Which is the "best" camcorder: Mini DVD or the Hard Disk Drive? I mean for over all use quality, ease,etc?

Question

I am going to ireland and want the best overall option without being too technical. This is my first real camcorder and I want something that will be relevant for at least a few years. Also I need it to be easy to use. What do y'all say?

Answer 1

Mini dvd is by far the better one, easier to use, portable. It was my first camcorder few years ago and I am still using it.

Answer 2

Avoid miniDVD like the plague!  My preference is MiniDV, for all the reasons you've listed.

Answer 3

Mini-DVD is good if you dont want to use the computer, you know, to edit, make copies...because everything is burned/finalized in the device itself.  Trying to get that info off the dvd and onto your computer isnt going to be easy!  A miniDV (or MiniTape) is great if youre on a budget, and it will give you great quality!  The drawbacks are the the record time is 60 minutes standard play, or 30 minutes highest quality.  Also, it's going to be a real time transfer to your computer through a firewire.  Personally, I really like the harddrive camcorders.  They will give you the most record space (a 30 gb will give you 7 hours highest quality, or 14 hours on a 60 gb) and it will be a fast time transfer, about 15 minutes for every hour of video.  Also, out of the 3 medias harddrive will be around the longest.  The draw back of course is the price, they start around $500.  I hope this helps!!!!