Help with basic digital camcorder questions Canon Vixia HF200A

[nopEda]

I recently bought a Canon Vixia HF200A HD Camcorder which may have been a mistake but saw several reviews recommending it so got a used one. I haven't tried using it yet but looking at Youtube videos saw some things that are likely to be serious problems that it records in AVCHD format so you can't just drag and drop on a PC (though you can a Mac which I don't have and won't get another one) but you need special video editing software to load it. This is exactly the type thing I was trying to avoid!! by buying a camera with an SD card ignorantly thinking I could put the SD card in the computer and just load or play videos from there. Come to think if it in none of the Youtubes did I even see an option to load from an SD card so now I'm even more confused. I know nothing about this having only used 8mm tape Sony cameras in the past.

Another video said you can't use HD settings with a class 6 or class 10 SD card. You can only use class 2 or class 4 for that. Is that true and how much of a problem is it if so?

Also on the camera I see an output for HDMI and would like to just connect the camera to a tv to use a bigger monitor sometimes if that's possible but!!! the output on the camera that says HDMI won't accept the HDMI type cables that I have. So what's the deal there and could you even use a tv as a larger monitor if you could find a cable or adapter or something that could connect them?

Also on the camera I see an output for USB but it won't accept any USB cable that I have and if you could find an adapter or something what could you do with it?

Thank you for any help trying to learn about this stuff!

David
ME, USA

[smrpix]

1) You should copy the entire structure of the card to the computer. PCs have been able to manage AVCHD for years.
2) If your card is insufficiently fast, yes, that will cause problems.
3) Sounds like you need a HDMI and USB cables that match your camera. Not a big deal, your manual will tell you what you need. USB is generally not used for playback, only transferring data.

[jagabo]

The camera has a mini HDMI connector. You just need a mini HDMI to HDMI cable or adapter.

[nopEda]

1) You should copy the entire structure of the card to the computer. PCs have been able to manage AVCHD for years.
2) If your card is insufficiently fast, yes, that will cause problems.
3) Sounds like you need a HDMI and USB cables that match your camera. Not a big deal, your manual will tell you what you need. USB is generally not used for playback, only transferring data.

What do you have to do to copy the entire structure of the card? Will there be several folders so copy all of them, maybe to one folder on the PC? It is a regular computer not a laptop.