I have about £800.00 to spend and am considering buying either a Dell or Mesh computer to use as a stand alone machine just for video editing. I want to be able to build slide shows, edit old VHS tapes by uploading them from a VCR to the computer. I also want to be able to connect a camcorder to the computer.

I don't mind spending the money but I don't want to finish up with an inappropriate specification I am not confident enough to use the customise facility so I wonder if anyone would care to propose a Dell or a Mesh machine for me:

I know that I need the following but do not know what else I need to make sure it is built into the machine.

A Dua/Quad Core processor.
4GB RAM.
Two hard drives.

The sort of spec you listed i.e, quad core, 4Gb ram, 2x hard drive will be more thasn enough. It beats what I have hands down and I edit high def video.

Make sure you have a firewire port in it - assuming you have a miniDV camcorder.

It's the capture from VHS tapes that is the non standard bit. YOu will likely need some extra hardware here or a camcorder with A/V passthru.

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