Best Economical/Budget MiniDV?

[jsight]

I have currently shortlisted the Panasonic PV-GS90 camera as well as the Canon ZR950. It appears to me that these cameras are in exactly the same niche, with the Canon perhaps having better video, and the panasonic perhaps having better image stabilization. Does that sentiment seem correct?

I've heard that the earlier Canon cameras had some buzzing noises from the stabilization system, is this true for the newer ZR950 as well?

Has anyone compared these two to determine which is the better camera for shooting simple home videos?

Of course, if I am overlooking other better cameras in the same price range, feel free to point those out as well.

Thanks for the tips... I've already found a number of useful pointers on this site.

[redsox_mark]

I'm not up on the latest US model numbers, but I assume the ZR950 is like the MD205. Yes these entry level Canons seem to have the best video quality, and I've not seen any noise issues with the newest ones.