gift help - which camera/laptop combo do I buy for a newbie

[galt35]

if this is too basic for this forum please let me know...I am at my wits end and am getting too close to Dec 25 to continue researching.

Dad is wanting to buy Mom a Mac and camera which would make it easy for her to take movies of her new grandchild and edit them. I have convinced them to make the switch to Mac but cannot find a satisfactory answer about what to buy. He wants something with a fast processor and plenty of memory and a camera that will not require any kind of format transfer from the camera to the editing software (iMovie?).

The requirements are first and formost ease of use. She would like to take a video, transfer it to her laptop and cut it, add music, some simple editing features and burn it for use on normal DVDs.

I come to this forum because I don't know if iMovie is enough or Final Cut would be required (maybe too technical). Is an ibook enough or a Power book best? I just received a SONY DCR-DVD92 DVD Handycam and this is not a good camcorder solution as you have to rip any content to edit it.

If anyone has a good suggestion hardware and software wise that will help her accomplish these tasks with as much ease as possible I would really appreciate it.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Powerbook 15" Superdrive, 2 Gb RAM, external mouse, add a large external 3.5" Firewire 800 hard drive for overflow storage and backups, choose a MiniDV camera (tape, not HD or DVD) that has a firewire (i.link, IEE1394) output, and preferably analog inputs with play-through capability (for digitizing older VHS tapes). Bob's your Uncle. iMovie will be fine until she turns pro with it, then she can upgrade to Final Cut Express.

(The Powerbook is faster, has the better screen, better keyboard and both Firewire 400 and 800 ports.)

 

[mduser63]

CanadaRAM's suggestion is exactly what I would suggest. I would add that if she didn't need/want a laptop, an iMac G5 would be a really good choice as well. Based on what you said, iMovie and iDVD should be just fine for her needs. In the future she can always upgrade.