FCP Novice needs help with video quality and FCP 5!!

Hi,
I have a real problme that I cannot seem to fix. I think its because I am doing something really wrong!
I have a Sony HC42E MiniDV Camcorder which by default records video in full widescreen. I recorded several tapes this way and have now begun trying to edit them in FCP 5.04 (Tiger 10.4.6). Whenever I log and capture my clips they appear to be fuzzzy and unclear on the Mac monitor whilst being totally crisp and sharp on the camcorder viewfinder. I tried capturing using the DV PAL 48Khz Anamorphic Preset which keeps everything the right size (the final output needs to be true widescreen and not with black bars added) but the resulting video on screen is blurry and bitty. I then tried capturing using the DV PAL 720 x 576 normal preset and the video is a little clearer on the screen (for both presets I have chosen lower field dominance) but when I play back it plays back in widescreen on the mac canvas window but at 4:3 on the camera's viewfinder.
I then assumed that maybe this is just becuase the mac screen (CRT by the way) doesn't use fields. So I exported the sequence as a QT movie using DV PAL 16:9 and used quicktime (OS9 Classic - my compressor has never worked because of the dreaded "unable to connect to baackground process" problem which I've never managed to correct) to convert it to MPEG2. When I import this as an asset into DVD Studio pro 4 and set the track size to 16:9 it comes through at the right aspect ratio. However it looks blurry on screen. Thinking that this will be fine on a TV I burned the disc - inserted it into my DVD player (a good one!) and watched it on my new 32" widescreen TV (a good one!) and the picture qualitty is poor. Its so much blurrier and bittier than the original footage looks when played through the camcorder's viewfinder!
The final footaage looks like an old VHS recording that's a year or two old!
Does anyone know how I can capture my footage in FCP with the maximum quality, edit it without quality loss and the export it for DVD again without such significant quality loss whilst all the time keeping it at proper 16:9 widescreen?
Is there some presets I should be working to?
I'm tearing my hair out! Help!

Hi Guys,
thanx for your replies.
here's the latest:
Brian, I followed your instructions and the DVD burned successfully. However the video quality of the dvd when viewed on my TV ('ve tried on all 3 of my tvs now) is still a lot poorer than the quicktime movie that was imported into DVDSP4. When I play the original QT Movie on my Mac CRT monitor it looks a little blurry and grainy because I guess its non interlaced however when viewed on an external Video monitor it looks great - very sharp.
When I view the burned DVD on my television the picture quality looks like the non interlaced version of the original QT Movie that appeared on my Mac CRT and not the sharp interlaced (lower field) version that appeared on my external video monitor.
Its almost like taking a sharp jpeg into Photoshop and applying a gaussian blur of about 0.3 followed by jepg compression compressing it down to 5% quality!
I'm totally mystified. Can the conversion to Mpeg2 be removing all interlacing so that you get the less sharp computer monitor look? I just want the video on my final DVDs to be as good as the original source footage! I appreciate that along the way there might be loss of some quality but surely not that much?
Does this make sense to you guys or am I still doing something very wrong?
Robert: I have tried setting all manner of drives including a fresh external firewire HD with nothing on it (clean out of the box) but it doesn't seem to help.
Brian: I tried the no network suggestion a few months back but I'm not sure if I got it right. At the moment I have broadband through an external speedtouch usb modem and am also connected (occasionally although not for the last 3 months) via a crossover cable to my PCs ethernet card. When I last tried the No Network solution I had immense trouble getting my internet to work again! Can you please help me by directing me to the best ay to do this while protecting my internet settings?
any more help guys would be greatfully appreciated.

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    Photoshop CS5 fails to open or crashes when attempting to open any jpg or tiff file. InDesign and Illustrator CS5 are frozen and had to force quit both. MacOS 10.5
    Restart the iMac thinking it is just a "common" bad day and hoping everything will be alright after the restart, but nope.
    Not only the CS5 stops working; MSOffice stops working too. Spinning beach ball. Begin to suspect of the deletion of the printer, however, I also deleted the same printer in the above mentioned 10.5 system and I'm not experiencing anything strange. Reinstalled the HP drivers but nothing remarkable happens.
    Then, try to uninstall CS5, CS4, Office, etc. Try to reinstall Acrobat CS4 and the CS5 apps. Reinstall Office. Nothing. Just Outlook works.
    Since I had to desperately meet deadlines, convinced a colleague to come over to the studio and -I know, I know- allowed me to install a copy of CS6. It seems to work fine, except for Acrobat, which randomly freezes/hangs/works and Photoshop, which works fine unless you want to open a layered file containing text layers or if you want to type text on a normal file, because it freezes as soon as the Text Tool is pressed in the toolbar, of course, spinning beach ball again.
    Well, Illustrator CS6 sometimes shows a strange black thin frame overlaid on the interface but goes away by switching to another workspace and then back to the current. InDesign CS6 seems to be fine and making PDFs as expected. However, as I said before, it is pure luck if Acrobat accepts to open the file or even if it launches. Spinning beach ball when freezing/hanging.  
    As a method for eliminating possible culprits, did a clean up of the Suitcase Fusion database, removed duplicate and a few (less than 10) corrupted fonts.
    Removed completely MSOffice reinstalled and updated. Nothing. Now I neither have MSoffice running.
    I am no rookie but I can't even imagine what can cause such amount of misbehaviour, (kernel panics have something to do? malware? lack of system updates? MacHD is damaged?) so I'm thinking of a few scenarios:
    Backing up my projects and user folder –anything else to backup? (In fact I've already done that)– and:
    1. Do a clean install. Not sure if it will be best to completely erase the whole drive or if a standard reinstallation will be enough.
    2. Take the machine to a Genius Bar to see if there's anything that can be done without major OS messes.
    3. Erase the drive and go through the Mavericks upgrading (SL to Ln to MLn to Mavcks), although not sure if this upgrade is worth yet.
    4. Replace HD for a brand new one and either step 1 or 3.
    5. As a complement, I'm thinking of adding more RAM.
    Well. It is really the first time I don't know what to do. I have work to do and would not want to face a week away from my main computer and since most of the files are CS5-6 and hence, can't move to my wife's iMac...
    Apologies if this post feels too long, but I will truly appreciate any kind of input and advice on one of more of the issues mentioned in this post.
    And if it fits best in any other forum, please also let me know.
    Cheers and thanks in advantage.

    You have to use the Base Station Menu on the Menu Bar at the very top of your screen.
    Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
    I am employed by HP

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