I recently purchased Sony's DCR-TRV8 camcorder based upon the extensive reviews and articles I've read. It's a great digital camcorder that's very lightweight and easy to use. Comes with a 3.5" LCD screen that produces a clean, sharp picture. It's close in size and weight to Sony's PC-100; very portable. Excellent for travelling and vacations. Colors are vivid and warm; excellent representation of the recorded events. I like the ability of recording in LP mode, which gives me twice the recording time. Recommend using 90 minute tape (Panasonic ME)to get about 120 minutes. Buy at least 1 high capacity LI-ION battery, the Sony brand. They're more expensive but worth it. Contacts on generic batteries are usually flimsy and do not make good contact. I also didn't notice a difference in playback quality between the SP and LP mode. There shouldn't be a difference since the recorded material is in digital format anyway. Unfortunately, it's a unit that's also very hard to find. Luckily, I did find one open-box unit, though never used. Everything inside the box was still sealed. Newer models are soon to be out from Sony with memory stick capability at higher prices. Since the TRV8 does not use this feature, of which I didn't need, it was a great price and find. If you can find a new unit well under $1000.00, definitely go for it.



Recommended: Yes