Canon HG10 and file conversion

Hi all, I appreciate this topic has been covered in various forms, but I have not quite found an answer. I have read and have converted my Canon's .MTs files (they were filmed using the highest quality setting on the camera) into .MOV files using iMovie. Then I converted the file using Bigsoft which I found on Apple's website. This converted a less than 2 min file into a low res mpeg. The picture quality was rubbish and also not in the widescreen format the film had originally been shot in. Then I converted it into an Mp4 (this took 24 mins) and the file would not play properly, it jumped and stuttered and froze (while the sound continued normally). I then tried to open it in Imovie (the converted MP4) and I was told by the mac it would take about an hr to convert a less than 2 min file. This seems completely wrong and I am confused. All I would like to do is convert the in-camera files (at the highest quality 1080p) to a format that I can burn to DVD permanently and thus remove the original files from the camera's hardrive. I don't want to keep any files on my mac as they are very memory hungry. I would then like to play the DVDs on our TV or copy them and send copies to family, but essentially have hard copies for posterity. I am not a techy with moving film I confess, and am not confident I am doing this right. Do I need some other software and if so what would be best…free if possible?

The Canon HG10 shots widescreen at 1440x1080 (1888x1062). Does anyone know a converter that will convert at this wide format?