I'm looking to buy a new digital camcorder just for basic home video use. Nothing fancy, just looking for something in the $300 range to do same basic editing with then burn the results to DVD. I'd like to stay away from ones that use miniDV tapes and write directly to DVDs if possible.

First I was looking at something with a built-in hard drive like the Sony DCR-SR42. But with the way prices are dropping on SD cards, maybe a flash-based unit like the Canon FS100 is the way to go.

Anyone have any experience with either of these, or something better in the same range? I'll most likely be working with the video on my MacBook Pro with iMovie 08, so Mac compatibility is a requirement.

I've looked at the compact camcorders that seem to be all the rage lately like the Flip Mino, but these seem a little too much like toys to me. They seem more geared to the Youtube crowd.

I picked up a Sony Handcam about a month ago that's worked out great for me. Was in the $300 range. Writes directly to DVD but also has a slot for a memory stick. There's limited internal memory, not much. I like it. Very easy to use and has a great image.

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I shoot HS Football games on 2 Canon Vixia HF100's. They record straight to SDHC cards and the quality is incredible, you can buy or download Nero Ultra and can easily edit AVCHD and can downgrade the video to DVD quality. 30min of HD video rendered down to DVD on a decent PC takes just about 18min, 10 on a high end PC. Canon shoots in .mts format so you can easily bring the video into your macbook for editing with imovie.

Spending $300 on an old technology is not wise IMHO, spend the extra $250 and get something that is going to record in all it's HD glory!

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

Thanks for the advice. I ended up picking up the FS100 last saturday. I had a bunch of Best Buy gift cards and didn't want to go too much over that out of pocket, or else I would have gone for the HD model. As it is I figure this will mostly be for home videos that will be put on DVD for relatives who have only barely upgraded to standard DVD players and pretty much have no plans for HDTV, so it should be fine.

Keep in mind when Xkahnx says "decent PC" he is talking about shit they use at NASA. His "high-end" computer is the one god uses to render the universe.

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