minidv tape user here, for the reasons composite said. I like to review my footage as I ingest it to my computer so that I can make up my edit desicions. This really helps speed up the editing process which allows me to decide on visual effects or ideas before I have to start putting it all together. Plus the advantage of having the tape as a physical backup of the footage. When I am done with a project, the project files and the dvd folder are archived to an external hard drive. One day I’ll get to solid state, but that’s still some time off.
John
p.s. rendering times of 3 hours per 1 hour may not be abnormal if you have a lot of color corrections, composites etc. But yes, the new computer will garner you some increased speed in rendering.
