Hi everyone I'm looking at buying a Macbook with Final Cut Express very soon and was curious about how well they perform with HDV footage. I'll be working with just DV to start but within the year I may be moving up to HDV. I can't afford a a Macbook Pro and I really want a laptop I can take with me because it will also double as my school machine.

Dave Nagel did a pretty comprehensove review with benchmarks and everything:
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45698
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=43717
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=44258
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=44807
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45099
http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45392

According to Apple, MacBooks are not compatible with Final Cut Pro... (read it somewhere on their website)
If you want an advice just save a bit more money and go for the PRO (which I can't undersatand why they don't have a FireWire 800 port if they're called pro anyway - except for the 17'' inch)