According to what I can find, the best quality/price Camcorders are still miniDV ones. I like the idea of the hard disk camcorders, but most sales clerks seem to push miniDVs.
I like the Hard Disks camcorders because of the direct access to recordings, and the ability to delete specific ones. It's almost impossible to overwrite a pre-existing recording.
You can't really do that with tapes. The only way to know what's on it is to view it or to import it on your computer. Also, there's no way to “protect“ indivual recordings. It's all the tape or none.
Here's my wishlist. Have dual media cassettes: Have the recordings on the tape plus have an incorporated “flash” media for the Table of Contents!
When the cassette is inserted in the camcorder, the Table of Contents is loaded instantly. The user could then choose to go to the end of the last recording by the press of one button. Current “location” on the tape would be saved also. As you record, the information is stored on the cassette. Every Start Record/End Record would be saved in Flash Media with date, time, position start, position end, and all the fancy gizmos possible (GPS, temperature, etc.).
Plus, with the knowlege of what's inside the tape, it's easy for the camcorder to prompt the user when there's a risk of overwriting an existing recording.
So, you have the best of both worlds: The great video capture media of a tape + the ease of use and efficiency of a flash media.
Given the price of the current flash medias, I hardly see how costlier the cassettes would be.
Pat