what would be a PC equivalent of Final Cut Pro? I've used that program at school on a Mac and I think it's a great program - what is one similar to it but can be used on a Windows XP?

If you are confident with a pro style editor like FCP then you will pick up another pro app quite quick.

I found premiere very easy to learn and Canopus edius also, even though they work in quite different ways.

Premiere has the edge when it comes to plug ins and add ons and has a strong compositing ability.

IMO for picture quality and HDV, Canopus Edius, codecs and filters can't be beaten.

Vegas is popular, and there are many around here who believe it to be as good as anything around, if not better.

Try a few for 30 days.

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Edius Pro 4 Broadcast, Edius DVX, ADVC300 -- PremPro 2.0, Matrox RT X100