Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[robustpuppy]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
If avocado is not actually a vegetable, don't post "Avocado is not a vegetable." Those posts blow.

It was a sincere question.

[lookingformarket]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Not going to find a minidvd camcorder for under $500, unless you try ebay or perhaps one of the NY camera shops. If you are a costco member, try this one:

costco dvd recorder

Costco's return policy is unbeatable.

epinions thinks there are 33, what am I missing? http://www.epinions.com/Camcorders--...format_mini_dv

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by lookingformarket
epinions thinks there are 33, what am I missing? http://www.epinions.com/Camcorders--...format_mini_dv

That's a listing of digital camcorders that record to MiniDV (tape). Your original post asked for a digital camcorder that records to MiniDVD (disc). If you don't know your own question, how are we supposed to help? And curiously, this camcorder post of yours comes on the heels of a "vigorous fellatio" post of yours on the FB. Coincidence?

[lookingformarket]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
If you don't know your own question, how are we supposed to help?

You're supposed to just buy me something and send it to me. I don't know a damn thing about these devices and didn't want to have to do any work. It appears that I have to work now. If I buy one of the tape things, can I export video to my harddrive and upload it to the web or send it via email?

I'm a hopeless gadget geek, but have never explored video camera stuff until your wife explained how much money Wonk was proposing to pay her for fetish video. Coincidence?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
Your original post asked for a digital camcorder that records to MiniDVD (disc).

What is "miniDVD"? There are MiniDV camcorders and DVD camcorders. Personally, I wouldn't bother with the latter. I'd stick with tape, and then use iMovie or some PC-based program (which won't be as good for the price) to edit the tape into a watchable DVD. Merely editing out the crap from a tape makes what you see 500% more watchable. Once you add fades, captions, and music, no one will groan when you pull it out.

As for price, dunno. But I think there are some basic Sonys that aren't much more than $500.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
People regularly play their iPods and PSPs down to zero battery. They'll be reticent about using their cell phone in the same way.

Rule of thumb: people who use the word "reticent" don't have clue fucking 1 about what the average person might do

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by lookingformarket
If I buy one of the tape things, can I export video to my harddrive and upload it to the web or send it via email?

?

Yes. Make sure your computer and the camera have Firewire/i.Link/IEEE1394 port/jack. One easily can then import the tape material to the computer, edit (with proper software), and send or post to web. Keep in mind that emailing video is a bandwidth hog. Full-quality video is about 12GB/hour, so one GB=5mins, which means that even a 30 second clip, at full quality, is ~80MB. So that means you'llhave to reduce the quality to a postage stamp, and keep it short. Even then, you're looking at 1-2MB emails, which won't please lingering dial-up users.

If you can, I'd post to a website and get people to download/stream to their computer.

Or just burn a bunch of short DVDs adn send them.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by lookingformarket
If I buy one of the tape things, can I export video to my harddrive and upload it to the web or send it via email?

I have a Canon Elura (or something like that) that records to MiniDV tape. The video can be imported into my PowerBook through FireWire. In the entire time I've owned the camera (basically a year) I've used it exactly four times, and I used iMovie and iDVD to burn a disc exactly once. While I can't complain about any kind of difficulty with the process, actually editing a videotape into the "500% better" condition mentioned by Burger is extremely time-intensive. Five years ago you couldn't do it without professional equipment, period. Now, consumers are learning why A/V geeks are always up in the middle of the night drinking Red Bull --- doing this shit well isn't hard, but it's extremely time-intensive compared to digital photography. Be warned.

[Atticus Grinch]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Rule of thumb: people who use the word "reticent" don't have clue fucking 1 about what the average person might do

That is, I think, a misconception. I am very knowledgable about the amusements of hoi polloi; I choose to disdain them after due consideration.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
In the entire time I've owned the camera (basically a year) I've used it exactly four times, and I used iMovie and iDVD to burn a disc exactly once. While I can't complain about any kind of difficulty with the process, actually editing a videotape into the "500% better" condition mentioned by Burger is extremely time-intensive.

No argument there--15 minutes of final production took many hours.

That said, having learned iMovie, I could probably do a rough cut in about 3x the length of the finished product. No fades, titles, etc., but cutting out crap like a camera aimed at the floor while remembering to remove the lens cap.

Making a legit movie takes a lot of time. One actually has to do things like think of a theme that will keep people watching.

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
...doing this shit well isn't hard, but it's extremely time-intensive compared to digital photography. Be warned.

Agreed it's a bit of a pain. It's comparable to the amount of effort that used to be involved in editing down a videotape, only with a much nicer result. If you never edited when going from camcorder to VHS in the old world, you're not likely to do much digital editing either.

OTOH, if all you are doing is going straight from camcorder to DVD, but you usually make multiple copies of your videos, you're going to spend just as much time copying the DVD as you would loading the MiniDV video onto your computer and burning multiple DVDs. In which case the MiniDV is preferable because you get a higher-quality recording from a lower-priced camcorder.

On topic of DVD authoring, what software do people like for PC these days? I'm ready to shell out a few bucks for a decent program to upgrade the junk that came with my burner.

[Flinty_McFlint]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
What is "miniDVD"? There are MiniDV camcorders and DVD camcorders. Personally, I wouldn't bother with the latter. I'd stick with tape, and then use iMovie or some PC-based program (which won't be as good for the price) to edit the tape into a watchable DVD. Merely editing out the crap from a tape makes what you see 500% more watchable. Once you add fades, captions, and music, no one will groan when you pull it out.

As for price, dunno. But I think there are some basic Sonys that aren't much more than $500.

DVD camcorders don't generally record to a full size DVD, but instead a smaller sized DVD, informally called miniDVDs. I have both MiniDV and miniDVD. Atticus is right, downloading from tape is really time consuming. 1 Hour of tape? Almost 1 hour to download, as it transfers at real time. Yeah, you could just dl the parts you want, but why wouldn't you want to dump all of it and edit it on your computer. Why limit the content you can use?

DVD is not as good quality, but if you're not Fellini and are just doing family videos, who cares. Master the dvd in the camera, stick it in your computer. Bam. It's on the hard drive, ready for editing.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Flinty_McFlint
DVD camcorders don't generally record to a full size DVD, but instead a smaller sized DVD, informally called miniDVDs. I have both MiniDV and miniDVD. Atticus is right, downloading from tape is really time consuming. 1 Hour of tape? Almost 1 hour to download, as it transfers at real time. Yeah, you could just dl the parts you want, but why wouldn't you want to dump all of it and edit it on your computer. Why limit the content you can use?

DVD is not as good quality, but if you're not Fellini and are just doing family videos, who cares. Master the dvd in the camera, stick it in your computer. Bam. It's on the hard drive, ready for editing.

Wasn't aware of the miniDVD.

But don't much care about the transfer speed, since it's something I can do while doing other things. "Set it and forget it!"

Also, using a DVD cam doesn't work with iMovie (unless they've changed) because of the way DVDs are encoded (it's the end encoding).

That said, if you're never going to bother editing, then a DVD cam probably is a good choice. If you are, I would stick with miniDV, which is basically the industry standard.

ETA: Google provides this stream of thoughts: engadget

[pony_trekker]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
While I can't complain about any kind of difficulty with the process, actually editing a videotape into the "500% better" condition mentioned by Burger is extremely time-intensive.

Do what I do: bring the powerbook to work and spend your day editing it instead of posting on these stupid boards.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Sidd Finch
The new Xbox may not be backwards-compatible. That would be a huge problem. Inevitably I will upgrade, but if I can't play my current stack of games then I will wait at least another six months before doing so.

And I will at least consider switching to PlayStation.

You hear me, Gates? You fucking HEAR what I'm SAYING?

Mr. Gates hears. And he obeys.

LOS ANGELES - Microsoft on Monday unveiled the high-profile games it planned for the launch of its new Xbox 360 console and revealed it would not abandon its existing Xbox platform for the foreseeable future.

There had been widespread speculation that Microsoft would make a clean break with its first attempt at a games console by winding down production of the original Xbox and making the new one incompatible with older games.

Microsoft, which hopes to overtake Sony as the number one console maker in the next generation of machines, made itself popular with current players of its Xbox titles when it announced that the 360 would be compatible with older version games, as well as the high-definition ones being produced especially for the 360.