This is my first HDD camcorder. I owned several MiniDV camcorders in the past. I have owned the camera for 2 weeks, so this review should be considered as initial impression.
PROS:
- Picture quality is very good in good daylight. I had some shots at night in well lit family room, and the video is not as sharp as day time shots, but still very good.
- The Super Nightshot feature is fun to have to take kids video while they are sleeping. As expected, the video is very grainy.
- The quality of still pictures is acceptable.
- Zoom is very smooth
- The touch screen is awsome. Hope the screen won't get scratched in the long run
- Camera is easy to use without having to read too much into the manual
- The menu is sort confusing in some areas, but not too bad
- Lightweight

CONS:
- Pricy, compared to MiniDV models of similar quality
- Battery sticks out too much off the back of the camera making it look sort of ugly
- Allows only 3 still shots during video. I wish I can snapshot still photos from video like most of Panasonic models.
- All connectivities are on charging base. This means one more thing to carry with on vacation
- No separate battery charger. Battery is charged on the charging base or on camera
- Only 10x zoom

Overall, pretty happy with the purchase, and will be a lot of funs making family videos. I did not make a single DVD from my previous MiniDV's. This is a 4.5 stars rating.

The sirens song of a HD based Camcorder was too much to resist. Based upon hours of research I too finally settled on the DCR-SR200. Not quite as high resolution photos as the SR300 but sported longer battery life and CLEARLY a step above the previous models and other vendors. How could I go wrong - look at all these 4 and 5 star reviews. I can't speak for their experiences but I'm going to tell you mine. So pull up a chair and get comfortable b/c the ride is going to get bumpy...
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br /I've spent the last 6 months using this device and feel compelled to return to where I purchased it and share the good the bad and the ugly news.
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br /The Good News: I'm not going to drill on the obvious benefits of HD based camcorder. If you like not having to replace tapes/DVD in your Walkman; you are surely going to enjoy not having to do this with a camcorder - FINALLY.
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br /Videos: The video it takes is good in full daylight. (Warning see below!)
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br /Photos: Takes nice 2 or 3 MP plain photos in full daylight. (Warning see below!)
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br /Camera Controls: I personally don't mind the touch screen controls. Occasionally I just use the tip of a small finder to invoke the functions more accurately.
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br /Software: Wow! It works with Vista. The software that comes with it does a fantastic job of simplifying copying images and movies from the camcorder to the PC in a organized fashion. Its not saying much - click - copy to new folder with today's date. But its brain dead simple.
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br /The Bad News: I'm not trying to SLAM this camera out of any kind of mean spirited vengeance; my goal here is to level set buyers expectations based upon my 6 months experience actually using this device. I do feel a bit of buyer's remorse b/c this camera is NO WAY a 4 or 5 star device like I was lead to believe by all the other reviews. Not in million years would I say that I got my $700 dollars worth. Had I known this I surely would have gone to a higher priced model to get the quality I was expecting.
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br /Zoom and Lens - No disrespect to Carl Zeiss - This camera has a really crappy lens configuration. I'm no f'stop expert - but what I do know is even when I zoom all the way out - I have to stand really far back to get a group shot b/c the field of view is quite limited. Translate that into lens mm/mm speak if you want; but that's what you get. The optical zoom is so lame. Its like really really lame. My old Minolta SLR, Sharp VL-A10U and Cannon S30 set the benchmark for what I expect in field of view and basic effect of hitting the optical zoom in/out. This thing stinks in comparison. Sure you can turn on digital zoom with about 10 clicks on the touch pad and go like 80x more...but that's the point - I was sold a Carl Zeiss lens. Nothing in software makes up for the fact the field of view is so limited. I think someone slipped a decimal point during the design calculations b/c this is a total total let down. Maybe the Sony engineers took a crumpled up design paper out of Carl's trashcan and unfolded it and used it.
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br /Videos: The video camera ONLY takes "good movies" in broad daylight. The video stabilization feature causes a sort of "heat wave" ripple effect when you pan across scenes. Its kind of annoying b/c the camera apparently can't figure out that its not canceling a "vibration/shake" and its panning and the image should stream horizontally across the viewfinder. Get ready - The minute you are not in full lit daylight - Oh I don't know, say taking a movie of a birthday party indoors of a cake with less than 70 candles on it. You will find the video is, how shall we say, horrible. Absolutely snowy and all faded out as this device completely fails to realistically capture the moment. What a LET DOWN! My 7 yr old $308 tape camera SOARED at moments like this! You do have an option - turn on night mode! OOOH-Yea! Now your guests eyes appear as large black circles effectively you are now filming zombie vampires under a pale green light; effectively recreating a Night Stalker episode. $700 bucks - no indoor birthday parties?
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br /How about taking a few minutes of video of the first few weeks of a newborn child sleeping to send to distant relatives? Well just be sure to turn on all the halogen lights so you can get this shot too. Or you can choose the night shot mode mentioned above. Depending on how soon you do or don't want them to visit...maybe so.
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br /Photos: OK at first you think - Cool! I don't have to bring 2 cameras any more! A camcorder and still photo camera all in one! Mostly WRONG! The still camera has absolutely NO FEAURES - NONE! Did you want sepia mode for a "old time effect" while posing at a national landmark? Did you want landscape mode to capture a vast panoramic scene or portrait mode for close up? Forgetaboutit! None. Not one. It stinks! From the company who makes a decent SLR'esque still cameras couldn't we get 1-2 features accessible from the software touch screen as an upgrade? PLEASE? I don't' count selecting flash/no flash and 3MB or less as camera configuration choices. I'm talking real features here and this thing has ZIP - Cero! Oh yea - and while in movie mode - you can snap pictures too. Of course you don't get flash anymore; and you can only take 3 shots while filming. Not 4 mind you, all scenarios under all conditions only need 3 according to Sony. When you stop the move; it takes a few moments to stream the 3 photos to disk/memory stick. I have both flash stick and HD; you would think we could do both in parallel; they almost accomplish it; but some engineering limit I'm sure made 3 the count. Why is this an issue? Assume you are taping your kids' ballet. And you take 2-3 photos during the movie of child #1. Then you keep the tape rolling to have a full video of the event. Child #2 comes on and you only have 1 photo left in the chamber; and you click it off when they weren't looking just this way...Hmm...where is my $130 7 MB still photo camera again??
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br /Camera Controls: Hello FOCUS FOR *%$ SAKE FOCUS! I only film in the high resolution mode (i.e. SP mode for VCR aficionados). And nothing annoys me more than 15-30 seconds of out of focus video while the stupid camera tries to figure out that the group of people about 15-20 ft in front of me are actually of interested to me and I would like the camera to somehow find a way to focus if is not too much of an inconvenience right now. This doesn't always happen but it sure does enough to say FIX IT SONY!
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br /Software: I'm running Vista these days and you get free super generic movie making software. So you really don't need much here. Also just b/c the moves are *.mpg format doesn't mean you can just plop on a DVD and go. You still have to go through an "overnight" rendering phase to create a DVD w/ menus etc on any personal computer short of something NASA owns. And the videos don't play on an XBox360 media extender right now!
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br /So there it is, in all its glory - the true story about this Camcorder based upon my past 6 months of real world use and the reasons why I only can be so generous and give it a weak 3 stars.
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br /So there it is, in all its glory - the true story about this Camcorder based upon my past 6 months of real world use and the reasons why I only can be so generous and give it a weak 3 stars. Once again I felt compelled to write this manifesto b/c so many were so gaga over this barely acceptable device.

I have been involved with MPEG2 encoding since 1999. I know what are the qualities of a good MPEG2 encoder. I can point very minute artifacts that results from MPEG2 encoder. Being said that, here is my verdict on video quality.
* No visible quantization artifacts (Blocky video)
* No visible edge blurring or edge artifacts
* Very little video noise in low light situation (If you are picky like me!!)
* Little visible interlacing (Window blind effect) for fast moving scenes.

Overall, this MPEG2 beats all the software encoders I have tried in past: TMPEGEnc, Cinemacraft, etc.

This video is as close as you can get with commercial DVD movie for very reasonable price.

I am not going to comment on other aspects of the camcorder. You will find them in other reviews.

Strengths: Excellent Video & Audio Quality. Great Still Pictures. Cool Touchscreen LCD. Night shot video is amazing. In Built Flash is very powerful.

Weaknesses: Battery protruded outside kinda gives a odd look. User Manual supplied is not very informative... u got to explore all the menus urself. u need docking stn to connect to PC.

Summary: Hey , no more additional softwares to convert all other video formats, Directly recorded as Mpeg format, connect to PC and rip your DVD.. its that easy.
Picture Motion Browser supplied with Handycam is cool and very handy, you can trim out unwanted portion of your videos.
I have been waiting for this since long. I purchased this just bcos its predecessor SR-100 was a big hit, and this one has all the features of SR-100 and some extra features.

Before purchasing Sony DCR-SR200 I have looked at other hard drive cameras - few JVC ones, cheaper Sony and latest Canon. Sony and JVC are very ergonomic, they fit more or less perfectly in your palm, whereas Canon was awkward and controls were inconvenient to use. From all those cameras only DCR-SR200 (and higher model DCR-SR300) has very stable zoom. For the rest of the group zoom was sluggish and shaky when you zoom at max. Camera has 4 MP resolution for still images but pictures taken with DCR-SR200, as probably any other camera from the group above excluding Canon, are okay. Comparing pictures taken with 3.2 MP Canon PowerShot S1 with pictures taken with DCR-SR200 latter have too much color artefacts which are very noticable when zoom in. But this will be most likely acceptable for making 4x6 and even 5x7 prints.

Everybody else has said all the good things about this camera, I need to document what I found to be negative issues (for me anyway). My first outing with this cam was at an air show. There was 20 MPH winds and bright sunshine. I need to stress that the microphones for the 5.1 surround are very sensitive to wind noise. I have 1.5 hours of really cool video, but when I play it back through my home theater, the sub woofer rumbles from the constant wind noise, making the playback annoying to listen to . Web research has told me to use a Band aid over the holes on windy days.

Now on to the touchscreen viewfinder. Being a little OCD, I have an issue with touching the screen and wiping off the fingerprints, but that's my problem, not Sony's. In the bright sun, it was nearly impossible to see what was on the viewfinder, so trying to follow a moving target like a jet or airplane, was a real challenge. I'm also chronologically vision impaired, and must use my reading glasses to see the screen. Next camcorder will have a viewfinder for sure. I'm hoping that my next recording session (a graduation) will produce better results.

I upgraded from a Canon MiniDV camera to this Sony Hard drive and will never again look anywhere but to Sony for all of my electronic needs. This camera is easy to use. My one concern was fat fingers on the touch screen but the menus have the buttons spaced enough that it has not been an issue. The video quality is fantastic except a little grainy in very low light situations. But in contrast with the Canon's low light capabilities, there IS no comparison. The video blows it out of the water. The 4 mega pixel digital stills are significantly better quality than my 8 year old 3.3 mega pixel Sony cyber-shot which still works like a gem. The ability to jump to any scene without rewinding a tape, to not worry about taping over something important, and the downloading time being a fraction of capturing a tape is all priceless. I highly recommend this camera and can only imagine what more the Higher-End cameras can offer. If you are looking to invest in a good camera, this is the one.

Bought this camcorder last month after debating this and the competing Panasonic model (SDR series). I should say that the overall image and movie quality out of this camcorder is rich and vivid.The controls are easy and self-intuitive, placed right where you'd expect it to be, and the on-screen controls I thought are pretty neat considering I have mid-sized fingers. Like several other reviews mention, the battery does tend to protrude out a little but I dont mind it given the overall performance of the camcorder. Transferring and burning is straightforward although I wish that the camcorder software had more in depth editing/effect making capabilities. The charging base will need to go everywhere you go (especially on long trips) but I didnt mind it one bit since it was light and does not add to your luggage at all. Video can be recorded in 3 different and distinct formats, given that this is a CMOS recording, the effect on overall image blending is negligible. The camcorder is light, battery life is just about what is the norm and the storage is way more enough than I'd ever need ( I regularly tend to transfer data out to a DVD/Computer closeby). Happy Moviemaking!!!!

We bought this a couple of days before our first baby's birth to be able to capture and share the videos.

Excellent video quality. Sound quality is also good. Okay 4 Megapixel images. Dont think of it as a replacement of your digital camera though.

The HDD is the main benefit which allows you to easily copy the clips to the computer for editing or sharing. You will need a good video editing software to downsize the video to be able to share it.

From a cost point of view, its neither a bargain nor a rip-off. You are in a digital age so prices ARE going to go down after you buy so dont let that get to you.

Touchscreen works great. Its very easy to use. If you have handled any camcorder earlier, you shouldnt be having to read the manual to operate it.

Ofcourse there is no viewfinder, but honestly i am yet to find an average shooter using the viewfinder to capture videos.

Overall, 4 out of 5 as there are room for improvements in reducing the size, battery size and maybe digital still image quality.

Cheers !

Just so you know where I'm coming from, this DCR SR200 replaces a 9 year old Sony Hi-8 camcorder. Of course this one is super light, getting video from the camcorder to the computer is effortless, the quality is light-years better, and the camera feature is handy to have. I shoot mostly fast action (hunting), and the slightly quicker autofocus is a big help. I've looked at a lot of camcorders and Sony as a brand has the fastest autofocus around.
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br /I was surprised that startup time was not that much faster (about 5 seconds). And when the SR200 goes into idle mode you must turn the top switch off and back on. On the old camcorder, pressing the record button woke it up. That feature would be nice to have back.
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br /It doesn't perform nearly as well in low light as the old one, and a lot of hunting happens at dawn and dusk. (Night shot is useless since all the color is lost.) The old one compensated and still kept pretty good color, but the SR200 starts washing out when the sun sets.
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br /I actually like the bulky battery that others complain about, because if it wasn't there, my thumb would not land on the record button.

Great camcorder we upgraded from an ancient Hi8 that was in it's time a very good camcorder. Going to the hard drive is the way to go out of the box I was up a running in a few minutes. The image quality is great, but the best is how easy it is to create a DVD that is playable. I also bought the Sony VRDMC3 DVD recorder and just plug it in press the burn DVD button and in a few minutes poof a DVD it's that easy. I'm a point and shoot kind of a person and this fits the bill.

I have had this video camera for a about a year now and its the best camera i have owned so far. The video is very nice quality inside and outside. I have had dvd video and 8mm and this is by far the most convenient and best recording. it takes ok stills but my digital camera takes awesome pictures so keep your digital handy. I am giving this a 5 because of video quality and ease of use. If i included the quality of digital stills i would give this a 4 star. But then again your buying a video camera the stills in my opinion are just bonus. Enjoy.

One of the main reasons I chose this camcorder was the hard drive. This was a replacement for a 10 year old VHS-C camcorder. The thing I liked least about the old camcorder was having to find a tape when you need it. With young kids you never know when a video moment is going to pop up. Trying to find a tape and make sure it was queued to a spot so that you didn't record over previous footage made spontaneous recording almost impossible. The HDD on this camcorder eliminated all of those troubles, just turn on the camcorder and hit record. It also is great for quickly and painlessly deleting shots such as when the little one just won't do that cute thing again after you start video taping or the ever popular 10 minutes of the inside of the camera bag because you forgot to turn it off and bumped the record button while packing it away. The ability to randomly access the clip you are looking for is also a huge plus. No more time spent fast forwarding or rewinding looking for the clip you want to view and then having to Queue the tape again to record later.
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br /The video quality taken is excellent in my opinion. I did take all of my video so far in the standard quality, which looks crystal clear on my 51" widescreen HDTV. It appeared to me that in the highest quality video setting the auto focus was a little bit slow. I only tried the highest setting once and I didn't spend much time messing with it so perhaps there are some settings that would improve that.
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br /I took some outdoor night shots under street lights and the picture was bit grainy while in auto mode. I selected the twilight profile and although the picture got slightly darker, the graininess went away and although a bit dark is remarkably clear. I also had the chance to use the fireworks profile and the fireworks looked excellent when played back.
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br /Battery life is very satisfactory. I just got back from a vacation and I never had the battery die on me. I did charge it every night however. Unless you are planning on doing some very long recordings I don't think the battery would be a problem.
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br /The amount of video the camcorder can hold is amazing. I have yet to buy a PC that can burn DVD's (next big ticket purchase) but that's OK because the HDD just keeps sucking up the footage. It was wonderful to go on a week long vacation and not have to worry about carrying extra tapes with.
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br /Bottom line, I'm extremely happy with the performance of the camcorder and the price on Amazon is one of the lowest I have seen.

It's extremely easy to set up, record, file-transfer. Since I have window Vista, the movie-making is just a snap. The 4MP intergrated camera makes this camcorder lots more convenient (2 in 1). I should get this baby long long time ago. However, at the high-quality recording, the picture gets really blurry when recording a moving object; the battery life is quite short (less than 1 hr of recording time). That is why I only give 4 stars for the rating. Hope this is helpful.

This is a great little camera. In two weeks we shot 400 short videos and over 400 stills and had 20 gig of hard drive space left over. It has excellent low light video and still capability. The still capture while taping is great, and the 4Mp still mode is great for a camcorder. Video quality is very good. Battery recharged quickly and lasted long enough for a day of shooting. Be advised the harddrive has an altitude restriction, you cannot use it over 3000 meters(around 9000ft). Another drawback is the USB cable can only be connected through the base not the camera. Otherwise a great little versatile camera.

Bought this camera to take videos of my new baby. Figured going with a hard drive camcorder was the way to go. Unfortunatley it records in MPEG2 format which most commecially available desktop video maker programs either dont support yet or dont import easily - in other words, this is not a "plug and play" camera. You will need to buy more advanced video editing software to make it easy to download movies and edit.
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br /Also - it doesnt work with Macs or Imovie. This was a bummer.
br /I tried it on my windows machine and it took several steps to move the files on to the pc then convert them for use.
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br /If you are a video pro, this is probaby a great camera, but I'd stick with a MiniDV tape unit until the software improves. I ended up getting a Panasonic 3CCD unit. Shoots great video and is easy to use.
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I love this camera, but am disappointed that the MPEG files it makes are in some way incompatible with most of the software I use. Specifically: Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker both crash when I try to load a Sony mpeg directly.

Some programs, however, seem to be able to handle it (like Nero Showtime and Nero Vision).

I am guessing that my mpeg2 codec(s) are unhappy with the extra sound information (Dolby 5.1) the camera crams into the file (The Sony mpeg internally is more of a .vob file)

One of the primary attractions of the camera was that I could hook it up via USB2 and have it appear as just another disk drive, and drag recordings around to where I needed them, and use them just like any other mpeg, so I am pretty bummed that it appears I will need to pre-process every recording with some tool before I can use it.

ANYWAY, other than that, the camera is a dream. Microphone performance in a noisy (many fans) environment is amazing, image is so much better than my previous camera (Analog, which gives you an idea of how frequently I change cameras :-)

Menus are a teensy bit cryptic, and the user's guide doesn't seem to mention you have to actually use the touch screen to enable the USB2 interface after attaching the camera to your computer (I thought I had a defective cable).

The touch screen works well and my finger grease is not at all apparent.

The One-Button Make-a-DVD works as advertised, but feels a bit slow and doesn't try very hard to keep you in the loop as to what it is doing.

Low light recordings are grainy, as expected, but under normal lighting the image is fantastic.

The camera is a bit small for my hand, so my thumb and forefinger don't quite line up with the desired buttons and I don't feel I have a solid grip on it. But it fits my wife perfectly and is light as a feather.

If you have a solution for the mpeg incompatibility, please let everyone know what it is.

I bought this item to tape my new born twins. It is a great camera, good picture, sound, and it is user friendly. I looked at a lot of cameras before the purchase, the hard drive feature is nice it makes it easy to save images and transfer them to your PC for back-up. The only feature the camera does not have the small eye view finder.

Not much to add except that this is my first camcorder and it is easy to use right from the start, with great picture quality!

STAY AWAY from the other websites posting prices several hundred dollars cheaper than Amazon.
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br /They are selling just the camera, no manuals, disks, batteries, etc. It's kind of ridiculous when actually get someone to answer the phone. They say the published price is for people who are replacing their camera and already have all the accessories? Yeah right. They give you the price with everything included it $100-200 more than Amazon. Stick with a name you can trust and you will have a better chance of a good transaction.
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br /Went to all the websites and looked at features and costs. I use the camera for stills, family video, and training video. It works great for all three without complicated buttons and menu items to confuse your easy point and shoot action shots.
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br /I did have to invest in the Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum to have advance editing capability. This is one of few editing programs that recognizes the Dolby 5.1 track files. My old editing software including Vegas 5.0 would not bring up the sound file. This was my only obstacle in the last 30 days easily fixed with a software upgrade.
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br /I have created several hours of training videos that sound and look great. The SR200 comes with a nice large hard drive to store several hours of movies

I've only had it for a week, but I'm already up to speed on most of the features. LUV the touch screen navigation and intuitive menus. Online manual is better than print version.
Now I'm a movie director in one easy lesson and do my own editing on the PC.
Take three still photos while recording video!
By an extra battery.

The Sony DCR-SR line now works very well on the Mac with the newest version of iMovie. This camera worked well before, although it did require the open source MPEG Streamclip app to import the videos, which then work great in iMovie as well. Excellent Sound. Great Battery Life. Touch screen and menus are very easy to use. Very simple to use for anyone with a Mac and iMovie '08. Very quick import as well.

This is a good handycam. The Image stability is very good. It have enough space (memory) to capture a days events. The wide-angle is very useful for natural scenic locations. Recommend to have a spare battery. The software helps you to organise your photo and video collection.

Solid construction, good optics, nice sound. As mentioned by others, the output for the USB transfer is found in the handycam console and not the camera itself...a minor annoyance. All in all, this is a good camera that is touch pricy but you do get what you pay for...

This is our first camcorder. It seemed to make more sense to have video stored on disk than to mess around with tapes, so we bought this hard-drive based device.
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br /The video quality is really good, night shot works great, and battery life seems OK. The microphone isn't as sensitive as I'd hoped... it picks up the voice of the person filming really good, but not necessarily the person being filmed.
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br /Getting the SR200 to talk to the computer is non-intuitive. The instructions really aren't clear. After a bit of fiddling, I got it to work. You need to use the included software to copy movies from the camcorder to the PC, and also to delete movies from the camcorder.
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br /I'm also underwhelmed by the editing and DVD-authoring capabilities of the included software. I'm going to look for another program to actually burn DVDs.
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br /All-in-all, it boils down to great hardware, so-so software.
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I have bought this camcorder in Dec 20th and extensively used for xmas and new year holidays trips. I was very well impressed with the performance. Specialy the photos are very bright and crispe than my 4.1 Mega pixal digital camera.
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br /Even the video qualtiy is very nice. Easy to operate Easy to save to computer.no worries of tapes and DVD's...
br /Only 3 draw backs are (but they are not hidden)
br /1.The original batery comes only for 120 min...so for going long trips u'll definately need a better battery
br /2.While take the video u can only take 3 pictures that too with out flash.
br /3.If you want to use it as a digital camera there is no timer mode for taking pictures until use use a tripod and a remote.
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br /Overall this is a worth buying camcorder and I'LL SUGGEST EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO BUY A CAMCORDER IN GOOD BUDGET THIS IS A NICE ONE ALSO THE PURCHASE WAS EASY WITH AMAZON.

This is my first handycam and I did good amount of research before buying this one. Gives very nice and clear picture as well as crystal clear sound in recordings. Easy to use interface, handy, not much weight and amazing picture quality. When you carry this, you dont need to carry camera to capture pictures as it has 4 MP camera built in which is good enough for most occassions. Flash for the camera is also pretty good and works very well when needed. Transferred all recordings and pics to my computer with just click of a button without much hassle and wait. it took very short time to transfer everything to my PC. I never used direct disc burn so I am not able to say anything about that. But in all this is the product worth buying if you ever consider about buying Handycam. Hats off to Sony !!

I bought this as a gift to my dad on his retirement. He always wanted to go with Sony, specially when it comes to camcorders. This was a great product and definitely one of the better ones out of the whole lot. Price is also not too bad (although if you wait a month or two you might find better deals in thanksgiving)
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br /As always amazon.com had one of the best deals and not to forget its one of the highest trusted online shopping websites.

I ordered this camera online because all the other places, ie. Circuit City, Best Buy, etc., wouldn't price match. The camera came overnight and we had it the afternoon of the next day. We took it on vacation with us and it worked wonders! We love the camera! It is so small and takes amazing pictures. We haven't had to delete anything off it yet because it has enough memory for us. I found out my sister has the same camera and she loves it as well. I would definitely recommend it if you are paying around $600.00 like we did. Do not buy it from a big box store if you can get it online overnight.

I narrowed my choice in digital video cameras to this Handycam and a similar Panasonic model -- the SDR-H200. Sony won the battle due to what I see as a superior picture. I compared the two models side by side at Circuit City and it wasn't even close. The Panasonic, while displaying exceptional coloration, appeared blurry. Sony's DCR-SR200 has an image that is crystal clear with incredibly sharp lines. The controls are also nice with the touch screen LCD. In contrast, I found the Panasonic's thumb-toggle switch to be rather annoying.
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br /Overall, the DCR-SR200 feels great in the hand and takes beautiful video.

This is my first camcorder and liked it verymuch. I decided to purchase it over DVD camcorder since all newer models are going in that direction.
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br /The sony software is good but I would have prefered it if it had movie maker functionality just as that of Windows Movie Maker

I bought this camcorder recently for my wife as we are expecting our first child in a few short months. This is my first camcorder and to date I've been very happy with it. I have not done a lot of recording with it yet, but have played with it enough to get an understanding of the features - both the basic and advanced features.
br /For novice users there is an "easy" mode that allows you to just point and shoot without worrying about the more advanced settings. Some noted features that I really like - you can record in wide screen (16:9) or normal (4:3) with the touch of a button. The LCD screen is a touch screen and is fairly easy to navigate and I have not had any problems using it.
br /Overall as far as HDD Camcorders go - this one is a great buy. The HDDs run a little higher in price, but as technology changes one day from DVD to the next media, I'll be able to change as well without having to buy another camcorder.

First of all, this is a 4.0MP not the 2.1MP as described for still pictures.
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br /40GB Hard drive which you can record video as follows:
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br /For High Quality(HQ),you can take up to 7 hours of video.
br /For Standard Play(SP), you can take up to 14 hours of video.
br /For Long Play(LP), you can take up to 28 hours of video.
br /Your only limit is the battery that comes with the camcorder which is only about 1 1/2 hour of video so its a good idea to buy an extra battery.
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br /The battery that comes with the camcorder says you can record up to 115 mins. on fully charged but that is for continuous recording.
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br /What I like:
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br /The 40GB capacity hard drive is more than enough for me.
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br /It has extra slot for memory stick duo or memory stick pro. SD card does not fit.
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br /Recording outside on sunny day. The video quality is clear and sharp.
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br /I recorded video at night in my family room which is well lit and the video quality is very good. (See my dislike on low light).
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br /One touch video to DVD. That means you hook it up your camcorder via the base that comes with the camcorder to your computer with DVD burner and USB connection or DVD recorder then just press one button and it start recording to your blank DVD.
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br /It comes with a basic editing software for video and still pictures. But, I ended up purchasing a $49.99 editing software so that I can add titles, make special effects, narration, etc.
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br /I like the fact that the camcorder is made in Japan. No offense to U.S. electronic products(if there's even any now) or any other countries. Japanese electronics are very good qualities.
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br /The controls and menus are on the LCD touch screen. That means it's pretty much most of the buttons you need for functions are in front of you.
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br /The 4.0MP still picture quality is acceptable and it has a built in flash on low light picture taking.
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br /Everything you need (except DVD burner/recorder and blank DVD Disc) to burn DVD is in the box.
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br /It comes with a DVD you can watch that gives you tips on how to record quality videos. I learned a lot after watching this DVD presentation.
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br /Dislike:
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br /The battery life. But that expected for a small battery.
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br /Recording on low light. I have one 40 watt bulb in my room. The quality is good when I'm close to the light but when I moved 4 feet turning away from the light source, it start to get grainy. My solution, I bought a $40 detachable extra light that is compatible with DCR-SR200. DO NOT buy a light that says "fits on all camcorders" because the shoe (where you attach the light) for this model is smaller than the standard shoe.
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br /When I'm using the extra light attached to the shoe, it significantly reduced the recording time of the battery by half. You can buy a light that has its own battery so that you're not using your camcorder battery or buy a higher capacity battery.
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br /The editing software is just a basic editing software. You can only delete portions that you don't want to record on DVD. You cannot add special effects, titles, fades, etc.
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br /You can only take 3 still pictures while recording video. And its only be taken on 2.1MP quality (which is crappy quality). Not the 4.0MP when you use the still camera function.
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br /NO viewfinder! It would have been nice if I flip the LCD screen 180° so that family members and friends can see themselves being recorded while I can look in the viewfinder to see what I'm recording. People tend to smile or do goofy stuff when they see themselves which add more fun to the video.
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br /There is no USB plug on the camcorder so you must use the base included when transfering your video from the camcorder to your computer for editing.
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br /Overall, I'm happy with this camera!
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I intended to purchase a camera that would be used for interviewing people on the street, open-air preaching and church sermons. I searched around and finally settled on the DCR-SR200 from Sony.
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br /My first impression when I got the camera was that it is small, light-weight, stylish and easy to operate. The camera was a gift, purchased from Bestbuy.com with 3 year protection plan for $99.99 incase something goes wrong with the camera.
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br /Things I liked...
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br /1) 40GB Hard Drive: Because the camera is not High Definition I didn't need a larger hard drive. I bought an external 500GB hard drive ($115) to transfer my videos so I don't use up my hard drive on my laptop. I keep the record mode at the highest quality "HQ" and then use the free software "Microsoft Movie Maker" available for download at Microsofts website to modify the quality and size of the file so that I can upload the video onto Youtube and other sites that have a limit on file size time length. Editing is simple and self-explanitory.
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br /2) Picture Quality: In the day time it is excellent. For non-professional use this camera exceeded expectations. In low light situations I was not surprised to see noise (grainy picture) in my videos. Unless you are able to purchase one of the much more expensive cameras with the 3CCD lens you will be unable to avoid the noise in your video unless you have plenty of exterior lighting or an add-on light accessory which I haven't purchased yet.
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br /3) Active Interface Shoe: Because the camera didn't have a microphone input I purchased the Sony wireless microphone for around $160 from the local camera shop and it has performed well. I also found another shoe accessory that has a microphone input so I can plug in a microphone as well which i found at www.bhphotovideo.com. I plan to purchase a wide-angle lens in the near future which will widen the viewing angle.
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br /4) Extended Battery: I purchased a Sony ActiFORCE InfoLithium H NP-FH100 battery ($93) on Amazon which gives me 436 minutes (7.26 hrs)of filming. Playback is longer because it takes less power to operate. I think it's somewhere around 650 minutes of playback time. Adjusting different settings will increase filming time alittle. The battery it came with gave me alittle over an hour of filming which i no longer use.
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br /5) Touch Screen: Simple to use. It works flawlessly. Easy to use.
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br /6) 4:3 or 16:9: I liked how I could switch between regular and widescreen video with a button on the side of the camera. Depending on the situation such as uploading to Youtube I switch to 4:3 so the picture is not stretched top to bottom. For DVD viewing I switch to 16:9 for the nice widescreen.
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br /7) 10X Optical Zoom: Works great. I haven't found a need for more than 10X but if I did, i could purchase a tele-macro lens and attach it for more optical zoom. The digital zoom is a feature I don't understand why they offer because it is completely useless and deceiving to people that don't understand that digital zoom makes your video look aweful and extremely shakey with even the steadiest hand. It appears to be a marketing ploy that gives the impression that you can zoom in from long distances for that perfect shot. Optical Zoom is what you're looking for 10X or more. Ignore Digital Zoom performance.
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br /8) Nightvision: Works in total darkness. Very impressed.
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br /That's about all I can say about it. Nothing really negative to tell you about it. I also like the automatic lens cover which protect the lens when you turn it off. No need for a lens cover that you could lose or tends to dangle and distract.

It is the second camcorder I ordered from Amazon. Comparing with first order (Sony DCR-SR82) DCR-SR200 has much better video and photo quality, plus I purchase it with Amazon at promot price which costs just like SR82. I am so happy with it.

I purchased this camcorder in early Januray 08 to document my chemotherapy treatment process (I guess I think my future kids will like to look back on when dad was bald). I had considered the dcr-sr82 but chose this model due to the higher video resolution, better still picture quality (and flash), and higher quality audio. I've been very saisfied so far. The only complaint I have is that the low light quality isn't that fantastic, it is a little grainy. But even in my living room with just the lamps on it isn't that bad, and in normal lighting the picture is great. Besides that it's been mainly pros...
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br /**still pictures are 4.0 megapixels and actually look alright, a dedicated digital camera with 7 or more megapixels is better but it's still pretty good. The stills taken while filming are just over 2 MP and do NOT look very good.
br /**audio is recorded in dolby 5.1 and sounds great. Every sound really does come thru in 3D which really will add to my recorded memories.
br /**The ease of use use great! The touchscreen is actually very easy to use. Viewing, deleting, reorganizing clips is done within seconds, and transfer to your PC is as easy as dragging files from one folder to another. (however, make sure you have video converter software as everything is recorded in DVD ready mpeg-2 which are very large files. If you plan on sending email videos, uploading to youtube etc you'll need to be able to convert to smaller files types.)
br /**the size and weight. It weighs like two pounds and fits in my hand perfectly. I see that some have criticized the way the battery sticks out, but I actually like it. I think it balances the camera weight and provides a nice thumb rest. I purchased an additional NPFH70 battery as the one that comes with the camera last about an hour when in use.
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br /All in all, great camcorder! And at the price I see they have it listed for on Amazon.com (currently $619.00) it is definately worth the money.
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I'm happy with the video quality overall. Some noise during low light indoor shots. The touch on-screen LCD is very convenient. The big disappointment with DCR-SR200 is not the video, but the picture shots. You get the 4Mpixels per pic as advertised, but the quality of the pics is poor. While it boasts "best of both worlds...video and pictures in one", you'll still have to carry around a digital camera if you want to take good still pics. Let-down since I was hoping to not have to carry around two devices once I got this camcorder.

Happy with purchase. First video camera I have had. Low light picture is not great. Shipping took longer than I hoped.

I am very satisfied with the product. Both quality and features are as expected. Look wise almost same as 300. Its good for beginners.

I got a very good deal for sony dcr sr200 camcoder. I chose the super saver shipping and it arrived before promised. The packing was awesome. I got a brand new US version piece and registered in sony website. Have been having fun using the product. I would definitely buy again without any hesitation.

I had bought SR200 from BH for @ 400 or something. I have used it for one trip to Duluth, MN for taking videos of my kid.. It's working great.. Video Picture quality is nice, zoom is also good enough.. Top zoom button is better placed than SR220..Only issue I have is the software.. It's so hard to write videos on DVD..
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br /People might not chose this camcorder because of range of HD camcorders in market now.. At time of buying this, I was also researching HD camcorders, but then I read that HD video can be burned on blue ray disk only.. Recently I read that some burning SW can write HD videos on normal DVD also..
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br /Any way this camcorder is working great 4 me !

The product came new in the box and has been used and is great. Delivery time was as promised. Not the best price but close to it. I was a satisfied customer.

Just bought it before the Labor Day weekend and used it to film my 1 yr old son for a half day trip to Fioli Garden. I then imported the all clips to my computer and used the Sony picture motion to burn a DVD. My wife and I were very happy with the quality of the picture the color came out brilliant.
br /However, there's a problem I haven't figure out yet why the film was skipping frames and my son appeared "jumping". I guess I have to play around with it some more and see how it works out.
br /And another thing I didn't like was that the battery sticking out too much make the camcorder looks less attractive than in the picture
br /I gave 4/5 rating

Great product, lightweight, goods features, stable shot, ease of use, and easy to download files. I have had this camera for 5 months now and have had no problems with it. Very happy with the weight of it and the docking station is great.

I am so happy with this camera. I purchased the camera so that I could video my Sister's wedding for her, everything turned out just great! I would not change a thing with this camera, a really great item!!

Disclaimer: I am *not* a professional photographer or videographer, and do not claim to be so. I have owned half a dozen digital cameras over the years (strictly amateur purposes,) but this is my very first foray into a digital video camera. If you're looking for detailed analysis of aperture settings, lighting nuances, external microphones, etc. this review will not be useful to you.
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br /Given the quantity and quality of other reviews, I'll be brief. I purchased this camera for two specific purposes:
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br /1)3 week trip to Italy
br /2)Recording business promotional videos
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br /Accessories purchased:
br /1)3rd party value pack, including tripod, extended battery, small camera bag
br /2)3rd party larger camera bag, with extended life battery (ActiForce InfoLITHIUM)
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br /Use cases:
br /1)Outdoor filming stills (all lighting conditions, including underground)
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br /2)Indoor filming stills (medium and intensive florescent lighting)
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br /In all tested conditions, the camera performed splendidly! My greatest surprise was how well it performed during underground filming in Herculaneum and Pompeii. We were in constantly changing light conditions, and no shots were missed.
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br /Audio: the audio pickup was excellent. Perhaps too good in fact, since we were always chattering away in the background and some of the conversation was perhaps not best to be picked up on a microphone. In any event, the sound quality was well suited to our purposes.
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br /Travelability: The camera traveled well in a larger bag. The on/off spin toggle made it very easy to turn on and off during constant filming opportunities.
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br /Second use case: controlled environment for indoor business promotional videos. I had occasion to record three separate promotional videos, using the camera and an inexpensive plastic tripod. Both performed well, and in controlled conditions, there was no need to resort to an external microphone. Bottom line: internal 5.1 microphone is good for daily/general use. Just note that it can be a bit sensitive. Otherwise, the business videos were created without incident. (I got very used to the "mirror mode" feature quite quickly for solo filming)
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br /Software: software installed and ran well on both 32-bit and 64-bit Vista. Video transferring, dvd creation, all very easy to do with this package. I filmed almost constantly in Rome, and still consumed less than 30G of the 40G available hard disk capacity.
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br /Overall: very, very highly recommended. I am happily using this camera on a daily basis and am pleased with the results
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br /One final note: Beware "portrait photos" or inverting the camera to take long vertical shots. they will invert in the Sony software. I'm sure there is a quick fix for this either in the Sony software, or a third party add on. I'll figure it out :-)
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I have had no problems with this camcorder yet I have only used it a few times since I purchased it. It is very user friendly and I have already shot video and put it on my computer. The quality is great and so far I have nothing negative to say about it. I am pleased with my purchase.

nice camcoder, easy to use. I tried many camcoder with different manufacture, sony is the best one i've ever used. This model has high enough resolution, not only for video, but also for photograph.

Great camcorder....I love the ease of use but my DVD player won't play the DVD that is produced by the 1-step burn feature. The battery that comes with unit is a piece of crap so be prepared another $100 for an extended life battery. Sony should be ashamed to put something that cheap with such a good product. Overall I'd highly recommend this camcorder!

Works good in day time. Its not that clear if the background is dark. Can't able to shoot if it dark with a small lighting.

I'm mad it doesn't have 1-click to burn on MACINTOSH but otherwise it's a great camera. So easy to re-watch clips.. I honeslty have yet to burn a DVD yet.. my mac has a DVD burner but my PC doesn't... and then my PC didn't seem to "see" it... so all that of course can be a pain and take some patience to figure out. So in that way it's not as simple as tapes, but I don't miss tapes! I have uploaded some video's to youtube to show my parents in another state our new baby, that was easy (on my mac anyway). Sony sucks for not making the software to burn it easily on the mac!

I loved this camera, easy to use, lot of functions, pictures are good quality.
br /There are 2 things I wish this camera had though, one is better zoom, it is only 10x, I was tempted to buy the other with 40x (DCR-SR42) but some important features were lost.
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br /The other thing is that I havent found a way to record clear at nigths, image is blurry when there is not enough light, I wonder if I need to buy extra flash/light.
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br /Other than those things, I am very happy with it.

I was looking for a hard drive camcorder and camera (4 mp or greater)combination that was easy to use (and thus i would use it often) and small enough to put in my handbag - this camcorder is perfect!

The Sony DCR-SR200 is an excellent camcorder. It is very convenient to use. The video quality is excellent. The hard drive storage is much better than DV tape.
I wish the included software, Picture Motion Browser had the ability to add titles, simple transitions etc.
I am very happy with this purchase.

This camera is so easy to use. I charged the battery and was taking video within a few hours. The software is very easy to use, but doesn't offer a lot of features, so that is why I gave the camera 4 starts. It is easy to plug it in an burn a disc, but the options leave a lot to be desired. I haven't had time to look at other software options yet. I have burned 1 CD and the quality is very good. I purchased this camera for ease of use and the internal harddrive - it has exceeded my expectation.

Incredible camera with easy to use features.-Touch screen is nice and failry easy to use-Intuitive control functions-Does pretty good in Low Light. Indoors (under indoor lighting conditions only) does pretty well. Other notes:Included software for video editing is basic and does not serve its purpose well. Plus, Windows Movie Maker will not work with your video clips. I ended up purchasing Adobe Premier Elements 4.0 (works great!).
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Love this camera... Could not be more satsisfied with it... Would recommend it to anyone looking for a great deal!!

Rich feature set in this camcorder. Stills are surprisingly good. However, after about one hour of use the LCD screen failed (went dark, but still functioned, just could not read under anything less than direct light). The unit is currently on its way back to a repair facility under warranty. Stay tuned.

The Sony Camcorder has been great; I love the size and the easy use. One major problem I've had is getting it to connect to my Apple iBook. I love using iMovie, but can't get the computer to find the camera when I connect it. I've read other sites saying that they aren't compatible. [after I bought the camera!] But it's still a great camera.

Very good SONY product! Serves the beginner's purpose as well as satisfies expert's needs.
br /Thanks

Pros - No Tapes, small form size, easy controls and menu navigation
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br /Cons - No Mac support, high compression results in low image quality
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br /Bottom line - I returned mine and went back to using an old Digital 8 because I had to jump through too many hoops to make it work with imovie.
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After comparing several different models, I chose the sr220 for several reasons: High capacity HDD, High-end resolution, and the Sony brand name.
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br /Well, I'm sure it must be a great camera, judging by all of the glowing reviews. But,to date, I have not had the chance to actually USE IT!
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br /I purchased the sr220 from Dell for a little over $700. I also picked up a 'Bluetooth' wireless microphone ($150) and the VMK1000 AIS remote mic adapter($153)
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br /I read the manual and checked out the camcorders features shortly after it came in the mail. However, I did not get a chance to use it until AFTER the 20 return period.
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br /The first time I used it, it DID NOT record. I was taping for 30-45 minutes, yet nothing was stored on it.
br /Thinking it must be user error, I re-read the manual ( as well as the more detailed instructions that come on a Cd Rom.
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br /The next opportunity came several days later. When I tried to record, I got an error message 'cannot access hdd.'
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br /So, my review of a brand new $700 camcorder is this:
br /My Sony DCR sr220 camcorder has the EXACT same capabilities and picture
br /quality of a bar of soap. Each will record and playback EQUALLY.
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br /A little harsh? Maybe. But, when someone shells out over $700 for something, it SHOULD WORK!
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br /I had to send it in for repair and have yet to hear ANYTHING.
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br /I'll probably sell it on EBay and go with a different brand.

I was lookin for a hard disk camcorder from more that a year. I saw the JVC one but they are not on the level of the sony camcorder. it is excellent. I will give it a five stars.

1.I can't use 4M mode in still picture
br /2.Not good at night video capture.
br /3.All others are good.

This is my 3rd camcorder and it is by far the best. It also takes great still photos.