3 Best Standard-Definition Camcorders with Hard Drives

TechNewsDaily Staff

23 February 2010 09:46 AM ET

The marriage of hard drives and camcorders means the days of hauling around blank tapes or discs to record your family vacations are long gone. Here are three of the best in the standard-definition category, as rated by TechNewsDaily’s sister site, TopTenReviews:

No. 1: Panasonic SDR-H200

The top standard-definition camcorder is the Panasonic SDR-H200, which offers excellent video quality due to its advanced 3CCD image sensor coupled with a superb processor and augmented by impressive optical image stabilization.

Its 30-gigabyte (GB) hard drive allows about seven hours of video recording at high XP quality or 27 hours at low LP resolution. Unlike most consumer camcorders, the SDR-H200 has three CCDs – one each to register red, green and blue. With each CCD freed up from registering any but its own unique color, it’s able to more perfectly capture the information it’s responsible for.

“Though it shouldn’t be confused with a high definition video camera, it employs some very high end technology that is usually reserved only for professional broadcast TV cameras and is rarely seen on a consumer product,” says Mike McPeek of TopTenReviews. Cost: $799.95.

No. 2: Sony DCR-SR87

Another solid choice is Sony's DCR-SR87, which comes with an 80 GB hard drive and a powerful 25x optical zoom and a 2,000x digital zoom. Sony's SteadyShot optical image stabilization increases clarity, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel records sound more realistically. The DCR-SR87 offers remarkable video quality and is one of a very few such units that places an emphasis on audio quality as well.

The camcorder also has a slot that accommodates a Memory Stick PRO Duo, which can hold up to 16 GB of additional storage space. Memory sticks are removable media that are roughly equivalent to SD/SDHC cards but are proprietary to Sony.

Sections of content recorded on the camcorder's main hard drive can be transferred to the stick and then removed and subsequently transferred to a PC , printer or DVD burner. Cost: $394.95.

No. 3: JVC Everio GZ-MG860

The JVC Everio GZ-MG860 standard-definition camcorder is an economical alternative. It's huge 120 GB hard drive is ideal for those who need to do a tremendous amount of recording without changing out removable media or transferring content to a computer or DVD frequently.

The GZ-MG860 is made with sharing of videos in mind. The One Touch Export function allows videos to be transferred to iTunes and subsequently loaded to an iPod or iPhone. One Touch Upload also provides the ability to upload directly to YouTube and other video and photo sharing web sites easily. There’s also One Touch DVD burning.

“The JVC Everio GZ-MG860 standard definition camcorder is an economical alternative for consumers who need an excellent video camera but aren’t ready to jump to the higher quality and higher price of high-definition units,” McPeek writes. Cost: $371.81.