Setting up for a digital camcorder

Digital camcorders are specifically designed to connect to personal computers through a FireWire port for video transferring and editing. If you'd like to use these features but your PC lacks such

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Digital camcorders are specifically designed to connect to personal computers through a FireWire port for video transferring and editing. If you'd like to use these features but your PC lacks such a port, also known as IEEE 1394, Pinnacle Systems' Studio DV is your best bet.

Studio DV is an internal PCI card that adds two external ports and one internal FireWire port to your PC. It works only with Windows 98, the second edition of which is recommended. Installing Studio DV requires opening up your computer case and inserting the card. Windows 98 automatically recognizes and configures the card after you power up the PC again.

This is a complete video-editing package, as Pinnacle provides excellent software that most other manufacturers neglect. The software lets you arrange video in any order and then add titles, scene transitions, music, narration, special effects and more.

The software uses very little hard disk space while editing, requiring only 150 megabytes per hour of video at the preview-quality level. After video is captured and edited, Studio DV automatically recaptures only the footage needed to make your movie at full quality.

The finished video takes up 240MB of disk space per minute.

At an estimated street price of $150, Studio DV is an excellent value. Act before March 31, though, and you can save $50 with a rebate. Visit www.pinnaclesys.com/studio/dv or call 650-526-1600 for more information.

A snap, and worth the price

Why consider the IBM PC Camera Pro Max from Xirlink when others can be had for much less?

Two reasons: Excellent documentation with easy installation and the ability to capture video from other sources.

Twenty minutes after opening the box, I was grinning into an on-screen video image of myself. I had never used my PC's microphone, though, and it took 20 minutes to get it working. Fortunately, the instructions with Pro Max anticipated this and walked me through the setup.

Touted as a revolution in PC cameras, the Pro Max can be used to transfer recorded video from a camcorder, VCR or DVD player to the PC through a video-in port. These images can be edited and sent as e-mail. The only drawback is that you can't transfer audio.
If this product has another shortcoming, it's in the manual's guidance for video conferencing -- talking with your friends over the Internet face to face. I was unable to make a video connection and had to go to another source to determine what to do next -- a relatively simple action.

System requirements are Windows 98 or Windows 2000, a Universal Serial Bus port, Pentium 166 MHz or faster processor, 16 megabytes of available system memory and 8MB hard drive space.

With a list of $129, the Pro Max is one of the pricier cameras in the field, but I found it on the Internet for $106. Check out www.xirlink.com/ibmpccamera or call 1-800-254-1422 to learn more.

MP3 in your hand, your car

i2Go takes a different road with its eGo, an MP3 player designed to tag along.

Looking like a radar detector, the $349 eGo comes with visor and windshield mounting brackets, car power adapter and a cassette player adapter. Motorists with cassette players can pop in the adapter and enjoy music recorded in the MP3 format from their vehicle speakers. Drivers without cassette players and pedestrians can listen to the eGo through the included earphones or the built-in speaker.

The sizable control buttons are on the top of the player, making volume and track selection convenient. Song and setting information scrolls across a bright red LCD along an edge.
The eGo has a Univeral Serial Bus port for connecting to a PC running Windows 98.

Connection to a PC with Windows 95 or NT is possible with an optional $29.95 Compact Flash card reader.

Once connected, included management software provides the interface for organizing and downloading digital audio files to the 96-megabyte Compact Flash II memory card, which holds about two hours of music.

Another feature that sets the eGo apart is a port for a second memory card.

As an earnest attempt to expand eGo's usefulness, the company includes text-to-speech software for converting e-mail and other text files into audio that can be downloaded to the player. Audio can be recorded into the eGo and uploaded to a PC as well.

The eGo's unique mix of capabilities and expandability make it worth more than a look. See www.i2go.com or call 1-888-388-4246.

Presentation heaven

The Interlink RemotePoint RF gives you the ability to control your computer from across a room. It must be a sales rep's dream.

Designed to advance slides during a computer-generated presentation, the $249 RemotePoint integrates some nice features in a comfortable device the size of a TV remote. It operates in conjunction with a base unit that attaches to a PC via USB or serial port.

There is a big button to manipulate the computer's pointer, much like the eraser-type controller found on laptops. A trigger serves as the left button of the mouse.

Forward and backward arrow buttons are used to advance presentation slides, and you can program shortcuts or other actions with user-definable buttons.

A laser pointer is thoughtfully included on the RemotePoint to keep users from juggling two devices during a presentation.

Setup was completely painless. The RemotePoint is plug-and-play out of the box for use with the mouse only. Software is included to allow the button programming.
Operating the mouse smoothly took a bit of practice, but eventually became easy. Call Interlink at 1-800-340-1331 or see www.interlinkelec.com.

White board extraordinaire

The CopyPoint 2000 is a handy presentation tool that is long overdue.

Essentially, this Brother International product is a 2-by-3-foot, double-sided white board with a built-in printer. It prints out what's written on the board, freeing students in a small class or participants in small staff meetings from taking notes. The notion is that everyone will receive the same information and can pay closer attention to the professor or project leader.

You use an erasable marker for writing on the white plastic surface, which loops around two rollers. When finished, you press a button and the writing surface advances. The handwritten material passes by a scanning head, which sends it to the printer. Almost instantly, the printer outputs the images onto fax paper.

The $699 CopyPoint comes mounted vertically on an easel. Hardware is also included for hanging it from a cubicle partition or mounting it on an office wall. An optional $200 PC interface lets you capture a bitmap image to your computer, much like an incoming fax, so you can e-mail the images, for instance.

Several markers and a roll of paper are included to help start you off. Just plug in the CopyPoint 2000, insert a roll of paper and you're ready. It worked right every time.
See www.brother.com or call 1-800- 276-7746.