Digital Camcorder Buying Guide (FALL 2010)

IAMSLICK - JVC also now has HDD camcorders that record directly to a 20-30 GB hard drive, eliminating the need for discs and tapes. People have complained about the low light recording quality, but they are very light weight and compact. with 30 GB you can store 7.5 hours DVD quality video, or 10 hours of quality comparable to DVD camcorders. Sony will also be coming out with these within the next month (according to a sony rep). I thought that you may want to add this to the Different formats of digital camcorders section. here is an example [circuitcity.com]

I researched this for a year....

If zoom and stabilization are important, as they were for me, the Canon Optura 60 is the best bargain on the market bar none.

Optical stabilization, 14x optical zoom, ton of great features... I'm very happy with it.

I bought a used (store display) JVC and well, it does deserve to be down there in terms of reliability - now it has serious zoom / focusing issues after 3-4 months of use.

Thanks a lot for the information sharing. I am totally confused to choose one. I placed order on dell for Elura 100. I am crossing my fingers to see how the quality on this one. I see bad reviews for the motor noice, battery compartment heat problems etc.

http://forums.slickdeals.net/show...6&t=240836

Quote from IAMSLICK : IV. Reliability (Ordered Best to Worst) Sony, Panasonic, Canon, JVC NOTE: Even the least reliable brand has a failure rate of less than 10%. Take this into account when someone is trying to sell you an extended service plan...

What about Samsung? Are they any good at all?

OP, Nice compilation. Green for your great efforts.

Quote from IAMSLICK : Intro: So you're interested in buying a digital camcorder. It's a popular request in the "Help Me Find a Deal" forum. Even before we help you find a great price, possibly a slickdeal on a new digital camcorder, you need to do your homework and find out which make/model is a fit for YOUR needs, based on recording format, features, and reliability. We also recommend you go to a local electronics store and try them out. See how they feel. Are the controls intuitive? Once you've decided on a make/model, post a request in the "Help Me Find a Deal" forum and you will receive assistance in finding a good deal. If you want to try finding your own deal be sure to use pricegrabber.com, and also check Amazon.com and Dell.com (Dell Home). We hope this helps as a primer on the topic of digital camcorders. DO NOT POST REQUESTS IN THIS THREAD. THIS IS FYI ONLY.

g8 work guys ....

Quote from usnycus : g8 work guys ....

In my opinion, stay away from Sony camcorders. They have a error message that has happened on over 10,000 camcorders across their product line. A website has come up with a fix of BANGING THE CAMERA, HARD' (yes, you heard it right) , which seems to cure about 80% of this particular error message. Meanwhile, Sony charges a MINIMUM of $211 to fix this error message, and they probably bang your camera and put it back in the box! Mine cost me about $250 new, so I thought better than to give Sony $211 PLUS SHIPPING (they just love sticking it to you!) to bang my camera. I will never buy another Sony product as long as I live! The error code is c31-23 and one website where you can find over 2,000 ex-Sony customers talking about slamming their camcorders to fix them is camerahacker.com[/U]. There are many more complaints than this about this particular error message on the internet, just Google 'sony error message c31-23' and you will find them, in spades!

This would be a more current and helpful thread if perhaps it had a wiki and could be updated

There was a camcorder review site that I have on my bookmarks somewhere. I'll get back to you on this.

Quote from StealthscrapE : IAMSLICK - JVC also now has HDD camcorders that record directly to a 20-30 GB hard drive, eliminating the need for discs and tapes. People have complained about the low light recording quality, but they are very light weight and compact. with 30 GB you can store 7.5 hours DVD quality video, or 10 hours of quality comparable to DVD camcorders. Sony will also be coming out with these within the next month (according to a sony rep). I thought that you may want to add this to the Different formats of digital camcorders section. here is an example [circuitcity.com]

I bought the Panasonic H18 HD Camcorder and am thrilled with it. It has OPTICAL Image Stabilization and 34x Optical Zoom ! If you read the reviews, it has Great Video Quality and the Battery Life is also great. Bought and returned the JVC...Image Quality was just not there. My "only" 2 complaints are that it feels slightly plasticky (but they all do unless $1000) and it is not compatible with Microsoft Moviemaker (need a patch). The software it comes with actually works fine for my needs though....check it out ! Also, it is so convenient not to have to have a stack of tapes to carry or archive....

Quote from IAMSLICK : Intro: So you're interested in buying a digital camcorder. It's a popular request in the "Help Me Find a Deal" forum. Even before we help you find a great price, possibly a slickdeal on a new digital camcorder, you need to do your homework and find out which make/model is a fit for YOUR needs, based on recording format, features, and reliability. We also recommend you go to a local electronics store and try them out. See how they feel. Are the controls intuitive? Once you've decided on a make/model, post a request in the "Help Me Find a Deal" forum and you will receive assistance in finding a good deal. If you want to try finding your own deal be sure to use pricegrabber.com, and also check Amazon.com and Dell.com (Dell Home). We hope this helps as a primer on the topic of digital camcorders. DO NOT POST REQUESTS IN THIS THREAD. THIS IS FYI ONLY.

Yup. Dat sounds better. Thynx.

Anyone want to update this for this holiday season?