On Wed, 24 Jul 2002 11:33:10 -0700, "Luc" wrote:

>"Neuman - Ruether" wrote in message
>news:3d40db6b.16257342@newsstand.cit.cornell.edu...
>...
>> >Why do you say it's more upscale? You mean PC120 only? I looked at both
>> >camcorders and materials and definitely zoom handle are about the same.
>Why
>> >would the PC120 have better sound than TRV50? I think it's without any
>doubt
>> >worse because of the bad mic. placement.

>> The PC types are generally more expensive than the
>> horizontal types, use more metal in the body panels,
>> and use a metal slide control instead of the dinky
>> plastic lever - though this may have changed in the
>> PC120 which I have not seen, as Sony "degrades"
>> materials with the newer models, lowers the prices,
>> and increases the number of features... As for the mic
>> placement, in practice, all the cameras (3) I've had
>> with this placement had better built-in mic sound
>> than the similar models I've had with under-the-lens
>> mic placement (4), illogical as this may seem...

>That's interesting as most user comments and reviews I've seen
>(http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/sony_dcrpc120bt_camcorder_review.htm
>and video review magazine) complain about the bad microphone placement not
>picking up all sounds, and picking up too much sound of the tape. I haven't
>decided yet about PC101 or TRV25 so maybe I should have a second look. The
>PC101 though is about $250 more.

What can I say...?
My PC1, PC9, PC100, and Panasonic EZ30U with top
mics performed well (the last three quite well,
with virtually no camera noise pickup, and very
nice sounding audio - better than with my several
similar-level horizontal-body types, though the
differences were not great). I've never thought
much of RL's reviews in general, and I just read
the paragraph on the tape-loading, holding, and
mic position of the PC120, all of the opinions
in which I would disagree with unless Sony spoiled
the basically excellent design of the PC100 when
updating to the PC120 (entirely possible, I
guess...;-). Believe what you want, but I would
try one before dismissing it based on the RL
review...