Recording school lectures

[754T]

I have a Dell D820 notebook and I'm using MS Onenote to jot down my notes during the lectures in school. I have used a microphone to record the audio from the professor, but I'd like to buy a camera to get some video (especially in Statistics).

What is the best type of camera to use with my notebook that will get a good picture? I want something that will give me a good picture that I can watch later to review for tests. Also, I sit in the middle of the class. The room is small and only holds up to 40 students, so it's definitely not one of the large lecture halls.

[poker]

I don't think you need anything great to accomplish this. As long as your laptop has firewire, you can buy an inexpensive and small DV camera to stream the video into your computer. Personally, I wouldn't use my laptop to capture video. Just record to tape or else your going to work your laptop harddrive really hard.

I've used an old Sony Hi8 and a low end Sony DV cam to stream live video of my son to my wife at work.

So get a DV video cam that has firewire out (thay all do)
Also make sure the video camera has a mic input because the built in mic might not work for your purposes.
Get a video camera with an accessory shoe for the external mic (makes it less sloppy)
Pocket size tripod to put on your desk perhaps?

Don't get the mic until you know you'll need it.

Oh yeah, get permission from the teacher cuz some won't allow it

One more thing....find out the LUX rating on the video camera. The lower the number the better it will be in low light conditions.

White dry erase boards should be ok but flourecent lighting may not be enough to see writing on traditional blackboards with chalk.