A friend of mine (who's 14) just bought a T2i, and shows a remarkable talent for communicating story through video.

He has Premiere Elements, which apparently cannot handle 1920x1080@24p. I've looked all over the internet for a solution to this, and the only option seems to be in buying a different basic NLE. I'm a Final Cut Pro user, so I'm unaware of all the basic editing software options for the Windows platform.

What would be the best editing software that can actually handle true 24p in full HD for say, $100?

Transcoding the footage from the H.264 codec to whatever else is best for the program is not a problem.

A lot of people have good words to say about Pinnacle Studio, although hopefully someone else will come along and tell you what version you need. It's cheap.

Thanks James! Yes, Pinnacle Studio was the only one I could find in the assumed budget that would work with 24p. But the reviews are so mixed, I'm not sure if that's what I should recommend to him or not.

I don't think you have a choice on that budget to be frank. Without doubt it is a mature piece of software from a very reputable company.

I don't really think it makes to much difference if a few people don't like the way it works or think there are features missing. If you learn how to use it the way it is intended, nothing will stop you doing what you need to do.

It not only supports the correct timeline for your needs, it plays back the footage from the 550d very smoothly according to at least one person on this forum:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eos-rebel-t2i-eos-550d-hd/481826-how-do-some-quick-dirty-editting-550d-footage.html#post1550991

Thanks for the link to the other thread. It looks like Pinnacle Studio is the ticket for him! Thank you for your input, James!