Whats the difference between these camcorders?

Question

one of them costs 50$ more, but the 250$ one has 40 optical zoom, and the other has 20, but thats the one that costs more.... im confused. and the digital zoom is the same.. whats the big difference between these two cameras to make one 50$ more? and what does digital and optical zoom mean?

300$ camcorder: https://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665294454

250$ camcorder: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665335432&storeId=10151

thanks for the answers! :]

Answer 1

Optical zoom means you can zoom in on something without making it grainy or sacrificing the quality of the picture. It's literally taking you closer (and 40x is REALLY REALLY good!). Digital zoom  will go closer, digitally, so the picture will start to get grainy the more digital zoom you use. The $300 one's screen is .2" bigger, it has SUPER nightshot Plus, and USB streaming capability (you can connect it to your computer and livestream videos.) It also has the Tele Macro Function, which makes, for example, a person's face clear while the rest of the picture is hazy, blurry and unfocuses. (You'll see it on tv sometimes.) However the $250 seems to be a better deal especially compared to the other one. The $300 one you're just paying for a couple extra bells and whistles.