for the past 3 months, there's an on going 3 part article about NLE and it compared them all, AVID, Pinnacle Edition, Premiere Pro, FCP, Sony Vegas, and it gives a table of comparison what one can do better than the other, etc.
The conclusion is simple, not one of them is the TOP NOTCH, one can be good for one thing, while the other is good for other. It's again, a preference choice.
I've grew up with both mac and pc, but I've ventured more into PC now, not to mention, I have 7 computers, 4 of them are for editing, they haven't crash on me for years... And they are all hooked to internet, doing a lot of browsing/editing, etc.
I love my Premiere Pro, and I've realized I didn't learn much about it compared to what others can do with. This was realized recently thanks to a DVD from Adobe, called 2005 Adobe Customer Sampler Reel, in 30 mins, it showcase customers that used Adobe products to make their video (commercial, ad, promotional, etc), and they blew me away, really, it's that good.
As for FCP blows Premiere away? that's a preference matter, if you have used FCP for years, of course, it's going to be better than any other NLE software. If you have been using Sony Vegas for quite sometime you would never be able to feel comfortable with Premiere or FCP.
FCP is however, a GOOD software for MAC, it's mainly for them, not for PC and probably not going to go for PC (who knows)...
It's like what above said, it's a preference choice, if you like one system, get it, learn it, master it. After all it's not the tools, but the person working with them that can make wonders.
If you can, call Adobe up and see if they can send you a copy of their 2005 Adobe Customer Sampler Reel, you would really be impressed what they've done with it...
As with 3D Animation, most uses Lightwave, Maya, 3ds Max, I don't think it's matter of machine but what the software requires for you to get it done right...
You probably should first sit down and think what do you want to do with the machine? Editing and 3D? then look at the editing software and 3D software and see which would work best on the type of computers you want (PC or Mac) then from there decide what system to go with (configuration of a PC or MAC) and there, you will have a system of your liking, perhaps not for everyone else but for you it would work well...
Johnny Wu
www.mdifilm.com