I'm back to the PS120.

Any experience with this company? Found it on epinions.com and it looks to be $200 cheaper than Best Buy.

http://www.mayfairdigital.com/produc...5#itemincludes

I just don't know if they can deliver it before I take off on Friday.

1. Make sure that they ship the same day. Many say "ships in 1-2 days"
2. mayfairdigital has no reviews on resellerratings.com Caveat Emptor.
3. There are several resellers within $30 of this price on pricegrabber.com that are well-known and reliable. I have purchased items from buydig and blueswitchdigital with no problems.

Good luck and let us know how you like it!

Hi,

I too am in the market for a Camcorder. I've read this thread and found it to be very useful. I'm still debating on which model to buy and am hoping for some guidance here.

I'll be travelling to Egypt in less than 2 weeks. It is a memorable event as all my brothers and sisters are going to meet there (without families) for a 2 week trip. This is not a fancy 5-star trip - we'll be toughing it out. I would like to save 1-2 hrs a day of the trip on a camcorder.

What is my best option? I'm flexible with budget (can go as high as $1200). Things that are important to me:

1) Size/weight - I travel light and hence this is very important
2) Long lasting batteries or easy to carry/cheap spares
3) Easy to carry extra media (MiniDVs etc)
4) A big plus would be good quality still pictures.

I won't be carrying my laptop with me and usually travel to remote places with no chance of downloading for a few days at a stretch.

I checked out

1) Sony DCR-HC40 - only 1MP stills... not so sure
2) Panasonic Palmcorder PV-GS400 - Like it but it seems to have some tape sound issues.. and for over 1000 dollars, that's a big risk to take.
3) JVC Everio GZMC100 2MP Digital Media Camera - no tapes to carry!!! But seems to have software issues.. also, can record only 1 hr on the card that comes with it. Extra cards cost $200 each. Not worth it...

Any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Kamala

Here's a second vote for the HC-40. I bought mine due to the birth of my first son in August (expecting years of video-worthy moments) and have loved using this camera. I'm not a tech kind of guy, but this camera is quite intuitive and has met or exceeded all of my needs. I'm sure it has features I haven't even used yet.

I have the NV-GS400. I am not sure what you mean by "it seems to have some tape sound issues".

You mention that size and weight are important, so I would suggest you consider the smaller, lighter and less expensive NV-GS120 and NV-GS200 models. The 400 has a larger lens and LCD display, as well as chewing through the battery quicker partly due to the screen and optical image stabalization (which can be turned off).

I purchased several high capacity spare batteries from various EBay sellers. I was not comfortable buying the camera that way, but the batteries sold on EBay are about 25% of the cost of a Panasonic battery. I have not used them much, but have not had any issues so far and was willing to take the risk for the low cost and the savings.

Hope you see this in time....
I ordered a Sony digital camera online from MayfairDigital.com in December, 2004. I had to call them to get the order truly "placed" - and then they try to sell you extra stuff.

When it didn't arrive for a week or so, I had to call them - they checked on the order and said it would ship that day (strange?). When it did arrive and I started to process a Sony rebate form for the camera, I discovered that the box had arrived with the UPC/serial number label cut out and removed! So I cannot apply for the rebate.

And MayfairDigital (also doing business as George Gomez, Marcus Audio & Video, B & Y Distributors) essentially does not provide support on the telephone - they put you on hold and never pick up again.

And when my credit card statement arrived the next month I discovered they had billed my credit card $8+ more than the invoice they gave me!!

Avoid this company - it's not worth the few bucks you might save.

I ordered a Sony digital camera online from MayfairDigital.com in December, 2004. I had to call them to get the order truly "placed" - and then they try to sell you extra stuff.

When it didn't arrive for a week or so, I had to call them - they checked on the order and said it would ship that day (strange?). When it did arrive and I started to process a Sony rebate form for the camera, I discovered that the box had arrived with the UPC/serial number label cut out and removed! So I cannot apply for the rebate.

And MayfairDigital (also doing business as George Gomez, Marcus Audio & Video, B & Y Distributors) essentially does not provide support on the telephone - they put you on hold and never pick up again.

And when my credit card statement arrived the next month I discovered they had billed my credit card $8+ more than the invoice they gave me!!

Avoid this company - it's not worth the few bucks you might save.

ScottC,
Any updates on what you'd recommend? I'm a novice and won't change that status so some of what I've seen discussed on other threads are waaaayyyy out of my league.

bump...

I'll stick with my original advise, go with the Panasonic 3CCD cameras. The new version of my "old" GS-120 is now the GS-150, you can read a full review on it here:

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der-Review.htm

It is their nr.2 best rated camcorder (just under its big brother, the GS-250).

I've had the DCR-HC40 for over a year and continue to be pleased with this camera. I do use the still and find the 1mp to be fine for most uses.

BEing in the Audio Video field, I have paccess nad have several cameras. I find that Ca non ahs the best glass for the buck. Most of the professional TV cameras out there use either Canon and Fuji lenses. Sony does have the Carl Ziesse lens on their cameras but that is nothing where as Canon is a better quality. I have a GL2, XL2, and some other TV Quality cameras that i use the Canon lens sysems with.

thats my two cents

I too have a GL2, but with its size I rarely get to use it, it is still the cheapest Fluorite lens camera there is if I am not mistaken, fluorite lenses are much clearer and have almost no loss of quality in the glass. Saldly, with its size, price and IMHO poor battery life it isn't much of a camera for the consumer.

Scott, I don't know how you know so much but am appreciative of your input.

At what point does a DVD camera make sense or how far out time wise is it before all others become second fiddle?

I am not a fan of DVD cameras.

1) When on a trip try finding a store that carries the mini-DVD's, expecially abroad that can be very hard.

2) The Mini DVD's have fairly limited capacity

3) They are expensive

The format simply has not been the success the vendors had hoped for, with the massive drop in price for home DVD recorders a DVD-camcorder just doesn't make as much sense as it did when they were first released.