[MacDV] Final Cut Upgrades + New Macs

[Steve Robertson]

Hi again -

For years, I edited a lot of video using an iMac 800KHz with 768 MB  
ram and the original Final Cut Express. After a layoff, I'm getting  
back into video editing. At the moment, I'm trying to use a Mac Mini  
1.4 GHz with 512MB ram and Final Cut Express HD 3.0. This combo  
works, but it seems to be much more sluggish than the old setup.

Since it's costly to increase the ram in a Mini, I'm thinking about  
trying to move my video editing to my MacBook with the original Intel  
cpu. I can easily upgrade this machine to 2 GB ram.

So, do you think Final Cut Express HD 3.5 will run smoothly on the  
MacBook? Would I be forced to start by installing Final Cut Express  
1.0 on the MacBook, then installing the HD 3.0 upgrade and then the  
HD 3.5 upgrade?

I recall that when I installed the HD 3.0 upgrade, I was surprised to  
learn that I would have to hunt down the old FCE 1.0 serial number -  
even though 1.0 was already installed on the machine!

Thanks,
Steve R.