As you can guess I am a newbie to the Camcorder arena. My money is limited to about £400 and all I am looking for is a basic camcorder that is easy to use and durable (and has Firewire).

I have narrowed down my search to the JVC GR-50 and the Canon MV600. Both of them have colour viewfinder etc.

My questions is for feedback from the people who have these models and so to help me decide on my purchase

thanks

not in nature of a reply it just I am also looking at getting either the canon 600i or the jvc grd 50. some pointers would be helpful in making my decision

[Eee-Tee]

Not sure on the JVC cam, but in regards to the Canon, for the money that your payin, its not bad at all
I've got the MV400 from 2 years ago, but they're very similar.
Picture quality is very good, and handy size. Spose it dont come w/ all bells& whistles like Sony's, but then your not paying for that

Add on tho that the improved CCD of the MV400, more powerful zoom, and better low light shooting capabilitites, then it adds up to a good choice.

Just my opinions, others may dissagree

BYW, you may want to pay a bit extra for thr Memeory card or DV IN functions

[MarkE19]

As Eee-Tee said the DV-in and memory card options could be worth paying a little extra for.

If you want to edit you video on a PC (now or even in the future) it could be well worth havin DV-in as this allows you to copy you footage back to the cam and then onto a VCR for distribution. It will also allow you to get VCR footage onto your PC (use cam as a converter) to edit and then put back to VHS.
Memory card option will let you use the cam as a digital stills camera. The quality of newer cams gives pictures not too far short of a dedicated digicam.

Mark.