New to dv camcorder

I have just bought a panasonic dv camcorder.How do i get the film onto the computer.I tried with the cable supplied usb2cable but i cannot seem to get it to work.i have tried with windows movie maker and also pinnacle studio version 9.Can you help i,m really stuck at this point.

Thanks

 

The USB cable supplied will not succesfully transfer full quality moving video you need a firewire cable and a firewire card in your PC.

firewire is also known as iLink, or IEEE1394

incidentaly if the copy of Windows Movie maker you have is version 1 you can get a free upgrade to version 2 at the microsoft website, version 2 is much much better than version 1.

 

Many newer PC's will already have a firewire port installed, so check before spending any more money. If not then you can buy a PCI card that will plug into the motherboard for around £20 and this will include the firewire cable to get you all conected. A firewire lead should cost you around £5 if you already have the port on the PC. Don't go into a Dixons etc and pay around £20 just for the lead.

Mark.