Here's what I'm looking for

[dtrevino]

First off, new to the community, thank you all a head of time for your help, it's much appreciated!

I am looking to purchase a Digital Video Recorder that:
1)Takes high quality videos
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3)Can handle my traveling needs as it will go everywhere(good battery life, camera not SUPER bulky)
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I will be editing the videos into nice collages with my computer, adding music..etc, and then uploading/streaming them via the Internet while retaining the best possible quality. As far as resolution, I don't need something huge as I'll just be uploading primarily to media websites like YouTube, vimeo..etc. This is the perfect example of the largest I'd let it get and will probably work with a lot:
http://vimeo.com/1211060?pg=embed&sec=1211060&hd=1

I will be using this to:
1)Shoot nature scenes from around the world during the sunny day
2)Recording tutorials for musical instruments
3)Shooting anything and everything else, wherever I go

Hopefully I have narrowed it down enough. As far as price, since I'm primarily spreading my videos through Internet streaming, that takes me away from the high price range of modern hi-def/hdd so I think you get the idea. If you have any further questions just let me know. Thank you for your time!

[Skyman]

to get that sort of quality consistently you will need a pretty good camera or a lighting truck. unfortunately that doesn't come as small as you might like and less important features such as still image quality are left to the side. At a bare minimum you are looking for a 3ccd camera with manual control over exposure and focus, and panasonic does have a good range of small cheap 3ccd cameras, but i suggest that a semi pro camera like the canon XM2 or XHG1 will give you much better results and a lot more control in low light (having a bigger lens they can let in low light without you having to boost the gain which would degrade the image)

[dtrevino]

to get that sort of quality consistently you will need a pretty good camera or a lighting truck. unfortunately that doesn't come as small as you might like and less important features such as still image quality are left to the side. At a bare minimum you are looking for a 3ccd camera with manual control over exposure and focus, and panasonic does have a good range of small cheap 3ccd cameras, but i suggest that a semi pro camera like the canon XM2 or XHG1 will give you much better results and a lot more control in low light (having a bigger lens they can let in low light without you having to boost the gain which would degrade the image)

Thank you for the speedy reply. Forgive me for I am new to camcorders. If that is the case, then please throw the low lighting idea out of the picture. Out of 100% of the video I will be recording, 1% would be in low light. That is not worth the ginormous price difference to get good exposure in low light.

So throwing out the low light idea/nightvision, still image Ideas, rereading original post omitting those details, could you please re-recommend?

Thanks again for the help Skyman

[Skyman]

pretty much anything will do the job for you then. I suggest you have a read of the mini dv vs dvd thread as this explains a lot of the technology then head to a good local camera shop

[dtrevino]

pretty much anything will do the job for you then. I suggest you have a read of the mini dv vs dvd thread as this explains a lot of the technology then head to a good local camera shop

Thank you skyman, this is assuring. This now means all it comes down to is personal preference when selecting a miniDV, and that I should just buy one I'm comfortable using. I checked out that thread earlier, it helped me go with miniDV as oopsed to DvD as I'll be doing lots of editing. I guess I'll just check out my local best buy/circuit city and have a go with their models. Thanks again!

[Skyman]

Basically yes, as long as you stick with a well known brand you really can't go wrong these days.

[dtrevino]

Well checked out the DV's at my local best buy. This one was nice, and it turns out I can get a sweet deal 50$ off on newegg on it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...L4B-_-30120247

Pretty sure I'm going with this, can't beat the price