I'd originally gotten a Sony DV Camcorder but found that it had to have ONLY Sony parts such as batteries, tapes and other accessories at a high price and would not connect directly to my computer. Examined all the other camcorders and settled on this Hitachi. It is terrific. It does everything I wanted very easily. Using the "low light" setting, I was able to get an excellent video with normal room light and the lit Christmas tree. It is necessary to be careful about the mini DVDs you use, but they are easily found and at a very reasonable price.
br /I wanted a DVD recorder as I was not happy with the results from my analogue tape camera. This Hitachi more than fills the bill. It is easy to use, has great accessories included in the box, even a first DVD disk. The manual covers everything with easy to understand pictures and text. I'm completely sold on the Hitachi.

I researched all the available DVD Camcorders before deciding on this one. At the time, it was on sale for $599, and decided it was the best for the money. I am very happy with my decision. I can't give it 5 stars because it does not perform great in low lighting. But from what I read, the only DVD camcorder that does is the top of the line Sony, which costs $300 more. If you can get the Hitachi on sale, it is a very good buy.

I purchased this camcorder to replace an old Sony. After 1 DVD-R recording, I have decided to return it. The low-light performance was the killer. I used it to tape our child's first Christmas in normal, indoor lighting and it is very dark, almost unwatchable. The set-up was quite easy, but what good is easy set up if it takes poor videos? I am opting for the Sony 403 model.

The software shipped with this camcorder is poor to the point of being unusable and the camcorder does not really support the disc formats mentioned. I was so frustrated I went online to find confirmation of this and I did find other reviewers that confirmed it. The camcorder supposedly supports using DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM mini-discs. And they ship a blank DVD-R disc with the camera. I shot Christmas day video on the free DVD-R disc. When I go to turn this into a watchable DVD for my DVD player, I find out that the software included with the camera cannot copy the contents of the DVD-R to any format. The only way to view it is on the camera! So I go buy DVD-RW discs. This seems to get past the earlier error messages, but then I find out the software cannot format DVD-RW to UDF2.0 format, which you need to copy this to a regular size DVD. Although I was tempted to return it at this point, I then bought DVD-RAM mini-discs and it seems to work. Do not buy this camera unless you are very savvy using a computer and software--you will have to go into Windows Device Manager for example. It's a shame because the camera itself feels good, looks good, and is not hard to use. However, the point of using it is to watch the results later, which with this camera is almost impossible.