Where could I find a laptop like this?

[Bobtheduck]

These are things I consider a necessity in a laptop:

i5 or i7. I want a Desktop replacement.
I'd say at least 4 gigs of ram, but I guess that's a given with those processors anyhow.
Dedicated Graphics card
Firewire... Either an iLink port, or an expresscard port. My current laptop has NEITHER. I've seen laptops advertised as video editing machines but they can't actually capture from firewire... I guess that's the same as those compressed video things being advertised as "camcorders" though, so what should I expect?
I think It's reasonable to want at least one USB3.0 port now.

Every laptop I've seen with an Expresscard port is either too old (pre- i5) or doesn't have a dedicated graphics card (Integrated is no good) Every one I've seen with iLink is also lacking a dedicated graphics card.

Oh, and I won't be buying from Korea... EVER AGAIN. In stores, they're all lacking in things I've mentioned, about 1.5 times more expensive than in the US, and the ones in Yongsan... Well, half of them are stolen, the other half don't have an option for English windows anyhow.

[Xeno]

Not sure what your price level is, but have you considered a Mac? Specifically the MacBook Pro? I say this because 1. I'm a Mac user myself, but 2. they have the processors you're looking for, the 17" model has an expresscard slot, all of them have the Thunderbolt ports (though USB is admittedly limited to 2.0). They have dedicated graphics options, but even the non-dedicated versions are proven to be able to handle pretty decent loads. And they have fantastic build quality and will last you for a very very long time.

[Cognitive Gear]

A higher-end Macbook Pro has what you are looking for. Unfortunately it is also costs roughly 2x as much as it should. I should also comment that my experience with my own Macbook Pro has not been the grand, defectless dream many of Apple's fans claim it should be.

Re: Firewire- It's dying, sadly. You might be better off looking for a decent Firewire Adapter for USB. At this point even Apple is killing it off, as they have replaced it with Thunderbolt in their recent line of iMacs.

Amazon ships internationally, so they might be your best bet.

Normally I would have recommended Pro-Star, as they are well reviewed and apparently have good build quality, but I don't know if they ship to Korea or not. They don't have Firewire, but again, I think your best option will be to look for alternatives to it.

[Xeno]

Re: Firewire- It's dying, sadly. You might be better off looking for a decent Firewire Adapter for USB. At this point even Apple is killing it off, as they have replaced it with Thunderbolt in their recent line of iMacs.

Yes, Firewire is an older tech and it is dying, but your statement about Apple replacing it with Thunderbolt on the new line of iMacs isn't correct.

iMac 2011 Specs, under "Connections and Expansion" it has Firewire 800 listed alongside the Thunderbolt port(s). The only Mac lacking a Firewire port is the MacBook Air, which has the Thunderbolt in it's place (and the Air never had one in the first place).

Not trying to turn this into a Mac vs Whatever thread, just wanted to point that out.

[Cognitive Gear]

Yes, Firewire is an older tech and it is dying, but your statement about Apple replacing it with Thunderbolt on the new line of iMacs isn't correct.

iMac 2011 Specs, under "Connections and Expansion" it has Firewire 800 listed alongside the Thunderbolt port(s). The only Mac lacking a Firewire port is the MacBook Air, which has the Thunderbolt in it's place (and the Air never had one in the first place).

Not trying to turn this isn't a Mac vs Whatever thread, just wanted to point that out.

Weird. Last I had heard they had dumped it. I'm glad that they didn't though.

[Warrior4Christ]

The latest second generation Sandy Bridge i5s (and maybe i7s?) have a significantly better integrated graphics than any previous processors, since the CPU and GPU are on the same chip. So it might be worth checking out if integrated graphics is actually good enough for what you're after (performance benchmarks?).

[Bobtheduck]

*sigh*

I have a conspiracy theory. The change from Uncompressed DV to compressed video flash based "camcorders" and removal of firewire is an attempt by the film industry to keep the floor for professional video high. Still better than those mini-dvd camcorders a few years back, though.

The closest thing I can find to a working Firewire to USB converter is the BlackMagic Intensity Shuttle... It's a stone that would kill a bird and half, but boy would that remaining half a bird suffer.

I guess I'll have to sacrifice some video quality and go for a Component capture on that. It says it works with Premiere pro, but it doesn't say if i will work on CS2 (that's what I've got... It doesn't like capturing from anything but Firewire, so I'm not getting my hopes up... Of course CS2 isn't even going to know what USB 3.0 is...)

The most promising lappy I've found is HP. It has the features I want (sans firewire) for 839. Plus tax. It's always plus tax. One thing it has that I wouldn't have gotten is a bluray player. I am fine with my PS3 for that purpose, and don't need to watch Blurays on the go (I never even watch DVDs on the go) but it was free, and ends up being cheaper than the equivalent Dell or Sony machine.

[Cognitive Gear]

So, here's a question: What are you capturing video from? A camcorder, or some other external device? I'm just asking because I think that there must be a way around this problem.

I'm guessing that having portability is a necessity, because otherwise I would recommend just going for a standard tower system, and installing your own Firewire card. On the other hand, that might end up being a good solution anyways. Depending on your budget, you can buy a very good setup for editing at home, and an inexpensive portable for other needs. (That's looking like it will be what I will be doing in a similar situation.)

[Bobtheduck]

So, here's a question: What are you capturing video from? A camcorder, or some other external device? I'm just asking because I think that there must be a way around this problem.

I'm guessing that having portability is a necessity, because otherwise I would recommend just going for a standard tower system, and installing your own Firewire card. On the other hand, that might end up being a good solution anyways. Depending on your budget, you can buy a very good setup for editing at home, and an inexpensive portable for other needs. (That's looking like it will be what I will be doing in a similar situation.)

I'm capturing from a camcorder. An aging camcorder, BTW (hence my lamenting the compressed video camcorders that completely replaced consumer Tape based camcorders) that may not actually last that much longer... I can't afford to get a laptop and a desktop, and I need a laptop so I have to make my laptop do as much as I can get it to do.

[Cognitive Gear]

I'm capturing from a camcorder. An aging camcorder, BTW (hence my lamenting the compressed video camcorders that completely replaced consumer Tape based camcorders) that may not actually last that much longer... I can't afford to get a laptop and a desktop, and I need a laptop so I have to make my laptop do as much as I can get it to do.

Did some extra digging, and found this.

EDIT: Out of stock. But it exists.

I don't know what your budget is, but it seems to have everything you wanted. $899.99. Hopefully they will ship to Korea, or you can find this model in store somewhere (hopefully without the same issues you experienced previously)

[Slater]

I have a MacBook Pro; it's pretty much amazing. I don't know if it's just the heavy-duty flash and java development I do on it, however, but I do notice I have to restart it at least once every two weeks or else it starts lagging. Who knows why.

MacBook Air my coworker did obtain. Apparently it's even more awesome. He runs Jetbrains, Photoshop, and Omnigraphle without a bump in the road. Everything is very very fast. We did some very simple benchmarking at work and found it to be ~20% faster than the Mac Book Pro when it comes to loading huge applications (like Photoshop).