I've mentioned in a different thread that I have a Sony IP5 and bought my Mum a Pana GS1.
Pana cost me £425 - Sony nearly three times that - it ain't three times better....... the Sony is however a beautiful toy and I wouldn't swap it
A neighbour's father wanted a new Camcorder, he'd read all the mags and couldn;t make his mind up then ended up taking my advice of buying the GS1 too (he doesn't want too much gadgetry but did want small size) and he loves it.
You could get the top of the GS range and still have change after buying spare battery and some tapes!
One other point is that if you buy from
www.letsgodigital.co.uk , as well as getting a cheap price you can play with it for 30 days and send it back for a full refund if you don't like it - applies to all their cameras...