Importing from Sony mini DVD?

Brand new iMac and I cant insert the mini DVD from Sony Handycam camcorder since iMac only takes standard size dvd. It appears as if there is no other plug-in option, eg, firewire or usb port. Any suggestions? The Sony model is dcr-dvd 305 ... should I burn files from small dvd to large one? Will I lose quality? Bought this computer for ease of use and already frustrated...thanks!

If your camera is several years old, it is most certainly Mpeg2. If your DVD will play in a DVD player, it is almost certainly MPEG2. The alternatives are AVCHD which is a fairly recent format for high definition cameras, and dv which is uncompressed, and probably not used on your dvd. If you can open your dvd in the finder, you may be able to right-click, get info, and find out for sure.
If you are interested in a new camera, there are a lot of choices. The simplest choice is a standard definition miniDV tape camera that connects with firewire. If you go HD, there are mpeg2 cameras and AVCHD cameras in tape, DVD, flash memory, and hard drive formats.
Personally, I like the flash memory AVCHD, but others like the easy archival capability of tape.
See this Apple document for compatible camcorders.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306171

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