CompuServe Messages

There are a few mail order places that now advertise in VTU. B&H in New York, Discount Video Wharehouse and CVIC,inc. They sometimes list pretty good prices, but more often than not, you have to call. I have never done business with anyone but B&H of the three. You pretty much have to know what you want when you call B&H, but I have never had a problem with them. Their shipping charges are sometimes a little on the high side. Since I have never had any problems, I don't know how good their customer service is. I may catch some flack in this forum, but for the cost of the toaster/amiga and software, the audio mixer, the edit controller and the 3 panasonic decks and the 3 monitors, you could get a non-linear system. You still need to buy one recorder and maybe one NTSC monitor, depending on which system you go with. I don't know what your productions are for (broadcast, cable, industrial, educational) but if I were you I would SERIOUSLY look at this option if you can. You can get a couple of Mac based systems for $25000 to $50000 dollars that are "online" quality (certainly S-VHS quality). These prices include the Macintosh computer and about an hour of digital audio/video storage). It also depends on the format of your productions (10minute, 30-45 minute 2hours???). My suggestion to you at this date is, only buy your acquisition equipment (camera, tripod, lights etc…) and go to NAB in Las Vega March 21-24. The $$$ you spend on this trip would probably be worth it in the long run. One word of caution though. At a show like NAB, be sure to distinguish between what is shipping and vaporware. If you want to continue this, perhaps you should send E-mail as these alternatives don't really fit in this forum. Brian