Do not buy Final Cut Express if you need the timecode of the imported clips to match the SMPTE timecode on your source tapes. For example, if you shoot five tapes and set the timecode of each tape with a different hour-- Reel 1 set at 1:00:00:00, reel 2 set at 2:00:00:00, FCE captures the clips as if each tape started at 00:00:00:00. If you want to move between FCE and AVID or Premiere, you are screwed.