Hi--

>Very quickly, a year is a LONG time in this market. I'll read and think more
>offline. DW "David Winter"

In the computer world, if you wait for "the latest thing" or a drop in price,
you will never buy, since that is a rapidly-changing field, with constant
up-grades/price-reductions. This has not been true in the camcorder field. New
(usually marginally useful) features do appear, but the basic sound and image
quality has generally not improved since the first entries appeared - and
often the newer entries have worse sound and picture. The mini-DV format is
fixed, though the implementation is not, and I see the trend being toward
cheaper (as with one-chippers, and the hybrid Hi-8/DV D8's) rather than
better-quality, since that end is relatively fixed by the format and it is
served by several entries at this point. The TRV-900 is interesting since it
approximates/approaches the best in mini-DV in a small package at a reasonable
price. I would not wait for "improvement" in this...!;-) Though with HDTV
breating down our necks, one can quickly jump in now to maximize the time
current gear will be useful before HDTV arrives in home-type gear, or wait
another 1/2 decade before jumping in (or doing the same waiting game
then...;-).