Hard disk drive Digital Camcorders

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Digital Camcorders

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Sony (55)
JVC (45)
Panasonic (16)
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CCD (72)
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3 CCD (7)
Exmor CMOS (4)
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With digital camcorders that use built-in hard drives, you can record high-quality MPEG-2 footage and deliver more than 500 lines of horizontal resolution, depending on camcorder quality. Some video cameras will also record in AVCHD or H.264 formats, giving you more flexibility for recording. Consumer grade digital camcorders of this type have USB ports for easy video downloading onto computers.

Best for: Trendsetter; home and vacation moviemaker; business videographer.

ADVANTAGES

Relatively compact digital camcorder designs

Easy searching and random access to video segments

Selectable image-quality levels, usually including high-quality variable-bit-rate recording

Both video and still images can be recorded on one card (instead of on a cassette and a memory card)

DISADVANTAGES

Need for separate hard drive or DVD burning for archiving

Unpredictable recording times with variable bit rate

Less support by advanced video-editing and video-effects software than for DV format

Supporting manufacturers: Canon; JVC; Panasonic; Sony.

Read more in the Digital Camcorder Buying Guide

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123 results

Editors' rating: 4 stars

$699 to $1,195 at 13 stores Add to my list

Canon Vixia HG21 Reviewed on 09/01/2009

The Bottom Line: Like its cousin, the flash-based HF11, Canon's Vixia HG21 delivers excellent HD video quality and performance albeit in a slightly larger, heavier package. However, you do get more storage space and a lower price.

Specs: Camcorder, CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 17.3 oz

Editors' rating: 3 stars
User rating: 2h stars out of 4 reviews

$558 to $649 at 13 stores Add to my list

Sony Handycam HDR-XR100 Reviewed on 07/08/2009

The Bottom Line: While it's a perfectly serviceable HD camcorder, the Sony Handycam HDR-XR100 should deliver a little more of everything for the money.

Specs: Camcorder, Exmor CMOS, 10 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 11.6 oz

Editors' rating: 3h stars
User rating: 3h stars out of 12 reviews

$919 to $1,249 at 9 stores Add to my list

Sony Handycam HDR-XR500V Reviewed on 07/02/2009

The Bottom Line: Though their geotagging capabilities are mostly novelty and their interfaces could use a complete overhaul, the top-notch video quality, performance, and consumer-friendly feature sets of the Sony Handycam HDR-XR500V and HDR-XR520V make them worthy camcorder options. Both are overpriced, but since 14 hours of recording time is plenty--especially if supplemented with flash media--the HDR-XR500V is the better deal of the two.

Specs: Camcorder, Exmor R CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 18 oz

Editors' rating: 3h stars

$1,009 to $1,849 at 11 stores Add to my list

Sony Handycam HDR-XR520V Reviewed on 07/02/2009

Specs: Camcorder, Exmor R CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 18 oz

Editors' rating: 3 stars

$274 to $399 at 8 stores Add to my list

Panasonic SDR-H80 (blue) Reviewed on 06/22/2009

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic SDR-H80 has the zoom power of a telescope and a lot of storage in a compact body, but the video results are not nearly as thrilling.

Specs: Camcorder, CCD, 70 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 10.6 oz

Editors' rating: 3 stars

$278 to $399 at 10 stores Add to my list

Panasonic SDR-H80 (black) Reviewed on 06/22/2009

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic SDR-H80 has the zoom power of a telescope and a lot of storage in a compact body, but the video results are not nearly as thrilling.

Specs: Camcorder, CCD, 70 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 10.6 oz

Editors' rating: 3 stars

$279 to $447 at 8 stores Add to my list

Panasonic SDR-H80 (silver) Reviewed on 06/22/2009

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic SDR-H80 has the zoom power of a telescope and a lot of storage in a compact body, but the video results are not nearly as thrilling.

Specs: Camcorder, CCD, 70 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 10.6 oz

Editors' rating: 3 stars

$278 to $447 at 6 stores Add to my list

Panasonic SDR-H80 (red) Reviewed on 06/22/2009

The Bottom Line: The Panasonic SDR-H80 has the zoom power of a telescope and a lot of storage in a compact body, but the video results are not nearly as thrilling.

Specs: Camcorder, CCD, 70 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 10.6 oz

Editors' rating: 3h stars

$1,085 to $1,571 at 11 stores Add to my list

Panasonic HDC-HS300 Reviewed on 06/02/2009

The Bottom Line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS300 still isn't as good a deal as the similarly featured but flash-based TM300 and has the same annoying touch-screen interface.

Specs: Camcorder, 3CMOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 16.2 oz

Editors' rating: 3h stars

$649 to $1,023 at 12 stores Add to my list

Panasonic HDC-HS250 Reviewed on 06/01/2009

The Bottom Line: A very good prosumer HD camcorder, the Panasonic HDC-HS250 is the best deal of its product line, but has the same annoying touch-screen interface.

Specs: Camcorder, 3MOS, 12 x, Flash card, Hard disk drive, 14.9 oz

123 results