[SCOTTBALL]

ok, so i wanna make some movies and clips. nothing too serious but i'd like to play around with editing and filming out story scripts etc.

At the moment my dad lent me his Sony Handycam DCR-TRV285E
its ok but it uses tape, and it doesn't let me do much audio wise (ie it only has a AV out and no mic port or anything)

It has firewire port and all that tho so it seems ok

SO i got 2 options, get some sort of external sound recorder to use in sync with the videoing, then put them together once ive got them on the PC

or just buy a new camcorder

How much could i get a nice harddrive/memory stick based camcorder for with some good movie making functions? (ie mic/narration port for one)

If i can improve myself greatly by buying a new camera i'll probably do it, or should i just stick to this tape based camera i have now?

thanks =D

[redsox_mark]

You can get a mic input, and improve quality if you go to a high def model, e.g. the Sony SR11, Canon HF10/HF100.

Standard def HDD/flash memory models are hard to find with mic input; and their quality won't be any better than what you have.

[SCOTTBALL]

ok no probs, i'll stick with what ive got, thanks ^_^