Help with Son's Equipment

[David Haley]

Hello fellow Earthlings who are a lot smarter than me!!!

My son is about to turn 12 and wants to be a YouTuber! He's already pretty tech savvy. I work with PC, smart phones, tablets, etc., etc., just about 24/7...part of my job. However, I've never been very good at the more detailed specifics of equipment. For me, as long as the device has enough RAM and storage and is relatively fast (usually determined by your internet provider)...that was good enough. So, I'm turning to you fine folks to help me out with what my son needs.

What I'm looking for is a list of hardware and software (basic stuff...nothing at the expert level) that I would need to purchase to get him started. Ideally, I'd like to stay under $1,000 and I kind of prefer Dell products because I have a business account so...I can get stuff cheaper.

Could someone provide me with a basic list of things I'd need? Your help would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to email me as well (David.L.Haley@fastmail.com or text - (573) 620-7241).

Thank you for you time!!!

Dave

 

[Farley Productions]

That's awesome. I'm glad you're really supportive of him wanting to become a Youtuber.

Without getting too technical I'd recommend "any" computer with at least 8GB of RAM. That'd allow him to use just about video and photo editor on it. Not counting "special effects" but he doesn't really need that to be honest.

Alright, now for the specs of a computer I'd recommend at getting.

8GB RAM.
Intel Core I5 or I7 Processor
500GB - 1TB Memory (mainly for video/photo storage)
2.5 GHz for Processor Speed
and so on....I really don't want to list parts since we're not building a computer here.

For software any "free" editing software to start out with should be more then fine. But if you're looking at spending a little to get a head start then a nice Video Editing software that I started out with is Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11. They have up to like 15 or 16 now. And usually they range between $30 to $100 depending on where you are looking. And GIMP is a good free photo editing software he can use when starting out. I wouldn't recommend Photoshop without some sort of video tutorials, a mentor, classes or just lots of patience overall. Since it comes with a monthly fee now unless you find some sort of old version lurking on the Internet.

A Dell computer for starting out should be just fine. But I'd still lean towards the HP computers instead. Mainly because of the specifications. They range from $400 to $700 for the ones I'm looking at over at Amazon. Anyways I hope that helps a little bit. Best of luck. =]