1bogdan

Thanks everyone for your advice... If the DVD/HDD recorders capture a 1 hour MiniDV tape footage in a MPEG2 file format on the fly to the HDD, can I easily transfer these files across to an external hard drive attached to the DVD/HDD recorder? Diesel, what is a " ... central NAS..."? Diesel, what file format was used to store the raw footage on your 500GB external hard drives?

Thanks for those very helpful responses. Based on your remarks I have some further queries: 1. I did some quick research on RAID and it appears that maybe RAID 1 (1:1 disc mirroring) may be a solution for providing the appropriate redundancy for my home movies. If I wish to implement this solution is it just a case of purchasing two 1TB hard drives and using the existing RAID software provided in the disc utility in my iMac's operating system (Mac OSX - "Tiger") to configure these external hard drives as a RAID1 array. N.B. The external hard drives would require a firewire interface in addition to any USB2.0 interface as my iMac only has firewire (I/O) and USB 1.1 2. Would it be easier to just transfer all my tapes via firewire to one of these external hard drives and then just replicate the hard drive to the second external hard drive without using RAID technology? 3. What file format is appropriate for the MiniDV footage transferred to these hard drives? Do i have a choice or will the capture of the digital stream via firewire and my Apple software (iMovie) choose the format for me? Will the timebase code transfer as well? 4. I'm not familiar at all with the functionality of media players but it appears that you are saying that I could attach one of these external hard drives to the USB2.0 port on the media player and be able to access and play all the hard drive content (digital movies) on my TV. Is that correct? Can you index this digital movie content with chapter like information to access just the portions you may wish to view?

Hi, I have a collection of about 60 Sony Video8 tapes and 70 MiniDV tapes that I would like to back-up. When I say "back-up" I actually mean two things: 1. transferring the footage from the tapes onto a playable DVD that can be played on any DVD player; and, 2. transferring the raw footage from the tapes onto a file stored on a DVD (data disc), just in case my tapes are not available in the future. Now, I can currently do both these things on my iMac but it takes time, particularly the playable DVD's due the time involved in editing and setting up DVD menus using Apple's iMovie and iDVD software, although the finished products look quite professional. However, for the foreseeable future i just don't have the time to sit at my iMac doing this stuff so I'm looking to fast-track the process even if it means not getting the professional looking results i get using the Apple software. Accordingly, I'm tossing up the idea of purchasing one of the consumer DVD recorder/HDD units on the market to do these back-ups (say Panasonic or Sony produts, DMR-EX79, DMR-XW450, RDRHXD990B). I have some questions regarding the functionality of these DVD recorder/HDD units to do the back-ups required: Playable DVD's - 1.) Will these units create a playable DVD from my tapes? 2.) Will the unedited footage from a 1 hour Video8/MiniDV tape fit onto a playable DVD and retain good picture quality? 3.) Is the transfer process 1:1 (i.e. 1 hour to burn a tape to playable DVD)? 4.) Should I transfer the Video8 footage from my Sony Video8 camcorder (TR75) to the DVD recorder using the composite inputs on the recorder OR should I daisy chain my Sony Video8 camcorder to my Canon MiniDV camcorder (MVX2i) which has an inbuilt analogue/digital converter and send a digital signal to the DVD recorder using a firewire cable into the DV input on the DVD recorder? Data DVD's - 5.) Will these units create a data DVD with the raw footage in a file (format type???) on the DVD; 6.) If yes to Q5, where the tapes aren't available in the future when I wish to do some proper editing and make a playable DVD using the Apple software on my iMac, will the data files on data DVD's created by a DVD recorder be able to be "captured" by my Apple software for editing in the same way that I would capture the footage from my MiniDV tapes using a firewire cable from my camcorder to my iMac? 7.) If yes to Q5, how many blank DVD's will be required to back-up one MiniDV tape? 8.) If yes to Q5, do these units automate the process of capturing the raw footage onto multiple data DVD's? 9.) If yes to Q5, do these units record onto the data DVD's the timecode data recorded on the MiniDV tapes? Other alternatives for back-ups If these units can't create data DVD's of raw footage are there other alternatives for creating back-ups of my tapes (e.g. should i just invest in a couple of 1TB external hard drives and go thru the process of capturing the footage via firewire from the camcorders to my computer and onto these hard drives (a think a one hour tape is about 13GB's of storage). Should these files be created to the hard drives in a certain format to ensure they can be read back into my Apple movie editing software at a future date? I would be grateful if someone can help with these questions before I lay down some cash on one of these units.

Eddicat, Phone Jai Dimarco the Sales Manager at Clive Peeters Auburn in Sydney. He still has some in stock and will be able to help you. Jai Di Marco Sales Manager Clive Peeters Ltd Auburn NSW Ph: 02 9714 3500 Fax: 02 9715 3555

Thanks to both eddicat and dvduser for the info. I think this retailer will wear the cost of interstate shipment between stores as at one stage (before I found these one's in Sydney) they were contemplating sending one from interstate to Sydney.

This retailer is in Sydney but their a national operation so maybe they can ship to a store in Melbourne. I need to contact the Sales Manager again this week so let me know if your still interested and I'll find out if they can ship a box to Melbourne. Does this TV display NTSC images from a DVD player that can play these type of discs?

I finally bit the bullet and on the weekend purchased one of the four PDP428xda's for sale by this retailer. Still cost me over $2k to buy including Pioneer wallmount and but now I have to pick-up the cost of installation. Pioneer have provided me with their preferred installer who has quoted $330 for a concealed cable (thru the wall cavity) wall mount installation and hook up to any existing equipment. The quote also includes pick of the Plasma from the retailer and delivery to my home on the day of installation. Did I do the right thing buying a superceded HD Plasma or should I have gone for a stand mounted 42" Full HD Panasonic Plasma for a similar cost? Only ask this question because the retailer has been quite reasonable and offered to provide a full refund of my purchase should I change my mind before the Pioneer Plasma is scheduled to be delivered. Wall mount questions ------------------------ The TV will be wall mounted in a lounge room above a lowline entertainment unit. I will purchase a DVD player so that the installers can run a HDMI cable thru the wall and set up the DVD connection to the TV. Bearing in mind that my wife is not keen on the full AV receiver/loudspeaker set-up for "her" lounge room, are there nevertheless any other cables I should purchase prior to the installation so that the installers can feed these thru for future connection to whatever components (Playstation, video camera, etc) I wish to purchase in the future? Is there any advantage in purchasing a Pioneer DVD player (ie. can the DVD player be controlled thru a HDMI cable connected to this TV or is that feature only available in current model pioneer Plasmas?

Anyone???

Anyone???

Anyone???

Can't help with 508xda's but i seen four boxed 428xda's (with wall mount kit) lined up on the show room floor of a retailer on the weekend. Best price I know on this unit is $2,100 from someone who posted on this thread in June. Given that Pioneer have now dumped the free delivery/installation/basic onsite calibtatiion, I think $1,700 is a fair price. Any other thoughts on price? Maybe i should approach the retailer with a deal? Anyone interested in doing a bulk deal - say 4 units @$1,600 each?

How much would you pay now for a new PDP428xda with Pioneer wall bracket? Of course you would need to factor in the fact that Pioneer have stopped the free delivery and installation service from 1 Sept08!