On 22 Nov 2001 16:08:51 GMT, randymagic@aol.com (Randy Wakeman) wrote:

>Camcorder wishes . . .
>
>We all have them, and I'm no exception. The house is littered (?) with 5 units,
>and I wish the manufacturers would pay more attention to a few things:
>
>I have a TRV103 Sony- so easy to use, it almost operates itself. BUT- the
>motors sound like a broken dishwasher, the hum is amazingly loud, rendering the
>built in mic near useless. I sure wish that makers would pay attention to quiet
>motors and camcorders!
>
>There's a pair of JVC 300U's. Very happy with the picture quality
>/authenticity, and the editing response time / reliability. But the built in
>mic is an anemic omni directional little puppy that (like most consumer units)
>is marginal- hardly worthy of the "CD like 16 bit stereo" sound touted by the
>specs on this (and other) camcorders. The joys of high-fidelity background
>noise! No mic in jack, so that's what you have to work with.
>
>And of course the universal bugaboo . . . battery life. I'm tired of "one hour"
>batteries that last twelve minutes. Anyone else?
>
>IF ONLY - - - the darn makers would spend a few pesos on usable unidirectional
>microphones, include batteries that you could shoot half a tape with, and quiet
>their little motors. For one, I'd be please to lose the plethora of AE modes
>that are never used, the digital F/X that I hardly need in camera, and at least
>half of the menus. Clear picture, clear audio, batteries that last as stated,
>and forget the rest. Well, I must be dreaming.

No, not really...;-)
I have several camcorders that fit your requirements
(except for the directional mic - but that is easily
added...). Batteries that last a couple of tapes
(even the 80-minute ones that last 2 hours in LP-mode!),
sound that is quiet and without motor noises, and image
quality that is quite amazing compared with my old
Hi-8 gear... Hey, I even get lossless transfer to/from
a computer for editing, considerable control over picture
characteristics (with two of them), and (mostly)
dropout-free recordings -- even more than you asked
for...! ;-)