a cheap alternative
 

Im not a pro like some of these guys, but i have used several NLEs, and here is my advice for something that is quick to pick up but will give you room to grow---

hustle on down to best buy and get an inexpensive OHCI compatible firewire card and pick up the extremely marked down (149.00 from a list of 469.00) Vegas Video 2.0 by Sonic Foundry.
Vegas is about on the level of Adobe premiere, with much more impressive audio capabilities and a very intuitive interface. It also sports its own separate capture program. Time is of the essence though because V V 3.0 just came out, so I dont imagine 2.0 will be on the shelves much longer.
Check out sonicfoundry.com for info and demos.

PS- if you get it and like it, you can get the upgrade to 3.0 for less than $200, still a really good net investment for such a powerful NLE.

good luck

Vegas Video is not a bad solution, especially at that price.

The Canopus systems are indeed a bit more upscale and are intended for those who are serious (i.e., want to make money) about editing. Hope this helps,

On a system...
 

You may want to check my classified on this forum. It would be a very good production bundle to get started with unless you are absolutlly sold on a Canon.

Mines a VX2000 with a G4 and FCP with some extras at a very good price.

Apple? Mac?
 

I also heard that Apple Macs were excellent editing systems. Can anyone tell me how I can set up a G4 733 for under $2500 for DV editing? And who can I go to for this. Thank you.

You can probably get a G4 733 for 1999.00 at some of the local Comp USA's, Fry's or MicroCenters as it's a generation old. For 2495.00, you can get a G4 867 with a Super drive (DVD-R/CD-R) 128MB RAM almost anywhere they sell Mac's.

Premeir 6 is about 500.00/250.00 from the Academic outlets online (if you qualify)

IMHO (and I've used both Macs and PCs in a number of graphic environments) the Mac is faster primarily due to the multi layer processing vs. a PC and the Mac seems more stable from an OS perspective. Macs have firewire built in, PCs don't. The fewer drivers you have to reconcile, the better however the PC is significantly less expensive.

I might be willing to break up my system - G4 867 Super Drive - that has FCP 2.0 , Premeir 6, Photoshop 6 and Final Draft loaded for 2500.00 plus shipping (would be cheaper than tax) as someone locally wants my VX2000

Keep me posted