Sony Handycam® DCR-DVD201 Camcorder

Pros: Easy to use, compact, features, USB2.0 , good controls, battery, DVD
Cons: Price, slow DVD operation, some flimsinnes, digital stills not of "photo" quality

Friends do that. They ask you for an advice on which camcorder to buy and then buy something you told them not to get. Based on my recent experience with S ony DCR-DVD101 mini-DVD camcorder, I recommended my ...

Pros: DVD format very compatible with DVD players, easy to use, small, high amount of pixels
Cons: Expensive, lack of good manual controls, lower resolution than some Hitachi and Panasonic

As a quick correction to the epinions product listing, the Sony DCR-DVD201 does not use the mini DVD-RAM discs. It uses the mini DVD-R/RW discs. Customers of mine coming in to browse the camcorders often linger around the mini DVD camcorders a ...

Pros: Nice features, easy to use, high-res lcd
Cons: Noise in dark scenery, formatting issues

This dvd camcorder is full of features and will satisfy most people. The movie quality is great, yet I do agree with other reviews that some noise is visible in low light condition. This was a major flaw to me considering the money paid for this camcorder. However, you have to give it credit for being one of the first DVD handycams on the market for a considerable price, and flaws are inescapable. In general, the quality is great, and its easy to navigate. Nightshot is also a big plus over competition, such as Panasonic, whose nightshot is not close to the one yilded on this camera. I have to comment on another flaw I found: after recording, discs may not always be playable or corrupt if the camera had even minor vibrations when formatting the disc. This can be very stressful if you are about to loose a precious memory. However, once you recognize that its best to place the camera on something steady while formatting a disc, no problems should appear with corruption.

Pros: The camera is small and lightweight.
Cons: Completely unreliable. Too expensive.

I am an avid movie maker and was excited to move to this new technology which would eliminate the long process of moving my movies over to my computer for editing. I loved the idea of just popping in the DVD and editing. The big problem with this camera is the unreliability of the files. I have had the camera for 2 months and have had two instances where I taped an entire DVD on high quality, finalized it, only to find when I tried to play it on my computer it was corrupted. Now I chose to use the DVD-RW to save money, which may be one of the problems, but the most recent corrupted file was on a new disk. I suppose if you don't mind losing memories at the drop of a hat, this camera is fine, but some moments you capture you cannot get back. At this point I am going to purchase a new tape camera because this one is unreliable. I wish I could take the camera back at this point.

I would advise anyone to wait on purchasing one of these cameras.