Options for getting DV into a laptop with no DV port

Question

So, my home laptop does not have a DV input. It does have several USB ports, an eSATA/USB port, an HDMI port, an "ExpressCard" slot (which I have never heard of), and a SD-MS/Pro-MMC-XD slot and an "Expansion port 3" which is something I cannot identify.

It doesn't appear that there is any kind of DV to ____ converter for any of these. Am I wrong? Any tips on how I can import video from my video camera that has only DV as output? Preferably cheap?

What about component video into any of these ports?

Answer 1

DV and DVI are two totally different things. DVI is to output video from your laptop to an external display. DV is another name for IEEE1394 (firewire). You want an Expresscard Firewire adapter. Some are shown here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=expresscard+firewire&x=0&y=0

Answer 2

Once you have the Firewire connection sorted, I recommend the free WinDV to actually do the capture to an AVI file. I used trial versions of several commercial packages, and WinDV was much more successful than any of them. Now that I have the videos safely off the 10 year-old DV tapes (and backed up), I'm happy to take my time getting round to actually editing them...