has anyone recorded footage straight to a hard drive, not using tape?
what are the benefits/losses?

Like this? www.dvinfo.net/firestore.htm

Thank you, Chris. I read your article on the watchdog, and checked out a few of the links. I didn't see anything saying that the image quality is better when you skip the tape (my major interest in the technology), but i can definitely see the increase in efficiency.
p.s. on the watchdog page where your article appears, at least when i viewed it, there was a photo covering up one of the paragraphs...a photo of the firestore box...covering up the paragraph that ends with, "How can it do that? Because it is the video capture process."
thanks again.

If you decided to try this option, be aware that you'll likely be restricted to Windows systems or OS 9.2 on the MAC. Firestore will only work with FAT32 drives, and I've been unable to get OS-10 to recognize one. Unless you're using a MAC with OS-10, you'll be OK.

can anyone confirm that image quality is the same whether using tape or going straight to a drive? that would seal the deal for me, and i'll stick with tape for now.

For Vic --

FireStore has been recently upgraded to be compatible with OS X, see http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/upgrade2.htm "Mac OS X support. FireStore formatted disk drives will now mount on to Mac OS X. This fix is actually on the Mac OS X side and will allow older versions of FireStore to work as well." -- I think you should contact Videonics about this, to bring your FireStore up to speed. They owe it to you.

For Jay --

DV is DV is DV. There is no difference in image quality or compression, etc. between DV recorded to tape or DV recorded direct to disk. The primary benefits of recording to disk are a.) overcoming the limitations of short recording times on DV cassettes, and b.) eliminating the tedious video capture process in post-production.

Also, what browser and operating system are you using, so that I can fix that problem on the web page. The paragraph in question should read: "Enter the Videonics FireStore. It does two things, primarily: it frees you from the limitations of short recording times and completely eliminates the video capture process. How can it do that? Because it is the video capture process."

Hope this helps,

Also for Vic -- details on the FireStore upgrade -- they charge an upgrade fee which is waived if you purchased the unit after Jan. 8th, which I think is to your particular benefit if I'm not mistaken:

http://www.focusinfo.com/products/firestore/upgrade2.htm

To Obtain this Factory Upgrade for your FireStore:
For customers outside the US and Canada, please contact your dealer/distributor for price, procedures, and availability. For customers residing in the US and Canada, please contact our Tech Support Group by phone at 408-370-9963 or by email at support@videonics.com, and request part# IRMP-0129-03. The one-time charge for this upgrade is $99.00 plus shipment of your unit to Focus, and can be paid either via Mastercard or Visa (please have your credit card information available when ordering this upgrade). [Note: This fee will be waived if you purchased your FireStore after Jan 8, 2002 (proof of purchase required), the date of our press release announcing these features.]


The Tech Support group will provide you with a required Return Material Authorization number (RMA#) and shipping instructions. Do not ship your unit without having received an RMA#. Your FireStore will be updated with the newest ROM and you’ll receive an Addendum describing these enhancements.

Thanks, Chris. I've already exchanged some emails with Videonics tech support-- I went into the Unix shell and moved the file, as they recommended, but the MAC still won't recognize the drive. (Their original instructions on the web page had a couple of errors -- after I notified them, they corrected one of the errors, but at last check, the Unix string was still incorrect -- it needed a space in the "mv" command line.)

It's possible it's a function of the Cooldrive, but I would think that any FAT32 volume should work. This has been a real frustration.......

Still working the issue.

Chris --

Regarding your message about the upgrade, yep, I already got the free upgrade and have the unit back. Now, if I could just actually use it.......!

Cheers

Chris,
re: the picture covering the paragraph...i'm using windows 98 and aol 7.0.......(soon to be G4 mac osx !)
thank you guys for all the info.