[sprognak]

Have a 5 year old JVC GR-DVL357 which now chews every tape it comes into contact with. Haven't really kept up on what's been changing but I'm not looking for something that will look good on a LCD HDTV and preferably read the old tapes.

Budget is important, sub £1000 is a must, sub £600 would be very nice. As the JVC is knackered and we have about 10 tapes of home video, it's important to be able to use the new cam to read these.

Anything out there that fits these requirements? Any pointers?

[sprognak]

Correction, I have just been informed by my dear wife that sub-£600 is an absolute...

[laser]

With a budget of <£1000 and preferably around £600 then I would suggest taking a look at the Sony HC3.

Approx internet price £700-£750. It will play your old tapes as well as record in 1080i and standard def if required.

Its pretty much a point and shoot camcorder but picture quality at 1080i is very good if you have a plasma or lcd tv to replay the footage onto.

[laser]

Originally Posted by laser

With a budget of <£1000 and preferably around £600 then I would suggest taking a look at the Sony HC3.

Approx internet price £700-£750. It will play your old tapes as well as record in 1080i and standard def if required.

Its pretty much a point and shoot camcorder but picture quality at 1080i is very good if you have a plasma or lcd tv to replay the footage onto.

Forget the the HC3 then. If you want high def and the ability to replay old tapes, I think you'll struggle to find any high def cam below that price point. There are high def cams but they only record to solid state media.

[xmb]

If your JVC is a DV format unit (which I think it is) then the tapes will play back in a HC3.

Take a tape into a dealer and give it a go before you buy.

Currently you will not get a HD camera for less than £600.

The HC3 is about £670 if you shop around.

[sprognak]

Hmm, will the HC3 playback both SP and LP recordings from the JVC?

TV is a Samsung LE32R41BDX capable of 720p native and 1080i downscaled if I understand things correctly.

[redsox_mark]

Originally Posted by sprognak

Hmm, will the HC3 playback both SP and LP recordings from the JVC?

The HC3 supports both SP and LP mode, so yes... but with any camcorder LP might be a problem. LP generally isn't guaranteed to play on anything other than the machine which recorded it. It may work - I had a few LP tapes from an older Sony camcorder which worked fine on my HC1 - but it may not. This is nothing specific to the HC3, it is a general issue for LP.