Hey folks,
Im about to go buy a new system, and I have a small window to do it in. Since I don't have a lot of time to do all the research I would normally do, I wanted to call apon you. I have been looking around at Dell and HP, but their custimization options are weak. I have about 3grand to spend on a system. I need to be able to edit and put out a DVD right away. I use Vegas 4.0 and I am using both DV and analog cameras. Any suggestions would be great! I really can't get screwed on this one.

Thanks Folks
Michael

I also wanted to add, I am thinking of these two cards. The Canopus DV Raptor RT + Protools... and the Canopus ADVC 100 that would cost $685.

Is Vegas 4.0 compatible with the Canopus DV cards? I had heard that they weren't but I don't have a Canopus card so I don't know personally.

Any standard OHCI card works with Vegas. Most systems now have built-in firewire which should work fine. However, you will need some means of converting analog to digital if your camera will not do so. Many people use a Canopus ADVC-100 for this purpose. As for the system, I would start with 1 Gig RAM, as fast of a processor as I could afford, and as much hard drive as I could afford. Preferably separate hard drive(s) for video/audio.

Beyond just OHCI compatibility, what I mean was, in reviews I've read about Canopus' DVStorm2, for example, is that if you want to take advantage of its realtime capabilities, you have to use Premiere. Has anyone out there tried to use DVStorm2 with Vegas?

Vegas will NOT use any real-time features of any card. IF the Storm 2 has an OHCI driver, it could be used for normal capture and PTT.

I called Sonic Foundry and talked to a CR... they said both of the Canopus cards I want work fine with Vegas... also, they work fine with a direct firewire card.
Does anyone have suggestions for the actual system? AlienWare is too expensive, Dell and HP have limited custimization.... im sort of at a loss. Buying computers has changed a lot.

How about DVLine (http://www.dvline.com)?

It's fairly simple to build your own system. If you go to someplace like newegg.com, you can price out all the components. There's a lot of options available for the custom home builder, and for the daunting explorer who has no knowledge, gaining it is fairly simple. There's nothing quite like the feeling of putting power for the first time to all that investment...LOL

My last build included the following:

ASUS P4PE Deluxe Mobo
Intel 3.06 GHz 533 FSB CPU
2 sticks of 512 Mb Corsair PC2700 DDR
20 Gig Western Dig HD w 8Mb cache
120 Gig Western Dig HD w 8mb cache
ATi Radeon 9000 video card
ADC Pyro 1394 a firewire card (400 Mb/sec)
Sony DRU-500ax DVD burner
Echo Mona sound card
Vegas4 + DVDA software

The system works great.
Current buyers may want to consider the following :

ASUS P4X800
Intel 3.0 GHz 800 FSB CPU
2 sticks 512 Mb Corsair XMS PC3200 DDR
1394b firewire card (800Mb/sec)
Western Dig SATA Hard drives

RT with Canopus products does NOT require Premiere. The alternatives are the Canopus Rex/Storm/Raptor-Edits or their new Edius software.

I would recommend the Storm card over the RaptorRT and the external conversion box.

Not certain I would believe that Vegas is directly supported by anything other than the Canopus OHCI card in the Canopus stable.