1collaborator,
If it is in the AVHCD format, like my Canon, the format is only a couple of years old. It is just catching on with other video camera manufacturers so there isn't much older software that will allow you to edit it.
And you do need a Pentium "D" or a newer multiple core CPU to handle the HUGE files in that format.
I looked at programs for editing AVHCD and most of them were pretty costly. I tried Adobe Premiere (The chopped down $100 version) but when I read the reviews of their software I chickened out and canceled my order. Out of 79 reviews, over 65 said it was the worst software they ever purchased. It crashed over 90% of the time, according to most owners of the software.
It took me over 60 days to get my money back even though I canceled my order by phone 7 minutes after ordering. They made me spend about 20 minutes on the phone canceling it, then after jumping through a good many hoops, they told me it had been canceled. They assured me the order was canceled. Dealing with those people was a nightmare.
Two weeks later it was delivered to my door. DON'T ever order anything directly from Adobe. They were higher than third party sellers. I saw where guys had been trying to return something and get their money back for over 6 months in the comments section of Adobes site.
By the way, my copy of Adobe Premiere was completely in Spanish, so I couldn't read a word of it. I'd study and write my own program before I ever order one from Adobe. It would be far less of a hassle.
