HELP-purchasing Mac for first time to use for video editing

[Laurel]

My church is using more and more videos (shot and editied by me) and iswilling to purchase a Mac for video editing. Right now I am editing the videos with Sony Vegas Movie Studio 4.0 on a PC and it isn't cutting it.

I have television broadcasting experience and am more on the creative side than the technical side so I am concerned about purchasing a Mac that can grow with us. Of course, the budget is limited so I was looking into a Macbook pro, starting with imovie and making my way through Final Cut Express to Final Cut Pro eventually (when there is money to purcahse).

SO, what is my best bet for a mac that will be the easiest and quickest way to edit movies but still be able to grow into more? (this is strictly for editing and would be making movies to run through easyworship on our PC's)

[[Admin] osborn4]

Do you have a budget? Does it need to be a laptop?

[cmchamp]

If you're going to be editing lengthy footage, you'll not be happy with a laptop.

Couple of things to be aware of with Apples.

1: FW capture does not always work if you have an external FW HD
2: 17" MBP is the only MBP with an Express32 slot for an eSATA drive or RAID
3: Apples have 1 FW buss
4: Apples without internal PCIe/PCIx slots and additional drive bays are not "expandable."

IF you want a machine that you're going to grow with, especially if you're going to move to HD video, I would strongly recommend a MacPro with a each HD bay filled with a 500GB drive. You will be able to in the future add an external RAID for mass storage as well as additional capture cards, video cards, etc.

I am member of the MacXprts consultant network as well as the other stuff I do.
C.

[petereit]

I would look for a used Intel-based Mac Pro tower. I've seen capable systems going for around $1,000. And in the current economy, you might even find people who are getting out of the editing business willing to make you a great deal on a complete system with Final Cut Pro already installed.