Hi,
I have worked with both Avid, Vegas and Premiere.
I think it comes down to different things. First of all it is a matter of what you like, GUI, workflow, shotcuts etc. I found Avid hard to learn, it was for me imho quite a lot different from the others. I have Vegas too, but had some small performanceissues. Perhaps I would have stuck with Vegas if I did not have theese small issues.
I am now exploring PPRO 2.0. Have worked a lot with the 6.5 in the good “A/B” days 😉 and liked it a lot then. I don’t know FCP, but I have the feeling that all theese packages have somewhat the same capabilities.
I would download some trialversions and check for yourself what you like. You can look at specs. and that is fine, but at the end of the day it is the actual work you get done that matters.
You could make a small project in all of the packages to see which one is best for you in practilcal work.
I like PPRO a lot, especially the combination with Audition where you can edit the sound directly in audition, and that is so cool if you like I often have sound that needs a bit tweaking.
It is very hard to tell you what to get, try out yourself…..
Just my 2 cents – hope it helps you on.
/Ulf
Rgds.
/Ulf – Denmark