go with a macbook or macbook pro for sure. As for as editting video is concerned, iMovie is a great beginner's program, very simple to use. Plus with a mac you can eventually upgrade to Final Cut or Adobe Premiere if you want. As far as audio stuff is concerned, macs also have garageband which is alot of fun to fool around on, make simple stuff. Mac's also dont really have any problems with viruses which is a huge plus. As was said earlier in the thread, make sure you go with some sort of extended warranty thing, because although you might think that you won't need it...its always good to have down the line