On Fri, 16 Oct 1998 17:26:32 -0600, nospam4@me.please.edu (Mufasa) wrote:
[the munged e-mail return address makes
a direct response impossible...]

>Hi, need help with a decision, although I've already pretty much decided.
>But I wanted to troll for opinions as well...

Ah....;-)

>Trying to decide between the Sony VX1000 and the new TRV-900. The local
>outlet store has the 1000's for $2200.00 which is about the same as a new
>TRV-900.

That's a "steal" price for a new (or even used...;-) 1000 - it will
be worth more on resale than that, the 900 won't be worth as much...

>The application would be video taping weddings/receptions, football games,
>and other such prosumer things. Possibly a few training videos, and
>corporate stuff.

The 1000 has a serious mic on it, a fine picture, almost certainly
better low-light ability, and has the picture "custom" adjustments
to taylor the picture characteristics to your liking. The 900 is
smaller and lighter, may pick up more camera noise in the audio,
but has 16-bit sound rather than the 12-bit only of the 1000.
The 1000 "looks" more pro than the 900, if that makes a difference...

>The two units seem to be the same except
>The 900 has a view screen (nice)

Nearly useless, except indoors, and even then
the other finder is generally more useful...

>, photo capability (with disk ability),

Better than the stills from the 1000, most likely, but hardly
"photo-quality"... (good enough for screen images).

>longer battery life.

A definite plus...

>Lots more bells and whistles... But smaller CCD's.
>
>The VX1000 has less features,

Actually, more features where it counts...

>far less batt life, but the larger CCDs.

Don't go by the battery claims for the 900 - they are grossly
exaggerated...

>I don't know about the lens quality between them. (anyone?)

Both should be good...

>My concern is: will the 900's smaller CCD's affect low light performance
>significantly enough to justify going with the VX1000?
> I will have a on camera light for the receptions etc, so perhaps that will
>make the difference not noticeable???....

I have VX-1000s and a TRV-9 (and have looked at still captures
from the 900). I suspect that if you do not compare them side
by side, you would like either - and if you have not used
the special features of the 1000, you may not miss them
(but I have, and I would...;-) The 1000 is financially a
better deal, but the size/weight of the 900 is attractive
(though I find the bulk/awkwardness of my TRV-9 goes up
considerably when the [necessary] external mic is added to
reduce camera noise...).