Personal Technology -- Personal Technology from The Wall Street Journal.

Hewlett-Packard is attacking the problem with a gadget called the DVD Movie Writer dc3000. It's an external accessory for Windows computers that combines, in one integrated box, an analog-to-digital converter and a DVD recorder. It will be sold late next month at $399.

Setting up the DVD Movie Writer is simple. You just install the necessary software and connect the device to your PC, which must have Windows XP or Windows 2000 and 10 gigabytes of free space on the hard disk, to hold the digital video files it creates. It will work with any USB port, but you really should have a new, speedy, USB 2.0 port, or your video transfers will take an eternity.

Then, use standard video and audio cables to plug a camcorder or VCR into the H-P gadget. The unit accepts either a standard video cable or a higher-quality S-Video connection.

All in all, H-P's DVD Movie Writer is a fine product. It's a good example of H-P's new commitment to innovate in the consumer market.