Here's what I've done. I'm not even 16 yet (but very close, later this month) and I would buy computers cheap and resell them. This is how I ultimately started buying macs and after I had enough I bought a MacBook Air. Like for example in the past I've bought a Dimension 2400 for $10 and sold it for $75, or a iMac G4 I bought for $50 and sold for $150.
Buy cheap. Sell high.
There's not a chance this is realistic. Buying low and selling high in the world of (especially) PC-based machines is next to impossible, unless you spend considerable amounts of time for replacement part and quickly sell the whole before its value falls too low. And time, at 15, or 16, or 17, you don't have. School should take all your time.
As others have said, there are jobs out there in the uk for 17 year olds, it's those of us that are in our 30s upwards that are struggling.
Everybody is struggling in my city. Be they 20's, teens, or 30's. No wonder poverty level is so high here.
I'd also suggest that if you want a career in video editing then you want to aim to get yourself to Uni and get a relevant degree as this will not only give you a qualification in what you want to do but will open up all the networking opportunities which are absolutely vital to break into this kind of field.
You also don't need a bang up to date Mac whilst you are learning, pretty much anything from 2010 onwards will last you whilst you learn your trade and there are plenty of secondhand bargains out there..
Good Luck
If you are aiming for university, don't count on any number of hours on a minimum-wage job to pay it. If your parents didn't get the bright idea of putting money aside from your birth each month, or if you come, like many others, from a middle-class family, forget about your dream. It's that, or you'll end up ruined until well past reproductive age. Education costs unreasonable amounts of money to individuals, yet return on investment is dwindling fast, unless you're training for a guaranteed job such as MD, vet, or dentist.
There is a reason why Quebec's student fought to keep education affordable for all, even if many still have trouble paying for it. They will just have less of it compared to other countries where fees are disconnected from daily reality.
On the other hand, I do agree with above poster that you definitely don't need such a machine to train on video edition, even HD. A maxed-out i5 or C2D MBP (preferably 15" for the dedicated GPU) would do a fine job, albeit slower than a full-fledged iMac.
Not that every one can do this, or would want to.. every path is different. However, they all likely start with #1 - a good education and #2 - getting a job.
Granted I am now 46 years old but I remember clearly how I got to where I am now.
I stopped reading here. You're "Old Economy snarfquest". Your experience is irrelevant in 2013.
If I were you my first job application would be to the local Apple store. If they turn you down just keep going to every Computer store in town no matter how big or small.
...actually Apple Store turn down even moderately experienced salespeople and Apple enthusiasts and savvys. Do you really expect them to hire a 17 guy who never had a Mac?
You don't need a $1,000+ machine for video editing. And don't be so attached to a single program, because they DON'T teach you Final Cut in a video course, they teach you a cross-platform industry standard.
Last time I looked, Apple-based solutions were THE industry standard.
So I really advise you to try and make some time to use a lab at your school if you can (and there really should be a way you can do this - ask if in doubt, it doesn't hurt you, it makes people know you're actually really interested). You will get more from the experience of having someone there to help you then just working alone.
Another thing I will say is that sometimes having a low end machine is beneficial. Because to begin with, you don't want to throw a whole 1 hour thing into one file. You want to edit it in stages, and then combine it altogether when you're done. The limitations help you to be a smarter editor.
I think the OP stated he wanted to add additional practice time at home while going to college during the day. Nothing wrong with that, although if he get bad habits, they will be difficult to undo later on.
Any $500 Windows 7 machine will handle this just fine. None of the Windows machines at my college are fancy Intel Core i7s.
Huh, no. A $500 Windows 7 machine will lead you to the desktop in 45 seconds, and peacefully navigate from one app to another, manatee-style. Oh, and this setup will require you wear earplugs at all times. Stay away from any homebuilt PC that is not at least $800 (says the guy who had four of them and will prefer to walk than going back to these inefficient piles of silicon).
But what I'm trying to get across is that the general knowledge you gain in a video course will be miles better than the investment of a nice computer and software to go along with it. Immerse yourself in lots and lots of material - Read articles, blog posts, books, message boards, and watch lots and lots of lectures, talks, and demonstrations. You will be one step ahead of thousands of people.
Learning the basic tools, the workflow, and just getting the general gist of being organized, having outlines, storyboards, animatics, etc, is more important than the software you use to get the final product. You can be a pro at Final Cut, but if your work just plain sucks, you're not going to get ANYWHERE, period, and that is the BIG problem in the industry right now. People KNOW the software, but the heart and soul just isn't there.
You need to learn how to communicate ideas, be a good storyteller, and worry less about the software. Software is like a canvas and the tools are like brushes, and you should be able to change it up when appropriate.
To any employer, it will be more impressive that you can easily pick up a program and get to work in it without any other prior knowledge except a basic UI overview. And that's basically how I work. I gained the initial experience in Maya, and now can easily put that experience into Blender, Cinema 4D, Modo, and whatever else. Same thing with most illustration and photography programs.
Well, it is not strictly necessary to have a powerhouse at home, but much like learning a foreign language, if you're never using it outside of class, you'll never learn it properly. Having a fast enough (though not lightning fast) machine is like having a broadband Internet connection vs. having a dial-up modem: you are simply much more efficient in your looking for information and learning (on smaller renders of course) of the workflow. Similarly, a better-organized, more beautiful UI does help one work more efficiently. The brain doesn't like extraneous information intruding in an already-complicated workflow.
Sell what you don't need, and save as much as you can.
That is actually very wise an advice.
