What digital camcorder to get for $350 or less?

[Excelsior]

My sister is going to have her baby soon, and my mom is now interested in getting a camcorder. She doesn't want to spend much, so anything $350 or less is fine. We have Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, CompUSA, and WolfCamera around.


Suggestions?

 

[CreativeTom]

Well that is a tough price range for great quality, but here is one bang for the buck MiniDV camera that should do the trick just fine. I would for sure go for the JVC, great ratings on this camera for the price, ranks up there with much higher priced cams on the market.

1.JVC GR-D270

Review

 

[Excelsior]

Yeah, that is the one I was looking at.

 

[Slogun]

I read through the review, but either missed or didn't see this discussed:

Does this camcorder support pass-through digital recording from an analog (VCR) device?

 

[Excelsior]

Not sure, but here is the manual.

http://books.jvcservice.com/download/641157994/35507.pdf

 

[aplefka]

That entire line comes highly recommended by me. I have a GR-D72 and it's pretty good. If you're only gonna be a home-user then I'd go for it. However, should you ever want to go into the prosumer side of things, let me know and I'll help you out.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: aplefka
That entire line comes highly recommended by me. I have a GR-D72 and it's pretty good. If you're only gonna be a home-user then I'd go for it. However, should you ever want to go into the prosumer side of things, let me know and I'll help you out.

Thanks. Yeah, this will only be used for home videos, nothing serious.

 

[mshan]

How about a Canon ZR-200 from Dell when they have their 25 - 30% off coupon with something like their $25 off $300 stackable coupon?

(best price I've seen was around $255, free shipping, but before tax (if it is charged in your state).

 

[Excelsior]

Well my sister is having her baby July 6th (c section), and my mom would like to mess around with the camera when we go to the beach this week. That and it seems like the ZR-200 is no better than the JVC GR-D270.

We went out just now, and I found I can get a GR-D275 from HHgregg for $300. That beats CC prices, and most I have seen anywhere.