I have just bought a panasonic hdc-sd5 from new york. I cannot download the footage to my laptop - the error messeg I am gettingis that it cannot read the media. Apparantly the camera should work in europe but I'm wondering is there anything else I need to do to get this to work?
Any ideas?

Are you 100% certain you have a PAL camera and not NTSC? Supposedly SOME PAL gear can take NTSC signals, but not all... what are you trying to play back/record to?

Garret,
You should install the HDWriter software that comes with the SD5. Then, you can use that to copy the video over to the laptop from the camcorder. Bear in mind that your laptop will have to be pretty powerful to edit AVCHD. Core duo or core 2 duo at least.

Although you can do simple editing with HDWriter, you will need editing software that can handle AVCHD. Fortunately, such software is much more prevalent today than a year ago. Options include Nero 8, Cyberlink, Corel (Ulead) Videostudio 11 plus, Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 8 and Pinnacle Studio 11.

Lastly, in order to view the video in a media player, you will need media software, like PowerDVD or Cyberlink, that has a codec for AVCHD. It doesn't matter if the camcorder is 50i (PAL country). It will play fine on a computer.

The SD5 is a nice little camcorder. I'm sure you'll enjoy the videos you have taken with it.

Guy's probably onto the problem here - Since most of the time to get a usable recording time of around an hour, you have to use an 8GB media stick, you end up having to use the software and the camera to download. I've had a big hassle trying to get 8GB media to read on any reader I can find - can't just stick the memory into a "normal" reader it seems. But with the software and the camera, you should be fine.

if you use media above 4G and/or record clips long enough to exceed 2G in file size, Sony requires their proprietary software and you have to download via the cam/dock, Canon requires their software, and most likely Panasonic does too...

If your "NY" cam place didn't send the software, you bought from the wrong place... These AVCHD cams need what comes in the box to be usable... not like older cams which could be used "bare"... another reason to be careful where you buy and why a "good deal" may not be so great!

These AVCHD cams need what comes in the box to be usable... not like older cams which could be used "bare"... another reason to be careful where you buy and why a "good deal" may not be so great!
Sorry, no they don't. SD5 footage can be copied straight from the folder on the SD card to a PC. You do however need an SD card reader that can cope with SDHC cards, which many can't. But these are available as USB devices from many places for a few dollars. I bought mine in the UK from a firm called Offtek, it was £8 delivered. Beware some of the Ebay offerings where claims of SDHC compatibility cannot sometimes be taken at face value...
I also dug out the Microsoft USB update for XP that allows SDHC cards to be read on some builtin readers that won't handle big cards. It works on my Dell Inspiron, but has had the side effect that the inbuilt slot won't read non SDHC cards any more!
http://www.digitmemo.com/articles/219/adding-sdhc-support-for-windows-with-your-old-sd-card-reader/

The USB adaptor approach is better at present.

I have an SD5, and while it may be possible to copy files using windows explorer, things are much simpler using the supplied Panny software. Files have a different extension once transferred to to the HDD, and the complete folder structure allows direct burning of discs that will play on a blu-ray player. I could go on, but maintaining the folder structure integrity by using the Panny software is VERY worthwhile.

Dave

I could go on, but maintaining the folder structure integrity by using the Panny software is VERY worthwhile.

Dave
Provided you don't intend to do any editing, fine! I tried it and found it a very slow and clumsy application.