Daryl,
Sounds like a winning combination you’ve put together. On the one hand, you don’t need a Blue Ray Drive if you’re not doing HD work. It’s nice to have, but if you can get a fast DVD+- Burner for less with your order, I’d run with that.
As for choosing between A desktop or a laptop as your primary non-linear editing device, that’s a tough choice. A desktop unit will be far more robust and flexible with upgrading parts and have greater potential for CPU, RAM, GPU and harddrive space. In addition,desktops can natively apply multiple monitors as most modernvideo cards accomodate them. Laptops currently max out at 18″displays.A desktop pound for pound is less expensive than a laptop and can take far more hours of running time over its working life. The main drawback of a desktop is it’s lack of portability. A laptop on the otherhand is very portable and some PC models are designed for rugged outdoor field production. Laptops portablity makes them able to be setup almost anywhere in a few moments and don’t have the backup power requirements as a large desktop. Laptops currently run duo core CPU’s, 4GB’s of RAM and can host powerful mobile GPU’s all in a portable package. The drawbacks of a laptop are;they are highly pilferable (leave one sitting around and watch it walk off), delicate, and their harddrives are not as robust as those on a desktop (though they have gotten a lot better over the years.) Lastly, pound for pound they are much more expensive than a desktop. Laptops also have a shorter working life than desktops which is a consideration when it comes to price.
You’ll have to decide where doyou do most of your editing work? Is securing your NLE going to be an issue? (if it’s a laptop, say ‘YES’.)How longdo I plan to use this particular machine before it’s obsolete? Howpractical/expensive will it be to upgrade select components? These are just a few questions though there are many more.
Good luck
.
