hard disk V flash memory camcorder

Katykat

I know how HDD works because I have a HDD DVD recorder. And I know how flash works in my digital camera. But does a flash memory Camcorder work the same? I've got my eye on a Samsung VPX10 flash memory camcorder and its a lot cheaper than HDD. It also seems much simpler than recording onto a disk. The one I've been looking at advises a 1gb SD card. How much recording time can I expect from this?. Would it take a 2gb card? I'm trying to find out as much as I can before I buy.

FallingDownMan

It's also less likely to go wrong, and easier to fix if it does. Fewer moving parts for a start

The recording time per GB varies depending on the camera resolution and mode selected, but typically you get just under an hour at top quality AVI (640x480) and just over an hour at basic quality. It's about three times longer at 320x240.

Even 4GB flash cards - you need a decent one - are only about £80 (or less)

Katykat

Thanks . I've been doing a bit more research. The majority of the sites I've been on seem to advocate DVD camcorder. The main reason being ease of use- shoot, eject, play. I've decided against hard drive as like you say, more parts to go wrong. I'm still wavering on the flash memory. I'm a bit dubious because I will need the camcorder for a 4 week holiday when I wont have facilities for downloading, so I'll either have to have a large Gb card ( and risk making mistakes and losing the lot, or several smaller cards. If I choose DVD, I caould just record on RW discs and store them until I come home. Does this sound like a better choice?

IvanOpinion

This is exactly the dillema I am in at the minute .. my Sony mini-DV is still good but has two main faults .. firstly everytime I take it out in the morning it needs about 20 minutes before it is useable due to condensation (aircon to outdoors) and secondly all the microphone seems to pick up is wind (not mine .. the one blowing across the decks).

So I have been considering HDD or Memory Card. I have been looking at the Sanyo Xacti and the Panasonic SDR-S10 alongside the likes of a Sony HDD camera. There is no doubt that the picture quality from the Sony will be much better... I am led to believe that some of the smaller Memory Card models have poor lenses and at best very mediochre video quality (they try to be both a camcorder and a digital camera and fail at both).

At the minute I am holding off for another few months to see what happens

ivan