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To really answer the question of "Buying a Digital Editing Platform", one has to look at hardware as well as software, since a lot of the time it's a matter of getting video off the old video tape, the video camera (analog or digital), a digital camera, or even film! So the first thing to do is to talk about at least three levels of video capture/editing hardware you can buy today that will suit your needs. I'll try to break them down into "Professional" ("Pro"), "Serious Hobbyist" ("Hobbyists") and someone who just wants to get an old VHS tape onto a DVD, let's called them the "Regular People" ("Amateurs", which I don't mean negatively.)

First off, there's several types of output that video devices provide, aside from proprietary ones like Sony's "D-Video" and others. The main ones are:

1. Regular coax cable, which everyone is familiar with: the black cables with the plug that you twist after you get the brass middle bit in the slot. This is pure analog output and not great quality.

2. Composite output: this is common now due to DVD players, and is far superior to coax. It's three "RCA" style plugs, a yellow one for video, and a white/red pair for left/right audio output.

3. S-video: this is the best, and requires a special "DIN" type cable to use, but transmits the most information and is the fastest, although some would argue that unless you're working with high-def (HD) video, composite is just as good.

Video capture and processing hardware for your PC/Mac:

1. Pro: Paradise Media Products makes the Osprey line of video capture cards which are considered the "Cadillac" of the market amongst pros I know. Most if not all of their products work in PCs and Macs, and are expensive but worth the money. You can always start with the simplest and most portable: the Osprey 50, which is a USB-based video capture/input set-up that can take composite or S-video input and capture it through a USB2 port. Not bad for around US $100.

2. Hobbyist: there's a ton of "video capture cards" out there, made specifically for this purpose. Given how inexpensive the Osprey 50 is and that you ultimately just want to get the video into a digital format stored on your computer, I don't know if I'd recommend bothering with a dedicated card any more, if you can buy a USB device and not have to open your computer up.

3. Regulars: many graphic cards that you use to play games or want to have installed so you can get the best video output for when you're editing now offer composite and S-video input

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