| For those of us who have lost precious home movies | | | | existing movies, the HDD camcorder will eliminate |
| on removable media that becomes damaged or | | | | these heartbreaking moments as they automatically |
| inoperable, who have misplaced those same disks or | | | | begin recording where the film left off. |
| flash media never to be found again, or who have | | | | - Functions that make working with movies easier. |
| missed capturing an important moment because we | | | | Current HDD camcorder models have received |
| forgot to bring additional storage media, it is time to | | | | acclaim for allowing users to easily sort through |
| rejoice. | | | | footage without the need to rewind or fast forward. |
| The age of the hard disk drive camcorder has | | | | Images appear on a thumbnail grid and can be sorted, |
| dawned. Finally. | | | | deleted, rearranged, and dubbed directly on the |
| The first offerings were introduced nearly a year and | | | | camcorder. |
| a half ago. JVC and Sony have led the way with | | | | Obviously, even a great hard drive does not have |
| camcorder models which offer 30GB hard drives. | | | | infinite storage and certainly damage to it can occur, |
| Although even greater feats are surely in the future | | | | so back up will continue to be necessary. Current JVC |
| for the newest members of the camcorder family, | | | | models tout a shock absorbing suspension system to |
| these forerunners certainly offer some impressive | | | | protect the hard drive and even a sensor that can |
| advantages for home movie makers. | | | | shut power off when the camcorder is in the process |
| - Large storage capacity. | | | | of being dropped but in the case of prized footage, it's |
| Depending upon the recording mode, a 30 GB HDD | | | | better to be safe than sorry. Downloading to a PC |
| camcorder can capture and store up to 7-21 hours of | | | | which allows further editing and storage or burning to |
| film without stopping to insert alternate media or to | | | | DVD is advisable. Hitachi is said to be developing a |
| download to computer. | | | | model that will allow users to burn directly to DVD |
| - Cost efficient. | | | | from the camcorder; no PC required. |
| Current HDD camcorder models start around $500 | | | | It appears that everyone should stay tuned as bigger |
| and therefore, are at the mid to high end of the | | | | and better things are surely in store for HDD |
| market. However, savings are to be had as the | | | | camcorders. However, for consumers currently |
| purchase of mini DV tapes, media cards, compact | | | | shopping for their next device, a hard disk drive model |
| flash, and the like are no longer necessary. | | | | is certainly worthy of consideration today; not only for |
| - A fix for the forgetful. | | | | HDDs future as the leader in the camcorder industry |
| For those who forget to tote along separate storage | | | | but also for the features they currently possess that |
| media an HDD camcorder can be a life saver. In | | | | make home movie making a joy. |
| addition, for those who have inadvertently filmed over | | | | |