Editors' Choice
,So you have a nice new DV camcorder and have caught the video editing bug : the product for you is Swann's FireWire VideoWorks. This DV card is great value at just $299 and, better still, if you already have an editing package like Premiere you can purchase the Starter Kit which simply lacks the MainActor editing software for only $199.
If you have an analogue camcorder and a good graphics card in your PC, then in the low-cost category the Pinnacle DC10 Plus produces nice vivid colour and quite good definition. At $552 it is more expensive than some of the DV offerings but you must take into account all the hardware required to convert the analogue signal into something digital that your PC can work with.
If you are genuinely serious about your video editing then the Pinnacle DV500 (we've given it a Merit Award) will produce professional results from either DV or analogue sources, naturally at a professional price.
Finally, if you have a pretty naff graphics card and are looking to upgrade your graphics and dabble in video editing, then the pick of the three tested is the Matrox G400 Marvel (which also wins a Merit Award). The Matrox has a good graphics chip and arguably the best output quality of the three; we also found Avid Cinema to be less buggy than Ulead VideoStudio 4.
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