Home > Consumer Reviews > Sony DCRDVD300 MiniDVD Handycam Camcorder with 3.5" LCD and Digital Still Capability

After careful research I went with the DVD200. The extra $100 is worth it over the DVD100 due to the resolution. But paying an extra $100 just for an inch bigger fold-out LCD on the 300 just didn't seem worth it. So I settled on the 200. I'd recommend doing so to anyone interested, unless cost isn't an issue!

Steady and clear are the pictures. Easy to use even when you're excited with a huge bull elk next to your vehicle! Light weight to carry until the moment you need it. Simply super for wild life photography and the abilty to zoom in soooooooo closely, and get that perfect photo shot as well, is amazing. If you have young children, this is the camera for you to catch all those special moments. I love it.

Seems like a nice product but I have been to 5 electronic stores to get the mini DVD's and no one has them. They are not even available on Sony's website so if all you have is the one non-rewriteable disc they include with the camera and you can't get any other discs - what's the use of having an expensive camcorder that you can't record with?

If you're starting to go crazy shopping for a digital camcorder, read on. Bundles of format types, odles of brands, countless models to choose from, what a mess! The answer is the Sony Handycam 300 (or the 100 or 200 if your budget is tighter). My wife and I have twins and have no time to learn the complexities of digital camcorders and returned a Canon and a JVC camcorder after looking at the owners manual. HOWEVER, we essentially figured out how to use the Sony 300 by just playing with it. The menus and options work pretty much like our DVD player and in less than 30 minutes (after charging the battery) we were filming like crazy, taking pictures and having a great time. And the resulting DVD played perfectly in our home DVD player and looked wonderful.
Conclusion, don't get confused by all the critiques saying one camera is too heavy, another is noisy, the next one vibrates too much, blah, blah, blah. Buy a handycam 300 and start making movies.

For all the marketing and features, the mini-dvd media required to use the Sony product is not available anywhere. Sony does not tell you this; and you only learn this after some very frustrating searching. Best Buy, Circuit City, SonyStyle, and others (search the entire Internet), and you will not find it available anywhere. Thus, once you record on the single dvd-r provided with the camcorder you purchased -- you are finished, and have nothing but an $1,100 mantel piece!! I recommend looking at one of the other producers of the DVD-camcorder (Panasonic, Hitachi). I wish I had.