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January 11, 2008
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday folks! I hope this newsletter finds everyone well. This week's topic is all about the variety of camcorder formats that exist today. Many members, ranging from beginners to seasoned videographers, came through for Russ and shared their expertise, recommendations, and passion on this topic--we are all very fortunate to have you here to participate. So for starters, I picked out a few answers, but honestly, I have to congratulate all our supporting members who offered their advice--your knowledge and suggestions passed down to us are invaluable.
With so many different camcorder formats available today, including the decision to go high definition or not, buying a new camcorder can be a daunting task--especially for the folks like myself who haven't been around the camcorder scene for quite some time. So if you are like Russ and me, who are contemplating on getting a new camcorder, read through all the submissions and hopefully this information will prove helpful and give you a good sense of what camcorder type suits your needs best. And, as always, if you have any additional information to share, I invite you to join in and tell all. Thank you everyone and have a great weekend!
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Member Question of the Week
I would like to get rid of my Sony Hi-8 camcorder and get
something better. In the stores, I see lots of different
styles including hard-drive, miniDVD, and even memory card
formats. There are even some high-definition camcorders that
I have seen for under $1,000 that record to HDV. What is the
difference here? I know there has to be pros and cons to
each--please let me know what they are. Is it worth my time
to get an HD camcorder, or am I better off waiting another six
to 12 months, or should I just stick with the miniDVD and
forget the HD hype? Thanks!
Submitted by:
Russ E.
Vote for the most helpful answer
 Below are the answers we've selected for you to vote on. Click on the title to read the answer by the member.
Here are the selected submissions grouped in one post.
Time to vote! Now that you've read our members' answers, which would you consider the most helpful? Click on the button to weigh in on the decision.
(Note: Below is the section to vote, please read the individual answers above before casting your vote below.)
 Answer by forkboy
Answer by caskater4
Answer by Steven W Rose
For the member whose answer was voted the
most helpful by our community, we will send
this member some cool CNET branded gear.
 Previous week's Q&AThe votes are in! Below is the answer voted most helpful by our community to last week's question.
Hi! Very simple question to the Vista gurus out there. What
can I do to improve the speed of a Vista machine? Seems like
my old expired computer with 98SE was faster, but how can
this be when I have four times more memory (2GB), a huge
hard drive of 250GB, a better video card, I think, and a much
faster processor? Vista is nice and pretty and all--moving
icons, nice colors--but why is it so darn slow? From booting
up to shutting down, to open and closing programs, it seems
like Windows took one step backward. OK, enough of my
complaints, because that's not what I'm writing in for. I
just wish someone could advise me on some things I can do to
speed up Vista without having to add more hardware to my
fairly new computer (five months old). Or is this really a lost
hope? Do I have to just accept what I have and deal with it?
Please say it isn't so. Thanks for listening, I hope you can
help me. Signed, the frustrated one.
--Submitted by:
Darren S.
Unfortunately, you inadvertently pointed out the problem yourself: Vista is about looks. Every one of those effects, from the translucent windows to the pearlescent shine to the oversized icons, eats up processing power that would otherwise be spent on running applications. Also, much of the new software that comes on a prebuilt computer (i.e. the "free" antivirus, AIM, other mfg. programs) are also serious...
(read more)
Congratulations to the winner!
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Have fun and enjoy!
More from the forums
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Check out next week's question:
Hello everyone, I am a longtime subscriber to several CNET newsletters but this is the first time I've submitted a question. I have a massive (1,000 plus) CD music collection and I have ripped many individual tracks from many of these CD's for my MP3 player. I have used Windows Media Player, iTunes, and other programs to rip the tracks, but I would like to start ripping ALL the tracks from my ENTIRE music collection. My question is, before I take on such a time-consuming project like this, I could use some advice on the BEST free or paid program to rip the CD's. What is the best format, bit rate, and/or other settings that will give me the best balance between sound quality and file size. I want the program to be able to do file naming, auto tagging, look-up, and download the album art, and do reports for collection management print outs. I look forward to reading all your answers and starting this digital music project. Thanks!
--Submitted by:
Dan M.
We feature a new question every Friday, and if you have the answer for our member, you can submit it above. If your submission is picked by our members as the most helpful answer, you'll receive some cool CNET branded gear.
Have a question?
• Multimedia
• Internet Security
• Digital Cameras
• Home Audio & Video
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• PC Upgrading
• PC Troubleshooting
• Digital Music
• Consumer electronics
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Simple question, simple answer
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