Sony Handycam® DCR-PC109 Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: dv and analog in/out. Good battery
Cons: motor noise. grip not intuitive

Updated review, August 9th, 2004 The zoom was hard to operate when I first picked the camera up. My usual grip before this camera was down on my chest, using the LCD. That's not comfortable with this camera with a standard grip. On this one, my ...

Pros: Battery better than expected. Night recording excellent. Touch Screen is convenient. docking station
Cons: Nothing major but... Hand strap weird. Zoom is difficult to operate with one hand.

Great overall camera. I got it for a wedding gift and it has been wonderful. I haven't been able to download streaming video because I only have Windows 98 (you need ME or better). The video and sound quality are great. Night recording is impressive. The docking station makes it really easy to connect directly to the computer or the TV at home. You can connect to TV without the docking station as well. The memory stick lets you download a minute (I think) of MPEG movie which is nice since I can't stream yet. I haven't used the software much yet but it seems easy enough to use. The battery life seems really good even when using the large screen. The hand strap and the zoom are set up a little weird. Its hard to change the zoom and keep the camera steady with one hand.