[theloft]

My old Canon camcorder (mini DV) has packed in and I need to get a new one. It doesn't have to be HD or anything fancy, mainly for holidays, special occasions and filming the grandchildren etc. Budget up to £350. Any recommendations please, especially HDD ones as this makes for easy transfer to DVD via PC.

[senu]

If you up your budget a bit you may be able to get a Sony Sr 190. there are very few ( if any ) HDD models for around the £300 mark that may not end up disappointing you unless you shoot in ideal lighting conditions mainly

Certainly you may find that your "packed up " miniDV Canon may have set a standard the lower cost HDD ones cannot meet

I understand you dont want to be a film-maker, and fully see why the real time transfer of DV to DVD via PC seems a hassle compared to HDD .

The reason we stir folk away from poor performing camcorders is that if the video quality sucks, it may completely put them off using the kit

The video quality from DVDs, BBC, Sky come from camcorders that cost the price of a small family car but we are used to that sort of quality and feel let down by washed out colours, poor focus, grainy pictures when the light drops a little.. ect from our kit!

Happy hunting..