On Thu, 1 Oct 1998 23:09:27 -0700, "Kevin Collins" wrote:

>I've posted this same question twice to this newsgroup and have received
>only two responses. Both responses state the other was better. Since the
>both use the Adaptec 8945 1394/UWSCSI card the choice really comes down to
>the editing software. The DV300 just comes with Premiere LE, but supposedly
>has better features in that it will fetch lost frames and allow you to write
>in large chunks thus avoiding the 2gb AVI file limit. The DPS doesn't have
>those two features but can come bundled with the full version of Premiere.
>
>I have yet to make a decision as I have not received enough feedback to make
>a good decision. Both people that responded said that they used the other
>product and it sucked and that the other products tech support sucks. So,
>who to believe?

Dunno....;-)
From what I've gathered from posts here, the Miro may still have
software problems. The DPS Spark (not "+", which is the same but minus
the SCSI controller part) has been out longer, and the software appears
mature (it is completely stable on my fairly modest system).
BTW, there are a couple of comments to make about things in your
descriptions... The Spark does not drop frames with HD's that are
OK for it (fast AV-rated EIDE drives are fine, like the IBM Deskstar
8, 14, and 16 and others), so the "go-back-an'-get-'em" feature
of the Miro is not needed (unless you must use inadequate HD's...).
The Spark software will also allow seamless playback of multiple
AVI files, so long videos can be made from pieces (I'm working on
a 2-hour video now...). If you don't need that SCSI part, the
Spark ("non-+") with the full Premiere (4.2, hopefully...;-)
makes sense (though do watch out for a few possible hardware
conflicts). (BTW, I may be about to build a new DV-editing computer,
so if 233mHz is fast enough for you, I may have a stable, working,
Spark-based system to sell in a month or so...;-)