You are not going to be able to do AVCHD, which most camcorders now use. With the onboard Intel graphics, MPEG 2 HD will be a struggle. You might get some help by adding a better graphics card, but AVCHD will likely still be out of reach, or crash a lot at best. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

Hmmm, Thought that might be the case. Best buy a dedicated fast machine. Do desktops still have an advantage in this area or has the spec of laptops caught up enough to be able to handle it? A mate's laptop has i7 core.

Thanks for that. Regards,
James.

Powerbox;

Since this is a laptop, you do not have the option to upgrade the video card.

Newer Gaming laptops (maybe the one you say your friend has) are STARTING to include a a second video card for HD and using technology (like Optimus) to switch over to the Hi-Res card for graphic intense application. However, drivers have not been consistent in their ability to leverage this technology successfully, and other laptop users have reported issues here.

Once this is worked out, these laptops may provide a workable environment for PD9. Until they do, I am not sure I would consider using them as my dedicated Video Editing Platform.

There are some Optimus laptop users here in the forum. Maybe one of them will have a recommendation for you.

Also, you have very limited space on your C: drive. I would expect PD9 to struggle on this machine.

Thanks Fred. Sounds like a desktop would be better for future proofing, with its more capable expansion options, but I thought I'd ask anyway.

No PD is flying, but I'm only editing Std DV at the mo, and I have a lot of Editing Software trails running at the moment, which will be deleted real soon. I've settled on PD and Sony movie edit software. I can always increase the partition.

Thanks again for your input, much appreciated. Regards,
James.