Hi TimCS,
Some of this is IMHO, some is taken from general specs seen, hopefully this will help you out. I will tell you, overall I've had much more pleasure editing on a mac then on pc; DVD authoring has been my only sticking point that still irks me.
I'm going to break this into categories to make it easier to follow:
Software:
Included software - on a new Mac, it includes iLife '09 (new old stock may have '08 depending on how long it's been sitting on a shelf). While you can edit movies with iMovie and make a dvd with iDVD; if you're wanting a product that's similar to Premiere Pro, you won't be happy. iMovie is a great little program, but it doesn't use traditional timeline editing. Transitions, FX and other advanced features are limited. I'm sure there are people who use it professionally, and it might hold you over until you can afford something better but it's really more geared toward the home user.
I'm not a huge fan of iDVD. It's a very consumer oriented DVD authoring package. It works fairly well, but is no where near what I would desire from an authoring package. I came from using Encore DVD and DVDLab Pro; so I like a level of customization that's not in iDVD.
There are other package options, but they are limited:
1) You can create a windows VM, run your TMPGenc in the virtual machine to create your DVD image from your source files (ugly solution because it requires the use of a virtual machine)
2) Get Final Cut Studio which includes DVD Studio which is Apples high end DVD authoring package (of course, doing this will require you to get a bit of a higher end machine like an iMac with a dedicated video chipset to be fully supported by FCS - like I will say below, I don't know if FCS is fully compatible with 9400m chipset)
3) Look on ebay for an earlier version of DVD Studio which used to be a standalone product. I don't know the differences in versions, but on another post I had done looking for DVD authoring software, someone had chimed in that apple required people to come back in to get re-certified on the new version so something must have changed.
4) There is a small program called Moviegate. On many levels it's better then iDVD for certain things. I'm not saying it's the end-all be-all, but IMHO it's better then iDVD, but not near as good as DVD studio from what I've seen with capabilities.
Depending on the type of editing you do and what you do it for - you might be able to just use iMovie, but you may want to get something like Final Cut Express or Final Cut Studio. When I moved to Mac I couldn't afford FCS, so I got FCE. So far it has been a very good little program and similar in capability to the version of Premiere Pro I worked on. There is a huge price difference so shop wisely. Some people have talked about another editing package before, but I don't know what that was.
There is one other option, depending on if the editing package you use now is available for Mac, you may be able to shift your license over for free or a very low fee.
Hardware:
You can edit videos on just about any mac system. The amount you can do and what you can do is limited by the version of Mac. For example - let's say you're looking at used:
Final Cut Express FXPlug capability does not have full functionality on GMA based video cards - what it can't do exactly, I'm not sure - no one can give me a solid answer on this (including Apple who has it in their specs that not all of FXPlug filters will work, but they can't list which ones they supply won't work - go figure) - it will work for general cutting.
Final Cut Studio is not supported on gma based macbooks and mac mini - although they haven't really updated the site for macbooks/mini with the 9400m I can't say for sure if it works or not.
You can get a used MBP with a dedicated video chipset / memory for right around a $1000 (I've seen as low as 750 for a real old one, but I'd probably go for one with at least a 2ghz c2d if you can find it) - and it should work for you (you may have to search a bit for a good deal, but they are out there)
You may also want to look into an iMac, they're not badly priced, and when you consider a mini - once you add a keyboard and good monitor (unless you already have one) you're getting up into the price range of an iMac.
I picked up a mac mini to use at work (I used an existing screen, keyboard and mouse; upgraded the ram to 4 gig) over the weekend and tested some basic 1080i editing on it (using FCE) and so far it has worked well, although a bit slower on rendering then my Mac Pro at home (to be expected w/ 1/2 ram and 1/4 the cores).
Here are some links to help with research:
Apple - iMac - Tech Specs - Explore every iMac — inside and out. - look at the 24" model, as the 20" doesn't include a dedicated graphics chipset
Apple - Final Cut Express - a lesser version of Final Cut Pro (Final Cut Pro is included in Final Cut Studio) but a very capable package
Apple - Final Cut Studio 2 - the hoss of the Apple video editors. Includes a wide range of tools to make life easier, including: DVD Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion (product similar to adobe after effects), Color (for tweaking color of clips), Compressor (for transcoding) and more. EXPENSIVE. Best price I've seen has been around $800 on ebay for a new unopened. Normal retail is $1300, educational version is less, but doesn't allow for upgrades. Look on the tech specs for hardware requirements - be sure to check the requirements of ALL packages as some packages require different levels of hardware.
Home - moviegate
VirtualBox - free VM software. You still need to have a valid windows license, but at least you don't have to pay for the vm if you don't want to use parallels or fusion
no matter what you buy, make sure to research the hardware requirements of the software you want to use. When you have a plan for what you want to do (like you do), ALWAYS buy the hardware based on the software, not the hardware then pray the software will work. Check the software you want to use, figure that out - find the required and recommended specs and then determine what you want to buy. (as a simple example - let's say you were to get final cut studio, it requires 1 gig ram to run, but if you work with uncompressed HD video it recommends at least 4gig ram and to support all of the programs in the package to their fullest capability, you'll need a video card with at least 256mb dedicated ram (see requirements for the Color application)
I realize this is a long post, but I hope it helps.
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