Need some video camera recommendations

[Shelby07]

The kids want a video camera for Christmas and I'd like to get them a good one since they are planning on starting their family next year. Problem is I know absolutely nothing about video cameras. Any help/recommendations/education would be appreciated.

[Itsme-Speedy-G]

These are the things to compare:
Optical zoom not digital zoom- Optical zoom will give the better picture

[forgop-cl]

http://support.jvc.com/consumer/supp...-G_1208_us.pdf

I bought the 130 model of this a few weeks ago and used it on our trip to Disney. It's very compact(fits in your palm), the LCD is nice, and is very easy to operate. If still pictures are a big necessity to combine a video/digital camera all-in-one, I'd upgrade to a higher end model of this line as the 130 is ok, but not great. I'd also upgrade to a higher end battery because it's 90 minutes tops. I'm pleased with it overall.

[CHRIS7891011]

Question: are you going HD or just SD still?

If you plan on going HD now (I would recommend you do... you con down convert when putting the files on DVD anyway), I'd say check out the Canon HV20. Here's a link
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content...der-Review.htm

Also, check out this website. They have a lot of information for you:
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

If you have any other questions shoot me a PM and I'll try to help ya out.