Soccer Mom backing up our home videos

[mlchap]

I want to archive all our old Hi8 home videos (about 75 tapes) to one (or more) hard drives.
Here’s the hardware I have:

• Sony Handycam CCD - TRV66 Camcorder 8mm Hi8
• Canopus ADVC-100 Video Converter
• Acer Extensa 4420-5239 notebook
  • Athlon 64 X2 TK-57(1.90GHz) 2GB Memory DDR2 667 120GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Radeon X1250 IGP
  • 2 Port Firewire IEEE1394a PCMCIA Cardbus 32 bit PC Card
• Western Digital WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive

Is that pretty much the right equipment, or are there some “too weak links” that I should consider replacing?

Also, are these the right connections?…

• Handycam to the Canopus via SVHS and audio cables
• Canopus to the Acer Notebook via Firewire
• Acer Notebook to external HDD via USB

Finally, to capture, how do I let the computer know I want to save the Canopus signal to the HDD? (I want to get the best possible image quality.)

By the way (if it’s not already obvious) I’m already pretty much at the limit of my technical know-how, so please don’t venture too far beyond this Soccer Mom’s zone!

[zoobie]

use a little cap ap like WinDV