Which digital camcorder should I get?

[IgoByte]

Hi folks,

I'm pretty much a complete newbie at this. I have never had any kind of camcorder, and now I would like a nice compact digital camcorder that I can play with and also get serious with.
I really have no idea of what exactly matters when choosing a camcorder and what sets the different models apart. I've been looking at the Sony DCR-TRV17, and found them selling for $820.80 shipped, which is a lot but still OK.
I don't care about digital still on a camcorder, because they are crappy and I have a digital camera anyway, so that's not an issue here.

Any recommendations, suggestions, advice or anything at all?

 

[rover825lover]

Hi,

-First you should think for yourself what you like to do with the camera.

-do you want to edit your movie on the computer (digital in/out)
-do you want to film in the dark (my Sony tvr 430 has a grainy immage when there is not enough light).
-etc.

-there are some newsgroups on the subject, so you can ask some people there.

I bought the sony tvr430 because it has digital in/out so i can edit without quality loss, it had a firewire card in the package and also a light video editing program from pinaccle.
I bought it 6 months ago and i made a few (home)movies so i haven't got a lot experience.

Greetz,

Mark

 

[Degenerate]

The sony MIni MV is pretty good but you need the cash as it is the top fron SOny. Things to see. well you should know about optical and digital zooms.... itss really about how much money you have

 

[IgoByte]

Well, I'd certainly like to edit/make movies on the computer. I have a system that's more than suitable for such things, so I'd like to utilize it to learn that kind of stuff too.
As for shooting in darkness, it would be convenient if the camcorder were good at it, but I don't really think I'll be shooting in darkness very much.

I will definitely need some sort of program to edit the stuff I shoot.

Do any of you know of good sites to visit on the topic?