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