I use Power Director. I know you've seen some of my attempts Christine...

And for only $80, it works for me, and what I need to get done.

here is a review of sorts w/ PD included...

http://video-editing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Thanks for the link Bob. And thanks for the various recommendations from everybody.

I ended up buying the Vegas 8 Platinum edition (handles HD). It was $65.00 after a rebate from Sony.I read that Premiere would be really slow on my computer. We'll see if I figure out how to use it.

I'm thinking of upgrading the RAM on my 'puter. I should be able to put in two 1GB chips in the empty slots. Does anybody know if it's really that easy?

Yep, as long as you know how many slots you have, and how much is the max for your computer, adding the ram is as easy as opening your case and pushing it into the slots...