Hi(Bonjour)!
If you expect to edit HDV, be prepare to buy a G5 desktop machine, with as much memory as you can afford (generaly, 4 Go RAM is a confortable number).
A 250 to 500 Go external firewire 800 drive to store capture clips is a the easiest way to avoid intensive disc seeking when play back or print to tape.
Globally, 1 second of HDV take 12 to 13 meg of space... one hour is ...35 to 40 Go, and do not forget to double those amounts if you compose video layer and needs much render.
HDV always needs to be rendered to be printed to camcorder(even if there is no editing). This process take a lot of computer calculation, a lot of time.
Last week-end I printed a 6.13 minutes to tape on my FX-1 and it tooks 39 minutes to do.
Apple cinema display (23 and 30 inch models) handle HDV natively with a one-to-one pixel ratio, HDV has a 1920x1080 pixels frame
But if you just need DV capability, a G4 do the job well, my iMac 1,25 was my main editing station for last 2 years.
The laptop solution is needed only if you plan to edit on the road. Laptop's performances are alway behing a destop system.
As I can see on your post, it seems that your needs (for today)are very simples, so a mid-range solution may be a good one.
The advices from Piero and Yan are very accurate.
Good luck
Michel Boissonneault
