my head spinning).</p> <p>Here is my letter to HP:</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;Hello.</em></p> <p><em>I am considering the Z800 for my next upgrade.  However, in their article  Number 14391, Videomaker Magazine records that there was no change in their benchmark speed (using Adobe CS4) when the second processor was shut off in the BIOS.  Based on this, they conclude that there is no advantage to having a second processor in the HP Z lineup.</em></p> <p><em>I have been considering the Z800 for possible future purchase (because Avid supports the HP line), and I need to know what the deal is.</em></p> <p><em>Can you please let me know why bench test performance under Adobe CS4 would not be significantly decreased when the second processor was shut off in the BIOS?</em></p> <p><em>Thank you,</em></p> <p><em>Norman<br /></em></p> <p>I imagine their sales department will get back to me in a few days, and I will try to post their comments here.  Just as a heads-up, I also would not be surprised if they contact you.</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Norman</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47054 Thu, 21 May 2009 14:10:28 +0000 NormanWillis 47054@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi Michael.</p> <p><em>&gt;&gt;I am new to editing and in need of a new computer and monitor.  Is there a monitor that you would suggest with the Z400?</em></p> <p>Try the Samsung T260HD from Tiger Direct.</p> <p><a href="http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3984239&amp;sku=S203-2520&amp;srkey=samsung%20t260hd">http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3984239&amp;sku=S203-2520&amp;srkey=samsung%20t260hd</a></p> <p>The picture is gorgeous.  And it has all the hookups.</p> <p>Norman</p> http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/topic/calling-charles-fulton-your-z800-review#post-47044 Thu, 21 May 2009 07:19:59 +0000 cfulton 47044@http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/ <p>Hi again all,</p> <p>I'm not in a position to comment about dual-processor overhead. The last major machine I reviewed that was dual-processor was about 5 years ago; and at that time our reviews didn't focus on performance as much as experience (that, and at the time, that machine was indisputably the fastest machine we'd seen to that date.) So it's only recently that we would've shut off a processor to see how fast a machine really was.</p> <p>As for monitors... we tested it with one of HP's 30" business-class displays. It was gorgeous, but one thing that I didn't really care for is that there was a serious lack of controls. I think brightness was the only control, if I remember correctly. I would connect any monitor that could display 1920x1200 and had either a DVI or DisplayPort connection (depending on which video card you chose), though HDMI might be a possible interface choice as well (and worst case scenario, you'd just have to get an adapter or a different cable to go between DVI and HDMI. There are some marvelous deals out there--I just found a monitor that would fit the bill for about $250. (Last time I bought a monitor like this, I spent about $700! And that was about 2 years ago!)</p>