AVCHD Headaches - Please Help!

So I just got my Canon HF-S100 last week. Amazing picture, easy to operate browsing of files via flash memory, nothing but pleased with it... until today when I try to copy and cut some footage to my computer.

I'm running Premier Pro CS4 on a Dell Inspiron 1.60GHz w/ 2 GB RAM, and I couldn't even get the footage to stream smoothly for more than 3 seconds in the playback window in Premier. Rendering a minute long timeline with zero effects did nothing to help playback - just as choppy and unable to stream as the first time. CPU usage during attempted playback was right around 100%.

I will be getting a 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 2 GB RAM (supports up to 4 GB RAM) in a few months for the school of Art & Design at U of M next year; is this a sufficient platform to edit AVCHD files smoothly and efficiently, say in the latest version of FCP?

I didn't buy the camera to simply point, shoot, and watch on the big screen. Did I go wrong in picking up an AVCHD camera if editing is my main intention?

I appreciate all your input as I still have a small window of time to possibly swap the camera out for an HDV model if appropriate, based upon your responses.

Thanks again!

Your MacBook Pro will be smooth as silk. I don't run FCP anymore, but in iMovie '09, everything is good.

FCP will convert your AVCHD files to either the AIC or ProRes codecs upon ingest and either of those will play back fine on an 2.4 Intel MBP. The ingest is close to real time while doing the conversion so the workflow is efficient but prores does take up more drive space. Any FX or edits will render much faster as well.

Editing software matters. Sony Vegas Pro does a good job. I had the same problem with other programs--no problems now.