June 22, 2006

By Walt Zwirko / WFAA-TV

Computer Corner is a weekly video report examining the latest trends in technology. Helpful links are listed. Walt Zwirko reports from WFAA-TV in Dallas.

A lot of us spend a lot of time looking at the Internet. And most of us use a Web browser as our primary tool.

It's estimated that about 90 percent of us utilize Microsoft's Internet Explorer; most of the rest now use Firefox, a superior option with some very handy features

But this week, there emerged another challenger: the new version of Opera. Opera 9 isn't widely known, even though its Norwegian developers have been building browser alternatives since 1997.

Like Firefox, Opera adds handy tabs along the top of its window, so you can click between different pages in the same window & that cuts way down on screen clutter.

Here's a cool option: Opera lets you add Widgets — tiny, useful programs like calculators, clocks and news readers that can "float" over and around other applications.

If you download large files, you'll appreciate Opera's built-in BitTorrent client, which is designed to handle video, audio and application transfers in the background.

Another thoughtful feature: You can choose to restart Opera exactly where you left off the last time. In fact, as I was writing this, there was a brief power failure here at my home. After the PC rebooted (and Windows utilities were called into play to check for damage on two of my disk drives), I launched Opera; it dutifully "remembered" the six pages I had been browsing and let me resume a BitTorrent file transfer that had been interrupted.

I like that!

Opera 9 is a quick and free download for Windows, Mac and Linux computers. I wasn't able to find any incompatibilities while using it, but it's possible that Opera — like Firefox — will choke on some Web sites that are specifically written for Internet Explorer features.

Microsoft is now in the final stages of testing Internet Explorer 7. Computer Corner looked at a beta version of it about six months ago, and at that time it was still a bit rough around the edges.

The current editions of Opera and Firefox are polished and have real benefits for heavy 'Net users. Do yourself a favor and try one & or both!

CAMCORDERS GO TAPELESS

Camcorders have been around since the 1980s. Until very recently they've all recorded their images on videotape.

RCA

The Small Wonder costs about $130.

But don't be surprised if your next camcorder doesn't use tape or even a DVD for recording.

Jim Barry, the "digital answer man" for the Consumer Electronics Association, recently visited us with a suitcase full of fascinating video cameras, and there wasn't a tape to be seen. He said it was all part of the big switch to digital: "Letting us get more memory, more storage, more power in smaller and smaller spaces, so now we can take all of our information and our entertainment with us just about anywhere."

Barry showed me RCA's Small Wonder, a camcorder about the size of a standard digital still camera. Designed for ease of use, it has just five buttons and uses built-in flash memory to capture up to 30 minutes of what Barry described as VHS-quality video.

So while its picture may not best more traditional camcorders, Small Wonder is more likely to find its way into your pocket or purse.

You can take the camera to a drug store or photo shop and have them transfer its contents to a DVD, but if you have a computer with a DVD burner you can save money by doing it yourself, making the connection with Small Wonder's pop-out USB link.

If you're not a demanding videographer (or if you are looking for a backup camera), the $130 Small Wonder might be worth considering.

JVC

This camcorder boasts a 30-gigabyte hard drive for storage.

Barry showed another tapeless model from the JVC Everio Digital Media Camera collection. It's much more expensive — $800 — but there's a reason. "This is a 30-gigabyte hard drive," he said, "so you can put hours and hours of video directly onto the hard drive, or onto a removable SD memory card."

The Everio GZ-MG37 that Barry demonstrated looks and works more like a "traditional" camcorder, with its flip-open LCD view screen and big zoom lens.

But you'll run out of battery power long before you run out of recording room; the hard drive can record about 7 hours of DVD-quality footage; up to 37 hours by choosing a lower image quality.

Another nice feature: Because there's no tape, you can quickly transfer video files to your computer.

Sanyo

The HD1 saves high-definition video to a memory card.

Barry showed off a third device that has its own distinction: Sanyo's HD1 Digital Media Camera. "It records in 720p progressive scan, high definition," he said.

But the HD1 doesn't use tapes or a hard drive for storage. Because it uses a more efficient MPEG-4 compression algorithm, it can use standard SD memory cards. You'll get up to 20 minutes of recording on a reusable 1-gigabyte card, available for less than $50.

"It also has a 10 times zoom, and it's a five-megapixel digital still camera, so you're really getting two in one," Barry said. "You're getting a really good still snapshot camera and you're getting a high-definition camcorder."

The HD1 checks in at $800, about half the price of its nearest high-definition competitor, which records its images on more traditional videotape.

With still cameras, the transition from film to digital memory chips is just about complete, and it seems like it hasn't taken very long.

I think the shift away from tape for camcorders is equally inevitable, and it may be an even more rapid transition.

Hard drives are so inexpensive and have such vast storage capacity that they are the logical choice to replace the videotape. But they can also be fragile; one bump and that dance recital finale or winning touchdown might be history.

So we are witnessing the emergence of two classes of tapeless digital camcorders:

• The budget device that uses inexpensive, non-mechanical flash memory cards (or built-in memory)

• The intermediate and "semi-pro" camera using both flash drive and hard disk storage

Now we just need to re-think some terminology.

For decades, when taking a moving picture of someone, it was accurate to say they were being "filmed." More recently, it's become common to hear the term "taped" (although "filmed" is often used interchangeably — and inaccurately).

What do we say now that neither tape nor film is behind the lens of a camcorder? Click on our survey to share your view.