Clear picture when viewing the digital tapes directly on a television. I like the fade in/out button. Good value.

The bad:

The manual is worthless. ilink is the same as firewire? Wont read that in the manual. Uploading video to your PC via the USB port does not work. The software the camera comes with is horrid. Had to buy a memory stick. The still pictures are horrid. Apparently, through reading other reviews, to get decent uploads of video for burning to VCDs you need firewire. Now I have to buy a cable (35 bucks) and a firewire card for my PC. Perhaps I should have just bought a camera that burns directly to DVDs. Low light shots are not the best quality.

All in all, for the money and my first Camcorder, I am getting great shots of my four month old daughter.

As with all electronic things (first computer, dvd player, mp3 player, etc.), I will be a much more informed shopper on my SECOND purchase.

I did have a similar problem with my Toshiba television. After alot of use, the remote control stopped working. I called them to buy a replacement remote from them and not only did Toshiba replace my remote, they gave it to me for free! Now thats customer service!!!

Its true that you have to buy a firewire cord, but it doesnt have to be a "Sony" firewire cord, just firewire! As a Mac user, the hookup to imovie is seamless. Just plug it in and away you go!!!

The camera came with a one-hour battery which was fine for awhile, but then I went on Ebay and bought a huge battery for a fine price.

Imagine my happiness when my sister gave me a memory stick for Christmas... I was in hog heaven. Now I dont have to carry my digital camera around or take "freeze frames" from my movies.

I give the TRV 350 my unconditional love and approval. If it doesnt do what you want it to, then you probably havent read the mannual. Hey, I dont blame you, its massive! I read it when I have a question or just get to wondering, "I wonder if I can do that?"

Ive run about 25 cassettes through the camera and am still finding ways to use it in my work (Im a speech therapist).

Well, thats my two cents worth! If you buy one, I hope you enjoy it!

But....it doesnt work as advertised. One of the major reasons I bought a camcorder was to upload video to a PC, burn it as a VCD, and send video of my kid to far-off family members. So I plug in the USB cable, start uploading, everything looks great...but no audios coming through. I figure Ive goofed up the USB driver installation, which is pretty complicated, so I back out and reinstall. No dice. I check online forums and Sonys troubleshooting website, both of which recommend I change my audio driver in the provided software from the Sony driver to standard USB audio. Still nothing. I read more forums and find this is a pretty common complaint, and Sony tech support apparently blows people off when they bring it up. The most reliable solution? Upgrading to Firewire.

So thats what Im doing. Another 35 bucks. Hey, I know Firewires generally better for A/V anyway, but I just want this thing to work the way Sony told me it would.

Bottom line: Youre probably interested in this model because its cheaper than Mini-DV. Id recommend this if youre already using Firewire or dont plan on uploading video to a PC. Otherwise, think twice, because youll spend extra cash adding Firewire to your PC--cash that you could have used to get Mini-DV in the first place.

The nightvision is great if you want to do your own Blair Witch movie. Yours will probably be better than the actual movie.

As far as still pictures go, get a digital camera or 35mm. This is a camcorder, that can take stills, but it is a camcorder.

All-N-Ones havent quite gotten up to par yet. Give it another couple years. I am still waiting for my Star Trek Telepoter, that should have been around or in testing by 2000:)

Theres a fine line between "noticeable" and "annoying" noise levels and this one is right up against it. As I understand it lots of the new digital cameras, including the DV format cameras are noisier than the older analog models, I guess unless you start spending more than a grand or so. Oh well. 4/5 stars.

Thanks to Sony our "trip of a lifetime" will not be "picture perfect." I took the camera back and upgraded to an Hitachi and have been extremely pleased. This was after looking at every other camera they had, including the higher priced Sonys. Every Sony has a problem adjusting the lighting. While I was picking out another camera, another customer told me a cameraman from a local TV station told her to NEVER buy a Sony camera because they are not good quality (thats not the exact words used, but I dont want this to be edited).

Dont buy this camera or any other Sony. I would also recommend not purchasing a camera immediately before a trip. Buy it in advance so you can test it out and get used to the equipment.

Buy an Hitachi - youll be much happier.

1) Analog to digital conversion feature. You can record directly from your VCR and convert the analog signal into digital one. Either with USB or Firewire, you can make your own VCD or DVD. With XP, windows movie maker can be the capture software and it does a better job than the ImageMixer came with the camcoder.

2) Super Night Vision. 16 times brighter than Night shot (250 has). You can record Save Private Lynch in complete darkness with this camcoder (either in color or green).

3) Downward compatability. This camera can play hi8, 8mm tapes while 250 can not play hi8 tapes.

Cons:
1) You need to buy a Firewire cable (6 pin to 4 pin if you connect to your PC), maybe a PCMCIA or PC adaptor for Firewire as well. Its OK even you dont have them but the USB is 1.0 version so it wont be as fast as firewire (depending on how big you want the video to be).
2) Memory stick. Considering the cost of purchasing a separate memory stick this camera can be more expensive than a Canon or JVC mini-DV one.
3) Extra battery. Same thing. Japs are smart. SO you need to spend more on accessories.

For all the 3 cons, you can get around without purchasing anything. E.g., use USB intead of Firewire; do not take still images (therefore not using memory stick) or use Start/Stop to record picture and use software to capture later on; use direct power instead of battery if possible. Accessories are 50%cheaper on ebay.

All in all, from big 20x optical zoom to super night shot, A/D conversion to downward compatibility with hi8, 8mm, USB steaming as a web camera, you name it. The features of this camcoder are very complete. But nothing is perfect and everything is tradeoff, dont you agree?

1) Analog to digital conversion feature. You can record directly from your VCR and convert the analog signal into digital one. Either with USB or Firewire, you can make your own VCD or DVD. With XP, windows movie maker can be the capture software and it does a better job than the ImageMixer came with the camcoder.

2) Super Night Vision. 16 times brighter than Night shot (250 has). You can record Save Private Lynch in complete darkness with this camcoder (either in color or green).

3) Downward compatability. This camera can play hi8, 8mm tapes while 250 can not play hi8 tapes.

Cons:
1) You need to buy a Firewire cable (6 pin to 4 pin if you connect to your PC), maybe a PCMCIA or PC adaptor for Firewire as well. Its OK even you dont have them but the USB is 1.0 version so it wont be as fast as firewire (depending on how big you want the video to be).
2) Memory stick. Considering the cost of purchasing a separate memory stick this camera can be more expensive than a Canon or JVC mini-DV one.
3) Extra battery. Same thing. Japs are smart. SO you need to spend more on accessories.

For all the 3 cons, you can get around without purchasing anything. E.g., use USB intead of Firewire; do not take still images (therefore not using memory stick) or use Start/Stop to record picture and use software to capture later on; use direct power instead of battery if possible. Accessories are 50%cheaper on ebay.

All in all, from big 20x optical zoom to super night shot, A/D conversion to downward compatibility with hi8, 8mm, USB steaming as a web camera, you name it. The features of this camcoder are very complete. But nothing is perfect and everything is tradeoff, dont you agree?

While my husband was anxious to get a digital video camera, I was reluctant to spend the money, even though our analog videocam is three years old -- a dinosaur by todays standards -- heavy and clunky with few features. But now Im the one who is always grabbing the camera to film and to take pictures. I love it. Using a memory stick that can be purchased in several capacities, you can take still pictures even as youre filming; the memory stick we got holds approximately 400 pictures. You can find your shot using the viewfinder (in b&w) or the LCD screen (in color). We had no trouble at all, using the included cable and software, transferring images and movies to our Macintosh computer; it will work for an Intel machine too. A recharge takes us about 80 minutes and is then good for 90 minutes of recording time using the LCD screen or 110 minutes using the viewfinder.

Problematic are the LCD screen which, even when adjusted, is difficult to view in high light conditions, and the steep learning curve on the many functions and buttons. On the other hand, there are so many buttons and functions because this camera DOES so many things. There are lots of special effects too. The buttons are very small but that also helps keep the size of the camera down. Some frequently used functions, like backlight and fade, need only a single button to activate.

Bottom line: It will take you a while to learn everythng that this Sony can do -- the manual is nearly 270 pages!! -- but your effort will be greatly rewarded. Also, this camera is terrific if you have tapes in the older Hi8 format. Great camera.

Bottom line: if you have an extensive library of Hi-8 tapes that you want to play or burn, then this is the ideal unit. If you are starting fresh in digital videography, then the mini-DV units offer significant advantages in size and features.

All 3 options that I mentionabove I felt would be worth the extra $...but I was wrong. The still are poor quality, the MPGs have very poor resolution and when you use a zoom this strong, when you actually do zoom with any distance of over 100 to 200 feet, the picture loses more than 50% of its quality. Its too bad becasue I was very excited... but save your $$ until they can improve these 3 features.