The Mac Pro line hasn't received a major refresh in quite a while, and the Apple CEO hinted that something big would be coming next Spring.  So I would hesitate to buy a Mac Pro until we see what he has got up his sleeve.  In the meantime, the iMac has become a very fast and capable machine, with a great screen.  

Final Cut Pro X got a lot of flack from the professional video editors when it appeared in Spring 2011, because of missing features.  Several of the most important features have been quietly added during the last year, and it is a useable program now.  I think upgrading from Final Cut 4, you will see a vast improvement of power, speed, and ease of use.  Adobe Premiere has reentered the Mac market, and that provides another option.  

If I were buying, I would pick a 27" iMac with Final Cut Pro X, and connect it to a second monitor of similar size.  Add some decent speakers, and you will have a very nice video editing station.  

Derek

Derek Roff
[log in to unmask]

**************************************************************************

LLTI is a service of IALLT, the International Association for

Language Learning Technologies (http://iallt.org/), and The Consortium for

Language Teaching and Learning (http://www.languageconsortium.org/).

Join IALLT at http://iallt.org.

Subscribe, unsubscribe, search the archives at

http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A0=LLTI

Otmar Foelsche, LLTI-Editor ([log in to unmask])

**************************************************************************