Can you suggest a camcorder under $300.00?

Which camcorder would be best for us? please suggest?

• we are a family of four. we make journeys regularly in the country and often have parties and gatherings at home. we are looking for a good camcorder which satisfies the following basic needs: should be able to record a full length birthday party, or any other home occasion should be compact and slim, so that our hands are comfortable should be able to record and play fairly easily should zoom in at least from place to a distance quite far away. need not have to be extra modern, simply for use with family gatherings and outings. with basic resolution and zoom capacity. that's all i need a camcorder for. please suggest any good company and the focal lengths, etcetc.. i need

• Answer:

  while I don't have a specific model to recommend becuase there a TON out there, I suggest sony, cannon or jvc models. If you are going to put them on DVD with your computer, I'd get a camera with a hard drive instead of tapes. That way you don't have to carry or buy them. you can get models that hold up to 9.5 hours at a time. And they are lighter, and have less moving parts than a model that has the tape ejector and tape heads.