dvd burner?

[Cynanthis]

Hi How can i tell if my windows xp home laptops &/or desktops hae a dv
burner & not justa player?
I am in the process of deciding on a digital camcorder (dot want one with
tapes)
-I dont think i want one with a mini disk cause the recording time is only
about 30 min. Even th dual sided ones require stoppong the recording to flip
it over.
-I am looking into one with 20gb internal memory but the sales guy said that
my pc would need to have a dvd burner not a dvd rom-I dont intend to store
the home movies i make on my pc's because of the space they take.
I plan to put them on dvd's or the 'rw' kind so that I/or people i give them
to can watch them on their dvd players or pc.
any tips or ideas on this?
thanks

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

Look at the specs for the PC at the manufacturer's website. If it has
DVD-RW on the front panel of the drive, it's a burner. The other 'clue' is
that it will (or should) have DVD burning software installed. If it's just
a player, it will probably say DVD-ROM drive on the panel.

The easiest camcorders to work with are those with MiniDV tapes.