Help for a newbe

I have decided to invest in a mini dv camcorder but im am a total newbe. My price range is £500-£600, if possible i would like to be able to use usb instaed of firwire so i do not have to buy a firewire card, I know there are a few usb models out there but im not sure what to get. I would also like any recomendations on a simple editing software to add sound, titles etc

[Duncan Craig]

I would recommend a Sony TRV 21, or 33.

And sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you cannot use USB to tranfer full quality video, So you will have to get a firewire card.

They are cheap though.

[Brian110507]

It seems very silly to spend up to £600 on a camcorder and then not want to spend £20 or so on a firewire card.

but the good news if you have windows XP is that there is a FREE entry level editing suite available, if you have XP you will have MovieMaker1 all ready installed, this is not to good but a vast improvement can be obtained also free by going to Microsofts website and downloading MovieMaker 2. This will get you started and you can choose more exspensive editing suites when you know what you want to do.

To find out what MovieMaker2 can do go to :-

www.papajohn.org

..

[MarkE19]

I have to agree with Beejaycee!

£20 or maybe less for a firewire card is nothing when you are spending £500+ on the camcorder. Sorry to give more bad news, but you will be spending far more than that on the PC in the not too distant future . As the bug bites and you get into NLE you will be needing: new Hard disk drive, more memory, new software etc etc etc.........
To keep the price down for now I would recommend Moviemaker2. It is basic, but it will do all you need. If you are lucky it might be all you ever need. You can get some very nice results with it.

Don't be too put off by the above. It is a lot of fun and you get results right from the start. Upgrades only kick in once you start to out grow the hardware/software and can be bought bit by bit.

Cut up the credit cards and have fun

Mark.

Allready got a powerfully PC as i do a lot of gaming.