New Core Duo Imac - what else do I need?
 

Here is one thing - how can I capture video off my hi-def cable box to the mac?

Winston,

Congrats on the new Imac! My apologies for editing your original post as I was trying to reply to it.

If your cable box provides 1394 output, you can download the Firewire Developers Toolkit from Apple for free. There is an application in there called Virtual DVHS. I have used it to capture OTA stuff from my Mitsubishi TV and it works great.

regards,

-gb-

Hey Winston. I have the same camera and the same computer.
You want to have more than 512 of RAM to edit HDV footage, you should have between 1 and 2gb of RAM. I have 1.5 and it works nicely, but I'm looking forward to expanding to 2gb (by the way, I'm a film student).

About your last question, I'm sorry but I don't know what a hi-def cable box is.