Now that I've finally gotten the sound working on my "new" computer, I can use my video editing software with it. Today is the first time I've done so, and it's amazing how much faster the conversion process goes. Depending on the quality of the source video and the compression type used, it used to take anywhere from five to eight times longer than the length of the video, so a seven-minute video could take up to an hour. Now, it takes no longer than twice as long as the video length.
And this faster process also means the video is less likely to become choppy or have de-synced audio, meaning I can be more ambitious with my projects. Yay!