I heard more than one person say: Once when you switch to a Mac, you will never switch back. In fact, after the sister of a friend knew about my new iMac, she said “Welcome to Mac, now you will never ever switch back!” And so far I must say... she is right.
Researching about which personal computer would be the best option for video editing, I came to the conclusion the best option is a Mac. Why? Well, I bet most of us know Macs are the best machines in the market since about 2 decades for photo and video editing. But when you are considering doing the switch yourself (in my case from a Windows PC); you kind of think about the switch twice. I had experience with Macs at work, and I always loved them (since supporting them is in my 'job description'); but I did some more thorough research since these are my own files built for years on a Windows PC. Don't get me wrong, I do like Windows PCs and that is why I invested more research time before I made the decision of 'converting' to a Mac.
I had a new need, editing HD video film like shot in 24fps (24p). And all I read is the best machines for such task are Mac Pros. I did consider them, but a good Mac Pro system is about 5k. I did not want to spend that much money because of two reasons: 1) I do NOT have that kind of money, 2) I am NOT a big movie/TV studio. So, then my second question was about which software do I want to use.
I heard Avid Media Composer 4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Sony Vegas Pro 9 were the best on the Windows side. And Final Cut Studio was the best on the Mac side. So, basically I decided to go with a Mac because:
#1
Final Cut Studio ONLY runs on a Mac (with an Intel chip) and therefore WILL NOT run on a Windows PC.
And Avid Media Composer 4, Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and Sony Vegas Pro 9 run on a Windows PC and ALSO on a Mac.
#2
I can also run Windows on my Mac if I decided to do so, using for example a software like 'Parallels Desktop 5' which we have at our Mac Book at work and runs flawlessly.
#3
Industries' standard for big movie studios in terms of editing software, is Avid (for the most part) for what I read. But it is just too pricey for my budget. Plus, I also heard and read that Final Cut Studio has been gaining a lot of that 'standard' field from its first release and since then millions of editors around the world use it. In fact, several big movies were edited with Final Cut Studio (you can check out wikipedia or Apple's website for more information).
In terms of pricing, as of today (December of 2009), they rank (from priciest to cheapest):
Avid Media Composer 4
Final Cut Sudio
Adobe Premiere CS4
Sony Vegas Pro 9
Which Mac then? Well, I did not go with a Mac Pro mainly due to budget limitations. But I went with one of those newest cool 27' iMacs. In my particular situation, it is I believe the best deal. Because, even though an iMac is not as upgradable as the Mac Pros (you also need to buy a monitor for a Mac Pro when iMacs are machine and monitor together); the power you get and the coolest monitor (ever made?) you get for the buck, makes it worth the investment. I did get one of the 'QUAD-CORE' models tough (2.66GHz Intel Core i5) with 4GB or RAM , 1TB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB of video RAM.
All that said, this is the gear I believe is best for my particular situation. Macs are great, reliable, stylish, beautiful, remarkable, fun, safe and rewarding. I would recommend you the same configuration or a very similar one if you are on a similar situation. But be warned! Once when you switch to a Mac... you will probably never, EVER switch back!
