GH1 720 in PP CS4 to SD DVD Mac workflow time verification please...
 

I'm shooting with a GH1 (720 60P) and am importing the native files to Premiere Pro CS4 on a MacBook Pro (dual 2.4 ghz 4 gig ram) and dropping them all on a 29.97 timeline.... some title cards at the intro and ending, fade-in on the first clip and fade out on the last clip - no other editing. I have no problem with real-time playback. Total length of timeline is 1 hour. I then export the timeline to Media Encoder and choose "Mpeg-DVD" and "NTSC Progressive Widescreen High Quality" with default settings, and change the audio to "Dolby Digital" and start the encode. It takes roughly 12 hours to encode the one hour of footage. I also tried "NTSC Widescreen High Quality" - same 12 hours.

I am fully aware of how AVCHD can tax your system... what I was wanting to know is there a faster way to get AVCHD to a SD DVD format on a Mac? I also have FCS2 and can convert the clips to Pro-res and go that route, just hoping someone can give me an estimation (for one hour of AVCHD footage) if I go that route and save me the time of testing it because Im using my laptop for an edit right now. I'd rather stay in PP CS4 and work with native files so I don't have to deal with the huge converted ones, but if it greatly decreases the encoding time I will go buy bigger drives.
Don't use a PC, must be a Mac workflow.

Any help/tips would be greatly appreciated - thanks.