Just a few years ago, this problem was so overwhelming that more than a few specialty dealers were able to charge really big bucks for "turnkey systems" that came pre-configured for video editing.

Today (until high definition TV comes of age and muddies the water again) you can do it yourself, if you shop at the high end. In a nutshell, the faster your PC, and the more memory it has, and the larger and faster your hard drive(s), the better.

Windows XP on a 3.x GHz Pentium 4 with 1GB memory, a fully loaded top-drawer graphics card, and one or more large capacity 7200 rpm hard drives is pretty much a standard recommendation, even for entry level video editing software. (Vendors will claim you can get away with less. Most can't.) 

Macs also make great editing platforms, but I have precious little  first had experience with them.

It has been true for the last five years: the fastest PCs are just fast enough for current video editing software. As soon as PCs get faster, software developers add features that harness that power, leveling the playing field once again.

If your current PC does not run Windows XP, is less than a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4, has low capacity 5400-rpm hard drives, or has a budget video card, you will experience frustration until you upgrade. For more, see System Recommendations on our Video Links page.
 

Copyright 2006-2007 John Cardiff