[ItsJustMe]

What software will let me burn DVDs to an external CDRW?

Does Apple plan to make iDVD compatible with external CDRWs?

Thanks!

[jtc]

Originally posted by ItsJustMe:
<STRONG>What software will let me burn DVDs to an external CDRW?

Does Apple plan to make iDVD compatible with external CDRWs?

Thanks!</STRONG>

None (if I understand you correctly). To burn a DVD, you need a DVD burner such as Apple's super drive, or an external DVD-R, RW etc. drive.

You can make a VCD using toast with a CDRW drive. It's basically an mpeg-1 movie burned to a CD. The quality is not as good as a DVD (which uses mpeg-2 at a much higher bit rate), but done correctly it can look almost as good as a VHS tape. If you have access to a PC, you can create a SVCD or XSVCD which use mpeg-2 for video.

[ 03-06-2002: Message edited by: jtc ]

[ItsJustMe]

Thanks,
One more question. Can european DVD players read VCDs burned with a US system?

[jtc]

Originally posted by ItsJustMe:
<STRONG>Thanks,
One more question. Can european DVD players read VCDs burned with a US system?</STRONG>

They should be able to. You can burn an NTSC or PAL VCD with toast.
Here's a list of DVD player compatibility. Search for your DVD player, and it will tell you whether it plays CDs, CDRWs, mp3s, VCDs, etc.

[ItsJustMe]

Great, thanks a lot for sharing your expertise.

Forgive me if I'm abusing your patience but here is another one:

In your opinion, what is the best digital camcorder out there for around 700.-

My main concerns are
1) good overall image quality (high res)
2) decent stills (though I know camcorders are no substitute for cameras).
3) reliability.

Thanks.

[jtc]

I have very little experience with dv cams, you might want to check out

2-pop's dv production forum.