On Sat, 29 Jan 2000 23:56:43 -0500, "James Kiricov" wrote:

>The TRV900 is good, but I would hardly say it's only competitor is the XL1.
>In fact there are atleast 3 other models that compete more closely to the
>TRV900,
>Canon GL1, Panasonic AG-EZ30, and Sony VX1000 blow the doors off the TRV900.
>Comparing the TRV900 to the XL1 is like comparing a Volkswagaon to a Jeep
>Wrangler.
>The VX1000 would be a better comparason to the XL1.
>
>Sorry, couldn't resist.

Sorry, neither can I...! ;-)
Anyone can go to my web site (look under "I babble"
for the mini-DV camcorder article, near the bottom)
and see reviews of the above, with frame grabs shot
with each in five different situations, descriptions
of the motion-video (the stills don't always show what
the motion-video is like, particularly with "stair-stepping"
effects with motion [some camcorders even managed to have
"stair-stepping" on near-vertical lines, not just on
the usual near-horizontal lines...]), and descriptions
of the sound (and noise) characteristics of each.
Having shot these tests myself, having viewed the
original footage resulting from it edited together,
and having listened to quiet-room (for noise level
and type) and rushing-stream audio (for sound color
differences), I could not come to the conclusion
reached in your post...;-) The results with the TRV-900,
AG-EZ30U, GL-1, and XL-1 are more similar than different,
but each has its picture (viewed on a GOOD 27" TV) and
sound (heard on a good TV-sound set-up) pluses and
minuses. For me, I liked least both the picture and
sound of the GL-1 of the above group (the picture had
the most obvious overall over-sharpening "bright-edging",
the most "stair-stepping", and among the worst AWB
color-balance problems - and the sound, while not noisy,
was the most "colored" (least neutral in balance,
least "flat" in frequency-response) of the group.
The GL-1 does have some advantages over some others
(the longer zoom range and normal-speed progressive-scan
mode), but I find these less important than basic
issues, like picture and sound quality... (the GL-1
is not bad in these respects, but it hardly "blows the
doors off" any of the others in these two basic areas).