CMOS Digital Camcorders

The Bottom Line: The GoPro HD Hero captures crisp HD video and offers users a great deal of flexibility of resolution and mounting options. However, some users may find it to be too complex for its two-button interface and tiny screen.

Specs: Camcorder, Digital camera, CMOS, 5,000,000 pixels, 3.3 oz

The Bottom Line: Sanyo's dual-camera Xacti VPC-CG10 has the design and features to easily shoot both HD-quality movies and 10-megapixel photos, but slow performance and mediocre photos keep it from being a solid do-it-all device.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, 5 x, Flash card, 6 oz

The Bottom Line: Sanyo's dual-camera Xacti VPC-CG10 has the design and features to easily shoot both HD-quality movies and 10-megapixel photos, but slow performance and mediocre photos keep it from being a solid do-it-all device.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, 5 x, Flash card, 6 oz

The Bottom Line: The JVC GC-FM1's impractical design and poor software hobble an otherwise competent mini camcorder competitor.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, Flash card, 8.0 megapixels, 3.4 oz

The Bottom Line: The JVC GC-FM1's impractical design and poor software hobble an otherwise competent mini camcorder competitor.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, Flash card, 8.0 megapixels, 3.4 oz

The Bottom Line: The JVC GC-FM1's impractical design and poor software hobble an otherwise competent mini camcorder competitor.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, Flash card, 8.0 megapixels, 3.4 oz

The Bottom Line: Still one of the nicest models available, the second-generation Flip MinoHD offers a slightly improved design, double the memory, and an HDMI output for the same price that the original MinoHD used to cost.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, Flash card, 4.1 oz

The Bottom Line: Still one of the nicest models available, the second-generation Flip MinoHD offers a slightly improved design, double the memory, and an HDMI output for the same price that the original MinoHD used to cost.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, Flash card, 4.1 oz

The Bottom Line: An excellent flash-based prosumer HD camcorder, the Canon Vixia HF S11 has the advantage of an excellent image stabilizer but it disappointingly lacks an eye-level viewfinder.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, 10 x, Flash card, 15.9 oz

The Bottom Line: The X-Driven DRS-1100 performs its basic task of recording potential accidents well, but a number of small problems with the included viewer software hamper its usability.

Specs: Digital Camera, CMOS, 1.3 megapixels