so im moving from a pc to a mac, i plan on getting a macbook pro with final cut studio 2, what setup, how much ram, what hard drive etc would be best? its going to be my only computer so ill also have normal programs too.

Scot,
I've just ordered a MacBook Pro with the 17" HD screen, 2.4GHz and 4GB of RAM --- solely for the purpose of running Final Cut Studio Pro. According to the folks at the local Apple Store (and there are precious few of them around here!), this configuration should be more than powerful enough. The only thing is storage, of course. The internal hard drive is only 160GB, so external storage is a must. I hope to get the machine in a day or two, and will post some initial impressions. Leaving the well-known waters of Windows for Mac is something I did not without some trepidation!

Carl
Jo'burg

Scot,
I have the MacBook Pro 15' 2.4Ghz with 2Gb Ram and it runs Final Cut Studio 2 no problems at all. I also use a external 1Tb disk connected Via Firewire and everything works great. I edit HD footage from my Canon XH-A1 just as fast as normal DV.

I have the 2.33 Mac book pro with 2 gigs of ram, I use a Lacie 1TB external E SATA HD and everything works really well I edit HDV footage and using multi clip for wedding stuff. I really love this set up the only complaint is the hard drive does not rebot back up when it goes to sleep which really sucks you cant walk away for more than a couple of minutes.
Also motion does not run very well when doing stuff in HDV I can not watch anything in real time.
Brandon

i might be going to an apple store to buy it, and im sure they can help out there, but if i do order online is there anything else i need that isnt listed as an option when you are buying it? and would it be worth it to pay another 300 for the 17 inch? 15 inch is pretty big but would the 17 help more for editing?

I got a powerbook G4 1.33Ghz with 1.5 gb ram and it works fine. I'm not setting any speed records but it cuts okay.

BTW, Brandon - In system preferences, you can change your power settings so the computer doesn't go to sleep so quickly.