topic Re: sorry...newbie help needed in PCs & Accessories

sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:32:23 GMT

Hi guys,

Newbie alert I am afraid! I am in desperate need of help. I am a self confessed moron when it comes to technology, and yet I have been out and bought a VGN-FW11ZU laptop, having been suckered by a salesman who assured me that burning the HD footage from my Sony HDR-HD3 camcorder to BD disc would be easy, even for an idiot like me.....he lied

Thing is, if I do not manage this task, my good lady will not be able to watch the collection of holidays vids she values so much on our HD tv (connecting the camcorder to the tv and navigating the resulting menus is quite beyond her in my absence). This then means that she will undoubtedly find some rather painful ways of reminding me of my shortcomings, and elderly or not, there are certain parts of my anatomy I would rather were left undamaged!

Firstly....which of the video editing/burning facilities on my machine would be best for transfering my HD footage to Blu-ray disc? My initial fumblings seem to come up with things that require my camcorder to be connected by firewire (ilink, whatever), and yet I had expected to use the HDMI connection....is this correct/normal?

Secondly, where do you 'in the know' people obtain your BD discs from, at a reasonable price? My initial looks on the internet came up with a price of £12/14 for a single 25GB disc (including postage)....Surely this is not the best price available

Sorry to inflict my dumd questions and problems on to you guys, but thanks in advance for any help offered-you will never understand just how much my life depends on some footage on disc....even un-edited stuff would save a lot of the pain

Cheers, Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

hugpache — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:56:33 GMT

Hi Dave,

I'm a newbie as well when it comes to HD, but have you tried using the "Click to Disc" application that is bundled in your laptop?

I browsed support.vaio.co.uk looking for your model, as sometimes there are tutorials about using specific features, and a Click to Disk update is listed under Downloads so I'm sure you got that installed, provided that you didn't uninstall it yet

By the way, I would advise you to install the latest Click to Disk update (Click to Disc1.2.52.09250 47.73 Mb 24/11/2008) if you intend to use it. You can probably update it trough VAIO Update but here's a link if that doesn't work:

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&m=3363

I'm not a Click to Disk user either so again, I can't help you that much with it, I just hope it features a nice wizard

About BD disks, they are quite expensive, I know a store nearby that sells single 25GB Verbatim disks at 14€ a piece.

Sorry for not being more specific, post back if you need help with Click to Disk, maybe someone else is able to help you with it.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:12:40 GMT

Hi Dave,

I'm a newbie as well when it comes to HD, but have you tried using the "Click to Disc" application that is bundled in your laptop?

I browsed support.vaio.co.uk looking for your model, as sometimes there are tutorials about using specific features, and a Click to Disk update is listed under Downloads so I'm sure you got that installed, provided that you didn't uninstall it yet   

By the way, I would advise you to install the latest Click to Disk update (Click to Disc1.2.52.09250 47.73 Mb   24/11/2008) if you intend to use it. You can probably update it trough VAIO Update but here's a link if that doesn't work:

http://support.vaio.sony.co.uk/downloads/updates/updates.asp?site=voe_en_GB_cons&m=3363

I'm not a Click to Disk user either so again, I can't help you that much with it, I just hope it features a nice wizard 

About BD disks, they are quite expensive, I know a store nearby that sells single 25GB Verbatim disks at 14€ a piece.

Sorry for not being more specific, post back if you need help with Click to Disk, maybe someone else is able to help you with it.

Hi,

Many thanks for you reply. I had noticed the application you mention, but was unsure which (if any) of the available facilities was definitely downloading and then burning in HD..... or not? I am well aware from previous bitter experience of Sony's paranoia concerning copying of HD material, and it is difficult to tell if the disc produced is naff due to the limmitations of the software used....or interference from above

As to BD discs....I guess it is a case of waiting until the manufacturers feel they have recouped enough of the r&d to allow the prices to fall from their present obscene levels....or the extremely naughty folk who eventually brought about the crash in SD DVD prices have a similar effect on BD....which of course is what the HDMI 'experience' and previously mentioned paranoia is all aimed at avoiding.

Hey ho...I guess this will teach me to do my homework before spending silly amounts on a laptop!

Cheers, Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:14:37 GMT

Hi again peeps,
Still waiting for some kindly soul to come up with a source for decent priced BD discs....I can not believe that everyone pays the prices I have seen advertised....it would cost me about £500 to put everything I had hoped to transfer to BD at that rate

With the amount of brain power & knowledge available on this forum there must be someone willing to drop a hint to a doddery old twit like me

Cheers, Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

Thalamus. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:21:57 GMT

Still waiting for some kindly soul to come up with a source for decent priced BD discs...

Hi debege,

have you checked out Amazon.co.uk .?

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

hugpache — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Microdirect.co.uk
Rima (USA)

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:27:26 GMT

Hi guys,

Many thanks for your helpful replies, you are diamonds. The prices I came up with were way higher than any of those on the links you supplied....trust me to come up with the worst option

Cheers, and thanks again.

Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:45:30 GMT

Hi again,

Just a follow up thought....does anyone have any experiences, good or bad, with the cheaper brands of BD discs available, compared to Sony etc.? On one of the links above, for instance, there is a pack of 10 25GB BD-R discs by Traxdata, at about £35, which is about half of what you would pay for the Sony equivalent. It looks atractive, but I would hate to waste 35 quid on a pack of drink mats, lol.

Cheers, Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

Thalamus. — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:40:40 GMT

Hi debege,

the choice would have to be yours..

I've never used traxdata media, I normally purchase Verbatim, TDK or Sony and have never had problems..

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:10:31 GMT

Hi debege,

the choice would have to be yours..

I've never used traxdata media, I normally purchase Verbatim, TDK or Sony and have never had problems..

Hi T,

Obviously the ultimate choice WOULD be mine, but it would be nice if another member had experience of the cheaper options (In particular Traxdata, that being the make on offer here), so that I could make an informed choice.

The brands you mention are undoubtedly safe choices...but how much of their high cost is just paying for the name, and/or the company involved relying on joe public generally going for that 'safe choice', just as you do?

Don't get me wrong here, the odds are good that you are absolutely right.....I just wish that someone had thrown caution to the wind and gone for it already....then it wouldn't be me with the expensive drink mats

Then again, it could just as well be me with the huge collection of pristine holiday BD's at half the price that yours cost

Eeny meeny miny ....................

Sooooooo....any brave and adventurous souls out there???????????????????

Cheers, Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

Thalamus. — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:03:10 GMT

Hi D, :smileygrin:

have you tried searching Google for traxdata BD reviews, that may help with your decision..

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:34:29 GMT

Hi Thalamus (in full) :smileytongue:,

Have you tried googling reviews on the item in question? I did, and after much searching through the dross, I found precisely ONE review by a member of the public (?)....and that turned out to be on Amazon....nuff said

Now....to more burning matters (excuse the pun). I have just indulged in my first foray into editing some footage from my HD camcorder, and burned the result onto SD DVD,t before commiting to the expense of a write once BD disc!

To say the resulting PQ was disappointing was an understatement....discs burned from the same camcorder onto SD DVD on an old Philips DVD recorder were WAY better (before it died)....PLEASE tell me that I have not just spent an arm and a leg on what I thought was top of the range, cutting edge technology, just to find it cannot perform a simple task like that anywhere near as well as a £150 piece of kit out of the ark????

I must qualify this by admitting that I did tell the software involved that I would be burning to BD at the start of the process, as the 'bottle out' to test on a cheapo DVD was a last minute thing....but surely this would not cause the problem.....would it?

Cheers, a VERY worried Dave.

Re: sorry...newbie help needed

debege — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:24:35 GMT

Anyone