You can turn your holiday video into a Hollywood epic with the Terratec Cameo 400 DV Digital Video Editing

System.

According to the instructions, you just need to install the computer card then you can connect your camera direct to your PC ready to download and digitally edit your own movies.

The instructions were remarkably accurate. Having slotted the card into my motherboard (don't try this at home, kids, unless you have the computer owner's full and irrevocable permission in writing) and installed the software, I was able to connect a video camera to my computer and download my video through the data cable, which was supplied.

Editing was a more complex process involving all those computer words our mothers would rather we hadn't learned.

It took a while for me to realise that Terratec had ignored all those heart-felt letters from users demanding intuitive interfaces and developed something else. Something almost counter-intuitive, in fact.

Perseverance was the keyword at this point and I was about to toss the whole box of bits in the bin when I realised what I should have been doing.

Like magic, the editing became easy and, without trying too hard, I was able to do all that clever stuff film companies pay a fortune for.

Dreams of opening a post-production editing facility were soon swept away as a momentary aberration when I realised the extreme limitations of the package.

You get precisely what you pay for in this world. The system is a budget kit that enables basic post-production video editing. It is suitable for the technically-adept home user but I never want to see it again.

Price: £79.

Contact: 0118 982 1612.

Feel good factor:

4 out of 10.