I've had similar problems Bobby. I recently bought a DVD maker from Aldi which you use to plug in your camcorder ( I also have a Sony, it is a Mini DV one) to the laptop via USB but I can only get sound and black and white picture - the yellow connection doesn't seem to work so I can't get colour. But using the usb connection provided with the camcorder to connect to the laptop doesn't work for me either, and as with you, I was advised to use a Firewise connection which my laptop doesn't have a port for. So for now the DVD maker is my only option but I'd love to know of any alternatives.