Time Will Tell
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Lain – my Sony Vaio [an error occurred while processing this directive]As a dot-com millionaire who is always on the move, having a laptop computer to test software, write reviews, and update websites on a regular basis is a major must have. I purchased an 800 MHz Sony Vaio in the summer of 2001. At the time it wasn’t the fastest unit on the block, but it was powerful enough to run all the applications I used on a regular basis.
The big plus for the Vaio line of laptops
was they were one of the first laptops with an i-link (FireWire) port for digitizing video. The downside of this laptop was the cheaper models had a 10 GB hard drive and shipped with Windows ME. A couple of upgrades later (both in operating system, and memory), this unit was set for heavy use.
And heavy use it has seen. Over the last two years Lain has been used more often than my tower/desktop system. It has been used to write nearly 300 DMN articles, has been used to teach courses from the simple PowerPoint presentation to complex After Effects demonstrations, and was even used as the primary computer for the book I was writing on After Effects. It may be a surprise to many, but Lain was used to create every single After Effects tutorial I have written over the last two years. Only after the projects were built did they get moved over to my Mac for touch ups and screenshots for articles.
Sadly, I retired Lain last week. Even though it runs After Effects 6.0, Photoshop 7.0, Audition 1.0, Sonic Foundry’s Acid, Adobe Premiere, Sorenson Squeeze, discreet Cleaner XL, LightWave 7.5, and a host of other applications without a problem, processor speed and dwindling hard drive space forced me to finally upgrade my laptop.
What did I upgrade to? A Dell, Mac, HP, Compaq? Nope. Two years of combat duty have proven the Vaio line of computers are solid as a brick wall and can stand up to the pressures of professional work. My new Vaio is 2.8 GHz with a 40 GB hard drive. Still present is the i-Link connection, and as an added bonus, this new Vaio includes a DVD-RW/CD-RW drive. Missing is a second battery slot, but thankfully the Vaio comes with a battery that lasts for nearly four hours. Plenty of time to fly from Hays, Kansas to Irvine, California before worrying about needing to plug into an outlet.
If you are considering a laptop for your independent work, the Vaio is an excellent choice.
Cleaner XL and Sorenson Squeeze
When it comes to compre
ssion, I am one of those people that prefers simpler to complex. Even though Cleaner XL is a powerful program allowing you to convert into many many formats, I simply do not have the extra time to go in and make a lot of manual changes to get a good compression for the web. Don’t get me wrong, Cleaner XL is a super product. However, this is one of those applications that have kind of just fallen to the wayside. For me, I have found Sorenson Squeeze much easier to use. In less than three clicks I can generate a QuickTime file for any article I write.
Cleaner XL is perfect for those facilities that have the time to gen
erate their compressed media, but for me, speed and ease of use is key, and here Sorenson Squeeze still wins out. Cleaner XL is a product that has fallen by the wayside.
I guess I have been one of those lucky folk who have not had a product that I have done a complete 360 on. Of all the products I have reviewed all have been very valuable – some more than others. For those that have fallen by the wayside, they shouldn’t be thought of as the forgotten toys ready for the yard-sale, but rather tools that can be used when the need arises.
Where will I stand on these same products in two more years? Only time will tell.
When not working deep in the labs of the DMN Central Division testing the latest and greatest software/hardware products Stephen Schleicher can be found at the local university teaching a few courses on video and web production. He can be reached at schleicher@mindspring.com. You can also visit him on the web at www.mindspring.com/~schleicher
Source: Digital Media Online, Inc.
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