This is not really a problem but is the serial port the only only option to connect a PC? What about USB or Firewire?

If you're asking if a Dell OptiPlex 7010 USFF will support Firewire the answer is No...Unless you purchase and install a Firewire card

The OptiPlex 7010 USFF has the following external connections:

• Front Panel: one microphone connector and one headphone connector
• Back Panel: one line-out connector and one line-in/microphone connector
• Network Adapter: one RJ45 connector
• Serial: one 9-pin connector; 16550 C compatible
• USB 3.0: Back Panel - 2
• USB 3.0: Back Panel - 2
• Video: 15-pin VGA connector
• 20-pin DisplayPort connectors - 2

I don't recommend any USB to Firewire convertors but if you can find a Firewire Convertor PCI Express Card you can try installing it but remember the USFF has only one Mini PCI Express 52-pin connector, I've highlighted a possible product. It allows for Firewire 800 speeds. The included optional internal Molex power connection is only required if your Firewire device doesn't have its own power adapter

You need to install the drivers BEFORE connecting pc to camcorder

if you are looking for a firewire port on the laptop, i believe it does not have one.. your option for connection would be the USB 2.0 and eSata port located at the left and right side of the laptop

You could try buying a USB to firewire converter cable, which would allow you to connect a Firewire device to one of your USB ports.

Search USB Firewire cable on the Internet. eBay probably have a bunch of them offered for sale.

This type of camera downloads video with a Firewire (Sony call this i.Link) connection. Some mini-DV and D8 have a USB connection which is used for stills ONLY.

Most PCs have a USB port, but no Firewire port. Macs often have a Firewire port but may not have USB. As most Windows PCs do not come with this interface, you might need to fit an add-on Firewire interface card. This will come with a driver for the card. As you have a MAC, you may already have a port.

Suitable Firewire (DV) cables can easily be found on Amazon or eBay. You will need the kind with a small (four pin) connector at one end and a larger (six pin) connector at the other. My camera came with the correct lead.

There is a Sony tutorial page for downloading video to computer at THIS LINK You will need to select Windows as the operating system, then Digital8 as the camera type, then select the type of connection. As you will see, the USB option warns that it won't work with many cameras, and you are strongly recommended to use i.Link (which everyone else calls Firewire).

This type of camera downloads video with a Firewire (Sony call this i.Link) connection. Some mini-DV and D8 have a USB connection which is used for stills ONLY.

Most PCs have a USB port, but no Firewire port. Macs often have a Firewire port but may not have USB. As most Windows PCs do not come with this interface, you might need to fit an add-on Firewire interface card. This will come with a driver for the card.

Suitable Firewire (DV) cables can easily be found on Amazon or eBay. You will need the kind with a small (four pin) connector at one end and a larger (six pin) connector at the other. My camera came with the correct lead.

There is a Sony tutorial page for downloading video to computer at THIS LINK You will need to select Windows as the operating system, then Digital8 as the camera type, then select the type of connection. As you will see, the USB option warns that it won't work with many cameras, and you are strongly recommended to use i.Link (which everyone else calls Firewire).

find a serial or parallel port to connect it

your camcorder doesnt support usb connection.although it came with a pc serial cable,its the cable used for memory stick picture transfer, along with it comes a serial port adaptor for the memory stick and ac adaptor for serial adaptor. of course even if you lost this accessories you can still transfer pics from the ms using a memory card reader which works basically the same way. for videos on the tape you would just need a firewire or an ilink (ieee1394) cable. almost all mac computers support this connection.it's the dv in/out jack on the camcorder with an i symbol.upper most jack on the camcorder jack's location.check your mac to find out what cable you need.the unit uses a 4pin ilink port so you need a 4pin ilink cable at one end and the other end should match of course, the firewire port on your mac computer.should be a plug and play connection.you can use imovie software for video capturing.hope this helps.thanks :)

There isn't one on the back panel. You must connect the USB/1394 bracket that's included with the board to an empty slot on the rear of the computer and hook up its connectors INSIDE the computer to the appropriate headers on the motherboard: the purple firewire connector would connect to the purple header (DUH!) on the RIGHT in the pic below, it's a DOUBLE firewire header and it's the only place this bracket will fit. The yellow USB connector would go to any open USB header on the board (guess what color...) Very simple, really.



Optionally if your computer case has a built-in firewire port on the FRONT panel, as most do nowadays, you can connect that to the appropriate header on the board using the already-installed cable that's connected to that front firewire port (connect this one to the purple header on the LEFT, it's just a SINGLE firewire port.)
However, this header's pins will NOT match up properly with almost all case's front-panel firewire connectors. You would most likely have to switch around 2 or 3 of the little wires that go into the connector so that it matches the motherboard's pin-out.

It's clearly labled in the manual for the board, and isn't really all that difficult to switch the wires around, but I would recommend just going with the first option and connect the included bracket to the back since it was designed to go with this board and requires no modification.

Duane , a good AMD 64 x2 Duel core processor motherboard would be the Asus M2A-VM AMD Socket AM2 MicroATX Motherboard / Audio / Video / DVI / PCI Express / Gigabit LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA / RAID this motherboard will fit in your midtower. It comes with firewire and usb ports. hope this helps.