Good AVI (movie editor but AVI better) Editor for novice PC users?

[The Stig]

A friend of mine wants to edit AVI videos. I gave her virtual dub but I think that'd be too complex down the line.

Her Windows Movie Maker is botched up, and I'm a bit too far away to try any fixes.

Can anyone recommend a newbie friendly application, preferably free, that can edit AVIs such as chopping it up and then slapping it together that kinda thing? Similar to Adobe Premiere really, but easy easy easy simple!

[Tymon]

Sony Vegas is pretty simple.

I mean, all you have to do is drag over the parts of the clip you want to edit and right click + add stuff

[Callisto]

Vegas is great but it's expensive as shit to get a legit version. There's a relatively popular crack out there that works for it if you want to go that route, I used it before and it worked fine when I used it, but I've had several Win7 crashes that the cracked software could have potentially contributed to(I think it was more of a RAM voltage issue but the Vegas crack was one of the few non-legit things on my PC).

[Isiolia]

There's Premiere Elements which isn't free (neither is Vegas, legally speaking)...but certainly cheaper. Could try looking here http://www.videohelp.com/tools/secti...itors-advanced

Were it a few years ago, Avid Free DV would be a good suggestion, but they pulled it D:<

[The Stig]

Hey thanks for the replies!

Sony Vegas holy moly it's £500!!!

Premiere Elements, I just had a quick look. The price is more reasonable for sure.

I'll get her to download the trial and see if she likes it, because I'm gonna educate her the fact if she's serious about making her mini band videos (she travels to various pubs singing) publicly available then she should invest in some minor money to do this!

And thanks for linky Isiolia, lots of info!