I have a Sony CCD-TRV 238E with no firewire port, only av connection. I want to transfer directly to PC. I have seen a range of external video capture devices, at a range of prices, what should I choose??????

Hi Sally

Yes, there are a range of devices available and as far as I can remember your camcorder has a S-Video connection (higher quality than VHS) so you will need a device with an S-Video In socket on it and either a USB connection to plug into a free USB port or an internal card with the same connection but will go into a spare PCI slot in the computer. My own choice would be the PCI slot option and that comes in the form of Pinnacle Studio 500 PCI and retails for £70 and comes with editing software, and a Firewire socket so if you intend to upgrade your camera in the future to a digital model you'll have a Firewire port. Unfortunately, this device doesn't carry audio so you'll have to connect the audio from the camera to the sound card using a separate lead and connector. I do that aswell for analogue video and it isn't a problem. There is also the Pinnacle 700 USB and as the name suggests it plugs into a spare USB port. It's a breakout box and has all the sockets on it including audio but I don't know what quality of the video is like using it. It sells for £150 and again comes with editing software. You could also look at devices from a company called Canopus who sell analogue to digital covertors.