[STOWITBELOW]

Much asked & difficult to answer, which camcorder should I get?
My old JVC VHS-C was antique, & now stoped working & wifes Sony thing wont hold a charge & is also a huge antique. I'm looking at circa £200 (probably 2nd hand) for use on high days & holidays - literally. I may PC edit (USB only - I've no firewire). I like Sony stuff, but am open to suggestions as to what's reliable, best performance/value for money. I've a Nikon 775 Digicam - only 2mp so may think about upping the budget & getting something that takes stills as well, as a replacement. I will research further, but would welcome any friendly pointers.
Ive read some posts & conclude -
Canon aren't much loved.
Mini Dv are probably the 'appropriate' media.

[STOWITBELOW]

I know it's a c*** question, but any one ANY opinions?

[melliott1963]

I'm not up on the latest models, but have always had Sony and been very happy with them.

If you are thinking of editing on your PC, then you have got to use Firewire. USB is only any good for transfering stills, or very low quality footage. Firewire cards are pretty cheap (£10 - £20).

Hopefully someone else will be able to point you more in the right direction for particular camcorder models.

[STOWITBELOW]

Cheers Malliott1963, ultimatley the decision is mine, but as I've said advice welcome. As for Firewire, it's not the card, just I don't think I've any spare slots. I should say its USB2, Ithought they were similar speeds. Thanks

[MarkE19]

USB2.0 is actually faster than firewire!
However USB2.0 is only faster in peaks, and can't maintain full speed. This is therefore no good for video transfer as the files are transfered in real time and need near full speed that firewire offers to get all the information onto the PC.

If your USB2.0 is on a PCI card rather than part of the motherboard then you can replace it with a combined USB2.0 & firewire card and get the best of both worlds.

Mark.

[STOWITBELOW]

It's on the mobo, & although I've put some front ports on the PC (including firewire) I haven't a card installed. A quick poke reveals I have 1 empty slot though. If I can choose a camcorder I will consider a firewire card & a DVD writer. Until this info I hadn't really a need for them. Fessing on my PC (video editing) has appeal but i'm unsure how much use it would get. As per my original post, I'm not planning on being a ful time editor, just occasional filming. I'm supposing like my digital camera, much of the footage can be cropped, this would be the main use then archieving to VHS. With DVD writers circa £35 this plan will probably change. Your recomendations for firewire are noted & helpfull, as experience shows, if its slow & difficult to do, it probably won't get done.