Avid is perhaps the most recognized name in professional nonlinear editing systems, with most of its products geared toward high-end users. Avid Xpress DV on IBM's IntelliStation M Pro is a bundle consisting of Avid's Xpress software and Canopus' DVRaptor I/O card installed and preconfigured on an IntelliStation. Avid includes Terran's Media Cleaner EZ and Sonic Solutions' DVDit LE as part of the Xpress DV system.

The IBM IntelliStation M Pro system that I tested was preconfigured complete with a tutorial project installed and all of the necessary assets on the internal hard drive. I attached a VGA monitor, a video monitor and a DV camera, which acted as a source deck. My first impressions were very positive because the bundle is actually a turnkey system. A bundle is often just a collection of products whereas a turnkey system is an integrated product with documentation and integrated features that make the system more complete.

The IntelliStation is an excellent system that comes with good documentation and support. The system features 128 MB of RAM, a 930 MHz P3 processor, a 9 GB LVD internal hard drive for the system, a 36 GB LVD internal media drive, an external SCSI connector and a display card. The product ships with a mouse, a keyboard and IBM software utilities on a CD. The accompanying Read Me First setup document-a single-sided page that folds out to the size of a poster-offers step-by-step instructions that are easy to follow.

I used the Canopus DV Raptor as the DV capture and playback card. This card, which I like and have reviewed before, uses a software DV codec but performs almost as if it were using hardware codecs. The card offers 1394 I/O for editing and analog connectors for monitoring the edit session on a video monitor.

Xpress DV may not be a Media Composer, but this solid product support Open Media Framework interchange, which allows you to move edited material to other systems that support OMF. Avid Publishing Wizard helps you publish Web-ready streaming-media content to Web sites and is part of the Xpress DV software.

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