I'm a Mac guy so I would recommend one of those. One can edit DV video "all day long" with a 20" iMac G5 which is an all in one solution or if you want the top of the line one of the new dual core Powermac G5's. If you're going to edit HD go for the PowerMac.
I personally like and use Final cut but Avid is great software as well. The cost of admission is a little higher with Avid SW but as Tool pointed out it's the standard out there at this point. If you're a student you can get a
h@ll of a deal on Avid DV thru journeyed.com.
I don't totally agree with Duncan on his take on hardware costs though. The PMacs take the same off the shelf drives and RAM as PC's so where's the cost difference? - super easy to install and setup as well. There really are no other cards or peripherals needed so you don't get nickel'd and dime'd to death.