Canon AVCHD vrs SVP8

I didnt realize the can of worms i was opening when i decided to join the AVCHD hell world. After much research, I decided to purchase the canon hf100 AVCHD camera. Its a great camera and the HD 1920 X 1080 in cinema mode looks fantastic. The problem is finding something to edit with. I did some research on editing programs and decided to go with Sony Vegas Pro 8. I was under the impression that they supported Canon. They do not support canon cameras. I know some computer experts are indeed editing their canon AVCHD on sony vegas pro 8., but cant get a hold of them. I had an old Hp compaq pressario with 1 gig of ram and 1.3 ghrz processor speed and some how managed to import files from my sandisk memory stick and capture them onto sony vegas pro 8. The problem was the play back was horrible and choppy. I assumed that it was my weak CPU and my low memory. So i went out and purchased a new computer. For some reason though my new computer a ( gateway intel Core 2 Quad 64 bit processor with 4 gigs of ram / giant hard drive and windows vista) will not import my memory stick files and or does not recognize mts files . i know there is a way to get vegas to work, but cant figure it out. I must of had a codec on that old computer. Sony will not providede tech support, because they only endorse their stuff and panasonic. The crappy pixma software that came with the camera wont work either. Pixma was bought up by Targetsoft Inc and they do not provide tech support. At this point im desperate and need some help.If anybody has any suggestions or ideas i would love to see them. Thanks again.