PrE 9 (Windows) vs. Final Cut Express 4 (Mac)

Hi,
I've managed to do real work with PrE 4 on my Sony laptop and have generated a few reasonably good videos for my purposes at work. I bought PrE 8 but never managed to make it work, even on a clean machine running Win 7. I've mentioned my trevails elsewhere on this forum.
I called Adobe direct sales, mentioned that it's reasonably common knowledge that PrE 8 doesn't work, and asked if there was any deal going to v. 9. As the final cost is only $79 after rebate, I wasn't surprised when they said no. But PrE 8 did not work at all for me. I got 0 utility out of it.
Still, my experience with PrE 4 keeps me hopeful and I have some investment in the Premiere Elements UI.
I am considering the following:
New Windows machine with PrE 9
New Mac with Final Cut Express 4
I quickly read some user reviews at Apple.com and it appears that even FCE4 has some issues, although those were short user reviews, not a forum like this with details and responses.
Anyways, is there anyone who can give me a high-level comparison of the two programs? I would like to move to AVCHD. I like the Avid-style interface. Is there another inexpensive alternative I should be considering?
Also, is Premiere Pro that much better? I would consider that but when I read about problems with video drivers, stability, etc., I assume those relate to a common code base between Pro and Elements. Also, my problems with PrE 8 have made me gunshy about dropping the bigger bucks with Adobe for Pro.
Thanks.
Steve

Well, you're asking to cover a lot in a brief forum post. Especially since it's a bit like comparing a sedan to an SUV to a pick-up to a minivan. They all have four wheels -- but which serves you best depends on your specific needs.
BTW, as I'm sure you're aware, Premiere Elements 9 is now available for the Mac too. So, although, at least in my experience, version 9 has fixed most of the bugginess of version 8 on the Windows platform, it also runs quite well on a Mac too. So that gives you another option.
Basically, Premiere Elements is a consumer program. It's got lots of pro features, but it's very user friendly and easy to work with.
Final Cut Express is just like Final Cut Pro, except without all the high-end features. Like FCP, Express can be challenging to learn. But, in my experience, I've not seen any bugginess with it.
Final Cut will digest pretty much anything you feed it. It also edits AVCHD very efficiently, since it does so using a proxy codec -- sort of a lower-rez preview file. The challenge is that this means that, when you want to output your project, it can take hours for the program to render it.
Both Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro are used by professionals. Each has its own advantages. As I've said, Final Cut Pro has a lot in common with Final Cut Express -- but there are very few commonalities between Premiere Elements and Premiere Pro. They both edit video and look somewhat alike -- but comparing one to the other is like comparing a Honda Civic to a Mack truck. It's not really a fair comparison.
As for the bugginess you read about online -- I guarantee that there's not a program or computer system in the world that SOMEBODY hasn't reported issues with. The only true way to know if a program will work on your system or not is to download the free trial.
So -- if I can use the car metaphor one more time -- give them all a test drive. Only you know what's right for your needs.

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Thank you Tom
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Thank You

^^^
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