Thanks purejammy, I guess I should have titled it what camcorder not to buy. I have never owned a camcorder before, so didn't know what to choose, whittled my selection down to 3, and then saw more, like the new JVC line. I posted the question to ask if anyone had and bad comments on any of the ones I listed, but nobody has yet, so (and on your good experience) I guess they all would be good choices.
I asked sony about the battery life and they said it was only 40 minutes average, so I was budgeting for an extra battery as well, I guess this is true of all camcorders, a bit more revenue for the manufacturers eh?
Each time I check a certain retailers site, they drop the price of their camcorders, they are looking good bargains, so I will have to make a choice soon.
Thank you for your advice, and one more question, is the software supplied with the sony adequate for PC editing, or do I have to budget for extra software as well. I just want something to tidy up the footage, maybe arrange it ready for recording, and then burn it to vcd or maybe dvd if I can get a recorder sometime.
The initial price of the camcorders looked good, but then I realised I had to buy cables, extra batteries, case, tapes etc. So I guess I should prepare myself in case there are any more extras to buy!
thanks
OB