Sony Digital8 Camcorder DCR TRV260

Author's product rating:   

Ease of use	Excellent
Recording quality	Excellent
Picture quality	Excellent
Sound quality	Excellent
Value for money	Good

Advantages:	Cost, picture/sound quality, ease of use
Disadvantages:	Needs brighter light or ability to use a better one

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As my old G.E full sized VHS camcorder began to show it's age & weight, I decided to look for a nice small camcorder to use without breaking my back using it for more than 20 minutes of use.

I was shopping around, and looked at Best Buy to see what they had in the size & features I wanted. I narrowed it down to a few, and decided to jump across the parking lot to Circuit City after writing down a few model numbers, so I could do some comparison shopping.

After deciding that the DCRE-TRV260 was my choice, I looked to see if Circuit City sold the same model. Best Buy had it for $349.00, Circuit City for $299.00. Even with all the "Price Match" wars that go on, I just figured I would buy it from Circuit City, and quit running around.

After 3 weeks, Best Buy decided to drop to price of theirs to $242.00. So after seeing that, I went to Circuit City to see what happens in that situation, and it was well worth the drive. Without the receipt, and only the Credit Card I used to purchase it, they refunded the difference back onto my card, all in about 5 minutes. So I ended up getting the camera for around $240.00!!! Awesome!

I took it home, opened it up, and began to charge it while I went through all the features in the manual. Some things I just had to wait for a full charge for, so I could actually try it on the unit, as to familiarize myself with the functions. After that it was time to start playing.

It comes with 2 books, and it covers a wide variety of camcorders made by Sony. I'm sure they save a lot of money like that, but it becomes a pain to see features in the book, and when you look for them on the unit, they don't exist, because it is for another model. So you really have to pay attention to the headings for your specific model.

After charging was full, it was time to play with my new toy. I started to record my kids, and normal things, just to get a feel for it. It is nice and small compared to my old tank, and that was a blessing for me. Video on the unit's LCD screen is clear, and so is the audio. I didn't realize how much difference there was from the old analog VHS unit I had and this one, until I watched my tape. Digital makes a big difference.

The zoom is great. for a small camera, it can zoom in on things pretty far, and much more than my old one. The controls for zoom & pause are nicely placed for the average person's hands.

The unit has buttons that are nicely labeled like "Burn DVD/VCD". If you have a DVD burner it is a nice feature to use, but if you don't use the IEEE 1394, it will take forever to burn a DVD with this thing. So you will want to consider buying another cable for it, and making sure your computer can accept that connection.

The feature I like the most, it the "Night Shot" feature. I took it outside at night, and used it, just so I could play with it a little. It's awesome, and it looks just like all those night vision images you see from the military.

Transferring movies onto VHS was simple, just plug in the provided plugs into your VCR, and record away. As simple as it gets.

The LCD monitor use up more of the battery, so if you know you'll need a lot of time, and have no spare batteries, then use the view finder on top of the unit, it saves quite a bit of battery time.

The on screen menu system is great. It has many features, and scrolls right through each menu and options, and can all be done while holding the unit, and thumbing through it.

The built in light it ok for an area that is very dark, but if you just want to lighten up an area a bit, it really don't help much. It would be nice if it had a slot on top for an external light that could brighten better, but it does not.

All in all, for the price I paid, this little camera delivers the mail for capturing video and much more, all for a pretty decent price!