I know someone who just shot a short on HDV and edited on a new iMac (2.16 Pentium Duo with 2 G's RAM) on FCP without a single hiccup.

I was just curious if anyone knows if my iMac with 1.8GHz Power PC, 2 G's RAM could handle it too?

Reason I ask is I'm thinking of selling my XL2 and buying a Canon XH-A1. I currently edit on Premiere Pro and would like to switch to Mac for editing, but don't want to have to buy another computer if I don't need.

Moved to Non-Linear Editing on the Mac from General HD Acquisition.

I have an older G5 that actually handles HDV like a champ. The only kicker is that render and movie export times are horrendous. So if waiting 4 hours for your movie to render is unacceptable then you might want to invest in a faster machine.

Yes, you can edit HDV (actually Apple Intermediate Codec) on a 1.8 Ghz G5 iMac. I've been doing it for months--and I only have 1 gig of RAM! And yes, render, export--and even capture--times are horrendous, just not as horrendous as coughing up 3 grand for a new computer!