Apple recommends disabling any sort of "energy saving" modes when using Final Cut, including sleep and cpu-cycling modes. I can't remember if it's in the manual or an article in Apple's online knowledge base, but there is a document describing a bunch of things you should do to set your system up for editing, including this.

FCP is fine with Tiger afaik.

I use an iMac (but w/ external Lightscribe drive instead of the Superdrive) and it's perfect. DV, HDV, all just works as it should and is quite fast. I also ran a dual G5 2ghz for about a year - the only appreciable difference between the iMac and the dual was 2nd CPU. I can't really work on anything else when the iMac is rendering (1 CPU is completely taxed) - for me, that's actually a plus. Forces me to leave my desk and do something else.

FCP (4.5) didn't seem to have any major multithread advantage with two CPUs when i was using it. Might have improved with FCP 5, but don't expect a 2x improvement.

I've also done a lot of DV work on a Powerbook 17 (that was my main workstation before I my old job got me a dual g5 (mentioned above)). It was slower than a G5, but completely suited for the work I was doing (corporate and edu TV editing).

This thread is full of all kinds of great info....I'd like to throw in some more info. Sorry if allready discussed.

A big difference between the new ibooks is that the 14" ibook comes with a superdrive so you can burn your own dvds. The 12" doesn't.

A side by side comparison:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....1.1.0.0.0.1.0

I have read what every one is saying about the 12" & 14" ibooks having the same size screen, but in the link above and seeing both side by side in person. I thought I could see a slight difference in the 14" being larger....

Also,

I bought an emac from the online apple store a few years ago and used the student discount. Apple never asked for me to send in a copy of my student id. I did have to click what school I am attending, so I'm not sure if they have a database of names....I'd bet they don't though. It seems we'd hear something about that if they did.

Apple most definitely asked to see my id when I went to their store amd bought my ipod.....

:)

thank you all
 

hi all
thanks for the feedback.. i have to reread through it all again (starting from the last point of comprehension) and process it a bit for myself.
really appreciate your points, jason and boyd, thank you again, for your time and generosity.. but i suppose thats what this community is all about.
best and ill be back soon, probably with more questions...
jeanette

Good luck Jeanette. Don't worry, hardware choices are just the beginning :)