Not looking to start an anti-Mac flame war or anything, I'm just not a Mac person, or an Intel person either. I build my PC's from the ground up with Athlon processors, overclock and customize the heck out of them- and you just can't do any of that with a Mac. I'm not really a fan of any of the software in the Final Cut suite, and I could never walk away from being able to use 3DSmax, Reason, and SoundForge.

I've been working on the Mac platform at my job for a couple of years now, and it certainly has its strengths, but at the end of the day it's still just not for me- it's just not a good fit for the way I like to operate.

And PC's are great for people like you, who like to tinker and get every last little bit of processor power out their machine, understand what service packs and patches should be installed to avoid viruses and spyware, and how to modify the registry and troubleshoot when a new piece of software has somehow disabled the functionality of another.

Macs really are designed for the rest of us who would rather just have a reliable platform that works well consistently, predictably, and not think about what is going on under the hood.
I've dealt with enough Avids running on Windows in professional post houses to know that when I fill out my timesheets, sometimes up to 30% of my day was logged as downtime. In all honesty, I just simply have less downtime with Avid running on Mac, and generally zero downtime running Final Cut Pro. Downtime is an important factor when the client is waiting for their master tape to make the Fedex deadline.

I think that Boot Camp and Virtualization Technology will make Mac users like myself have the best of both worlds.
Now I can buy a Macbook Pro and run my Mac apps and day-to-day iLife stuff like usual, but have the option to purchase and use great Windows-only software like DVRack.
And then there is the great selection of games for Windows!

Me neither but here is my $0.02. I started using PCs with the original XT with DOS 2.11. Always been a PC person. Since the 90's I started building my own PC boxes, first with Windows and then Linux. Heck, I would recompile the Linux kernel just to have the NTFS and other modules active by default on my Redhat installation. Then, 5 years ago, I started my own business and I couldn't have somebody paying me a salary just to tinker a whole day with my PC. Borland used to do that :)

I just needed a great machine that worked without tinkering, tweaking etc.
On top of that, because I run a e-business, the fear of being attacked by thousands of viruses was a real concern.
I bought my first PowerBook and never looked back. I was able to be up and running, with no Mac experience, in minutes. The wireless network worked the first time! The printer didn't need any driver. My DV camera was recognized immediately. Etc. etc. etc.

While being a very technical person, I found that using the Mac actually improved my quality of life. No exageration here. The level of stress caused by using high technology has decreased greatly and now I can spend more time pursuing my new interest, moviemaking being one :)

Again, just my personal experience.

Amen to that Tim, For there is nothing worst than your system going down in front of the client and having to reboot the system right there and then, I've been there done that, With Mac I have a peace of mind...

Yep- that pretty much sums it up from all angles. With specific regard to Avid, though- despite my love for its interface- it's simply not very reliable on either the PC or Mac platform. I have about the same amount of issues with crashes and bugs using Avid at home as I do at work. When it comes to hardware, storage, and deck compatibility, Avid systems, from Xpress all the way up to Nitris, are the pickiest, most finicky platforms I've ever dealt with.

This definitely falls under the FWIW category, but I've built a multi-studio creative company around Macs, 64 track recording room running Digital Performer, film/video suites running FCP, design studio with probably 8 Macs, interactive...the whole nine yards.

I spent $40k just a few years ago to set up just one Media 100 suite, when we moved into our new offices and studios on the farm this year I literally used the media 100 for a door stop.
I can setup a fully functional multimedia suite running FCP Studio for $10k today in about 24 hours including all the hardware down to quality audio monitors.

As a music and audio prodcucer as well as film producer, I've been ushering a lot of friends in the industry away from their dedicated recording gear into Mac/Digital Performer setups and it's virtually revolutionizing the way they produce.

Mac did the same for us over the years in all media.
To me it's like a BMW Roadster, if you drive one, you understand why.
Chevy's are good too and they'll also get you to the store and to work.

If FCP 5 is not editing 24p, then how are a lot of you editing the HDV? And does this apply to 24p DV, and what are the work arounds?

Jeremey,

I invite you to read my post in this thread.

Thanks, Tim. I just saw that. Jumped the gun on the post a little. While I have your attention I want to say that I HIGHLY appreciate the time and effort you, and others on this board like you, have taken to illustrate how it is possible to create some amazing, quality productions using these cameras. I look forward to learning a lot more!

Oh, make no mistake- I'm not driving a Chevy over here. My PC at home is a Formula 1 race car. I spend 40-50 hours a week on a dual 2.7 gig G5 when I'm at work, and about as much time on my souped up Athlon at home, and there's really no comparison in terms of hardware performance at all. But the reason why is because I've handpicked the best, cleanest power supply money can buy, the best overclocking motherboard, the fastest RAM, custom made water blocks, and on and on and on.

Thing is- I'm just one guy with one rig who has the time and desire to tweak it to no end and keep it maintained. If I were in your shoes, (and I someday hope to be!) and was looking to furnish a production house with multiple workstations- the strength of the Mac platform becomes pretty evident. Who in the world is going to custom build and maintain a couple dozen high-end PC workstations for a business like that? You'd be paying more in IT costs in the first year than you would for the hardware- not to mention downtime. It's precisely the reason I'm chained to a Mac from 8-5 every day...