Since I have a digital video camera of course I want to be able to edit video on my PC. Since most digital camcorders have IEEE 1394 ports (also called Firewire (by Apple), or iLink (by Sony)), I also have a Firewire card: the inexpensive PYRO 1394DV card from ADS Tech. The PCI card provides two external (and one internal) Firewire ports, a cable to connect to your camcorder, and is bundled with Ulead’s VideoStudio SE which pretty easy to learn. Beware … you need a LOT of hard drive space to store all the digital video clips!
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Sony DCR-TRV8 miniDV camcorder
My digital camcorder is the Sony DCR-TRV8. It’s a miniDV camera complete with 10x optical zoom (120x digital zoom, but who uses that?), digital and picture effects, 12/16-bit PCM sound, audio/video output, 3″ flip out LCD screen, and a ton of other cool features. Since it’s now several years old, it’s been supplanted by much newer models in the DCR line (including ones with megapixel still image capture, MPEG movie modes, and even Bluetooth connectivity!) but mine still works perfectly and continues to help me document those memorable moments.