[shantz]

I'm thinking about buying my wife an HD video camera for Christmas but I don't have a clue what I'm looking for...

I've checked out CNET and was impressed with the Panasonic HDC-TM700 but I don't know a whole lot about what I'm looking for.

Basically we're having a baby in Febuary and I'm looking for something that we can use for quite a while as well as take on holidays with us and such.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions as to what to look?

Thanks :)

[Manic!]

How much do you want to spend?

[Gumby]

My wife had our first son in April of 2008, and in December of 2007 I bought a Canon HG10 for around $900. It's a HD camcorder with a built in 40GB hard drive. I didn't want to get all sorts of other media, so that's why I got something with the built in storage. It took decent videos and I have nothing to complain about.

However, speaking from experience, I found it quite the hassle to grab to film something. Transferring videos to your computer is also more difficult than simply plugging in some sort of media into a reader. In the end, I didn't use it very often! So here it sits, collecting dust, as I try to sell it on eBay... :)

Instead, I use my point & shoot Canon SD1100 camera to do most of my filming. It's so much smaller, I find it much more convenient. Keep in mind, I only do short clips (30-60 seconds), so if you want to shoot for a few minutes at a time, then maybe you should get a camcorder after all.

[Manic!]

MAybe go with a DSLR and get the best of both worlds. I just picked up a Canon T2i kit for $750 plus taxes.

[snowball]

My number one stop for camcorder reviews http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

[shantz]

I thought I'd spend $500-$1000.
I don't want a DSLR....