Avid is also pretty nice. All three of those (FCP, Premiere, and Avid) are about the same for price, functionality, and even UI basics.
I've used all three, and I personally prefer FCP. The UI is a bit more intuitive than the others, and you can get a special Keyboard that has all the FCP shortcuts printed on it, which was very helpful to me. Unfortunately, you need a Mac to run it, but if you really want to get into A/V editing, it's worth buying a G5, just to dedicate it to FCP.
Also keep in mind: None of these three programs has released versions that will work in Vista.
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I've used all three, and I personally prefer FCP. The UI is a bit more intuitive than the others, and you can get a special Keyboard that has all the FCP shortcuts printed on it, which was very helpful to me. Unfortunately, you need a Mac to run it, but if you really want to get into A/V editing, it's worth buying a G5, just to dedicate it to FCP.
Also keep in mind: None of these three programs has released versions that will work in Vista.