Hey everyone, and thanks as always for the advice I get on this board. You guys ROCK.

OK, so I have a 9800 Pro right now, but it does not have (as far as I can tell) a video in port.

I want to be able to transfer Hi8 video to my hard disk so I can do editing etc.

What is the best way to do this? Should I sell my vid card, and get one with video in?

Should I buy a second card for the sole purpose of video capture? If so, what card would you suggest?

Budget is the main concern.

Suggestions?

Buy a Firewire pci card if your PC doesn't have it on motherboard. Best capturing done that way and also get Pinnacle 9, the Ulead equavalent sucks.

Ya it wont have IN, just out.. you should get a firewire card, it would be much cheaper than a TV tuner, with video in, and faster.

Thanks guys, appreciated.

But... I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

I do have a firewire card (well, I have the IEEE 1394 card which I believe is the PC version).

How would I connect my high8 camera to a firewire port? Sorry if this question bites. I just don't get it. Is there a special adapter or something?

Normaly you get a USB type of cable with it that plugs in to your firewire adapter and the other end in end into your camera.Your motherboard has it on, most likely and you did not get the cable with.
http://image.compusa.com/prodimages/...ebb7907014.gif
It must look something like this. Get that and all your probs are sorted. Also tell us the make and model of your camera. Sony digital 8 perhaps ?

Hi8 isn't DV, folks. You'll need an analog capture card or an external capture device, unless you want to sell your graphics card and buy one which would have video in.

Search for suitable cards from here.

I would keep your 9800 PRO and get an external capturing device. You have a great card as of now and for a few hundred more dollars you can get a very nice device to do everything you need. I would suggest the Pinnacle as DirkieUys has.

It all depends on the video quality you want to capture, concerning budget I recommend MSI or Leadtek TV tuners over firewire and video cards w/ video in support because of their phillips video encoding chipset. Keep in mind the capturing software, most tv tuners come with easy wizard interface but the real deal is doing it manually so you know how it works.

Better video quality can be achieved with HAUPPAUGE cards.