Rating: 
Summary: Do not buy this camcorder
Review: Do NOT buy a Sony DVD camcorder!! Beware! I recently bought a SONY DVD-200 model Camcorder. I think that this will be a great camera if I can ever find the DVD media storage for it. That is the problem! You cannot find the DVDs anywhere. I have looked in retail stores everywhere, on their website, and called customer service. Nobody knows when they will be available. Their Customer Service was only able to tell me "months" was the best case scenario. If they would have mentioned this when I ordered the camera and DVDs, that were not delivered (with no explanation), I would have chosen a different model of camera. I for one feel that my business is valuable, which is why it is important to share your experiences both good and bad with other people. I hope that nobody else out there gets stuck with a thousand dollar camera that they can't use. To make matters worse, I have a beautiful baby girl that I can only take mental snapshots of. If this is the way that SONY conducts business I will think twice before giving them my business again. I hope you would also do the same. Please pass the word.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Camcorder
Review: I recently bought the DCR DVD 100 and had my first chance to use it at a family gathering. At the end of the night, we were all enjoying the video without having to use any AV cords or other hookups! I really enjoy using this product. Although it is larger than some of Sony's smallest MiniDV and MicroMV camcorders, I don't think it is by any means bulky or uncomfortable to use. Although I was afraid that the discs would not play in our 3.5 year old DVD player, there was no problem at all. And it's becoming pretty well known that most camcorders should not be depended on for high-quality stills. Therefore, I would suggest going for the DVD100 and using the money saved from buying a 300 towards a good 3.2-4 MP still camera.
Rating:
Summary: Very good - Rebuttal to some negative comments
Review: I recently purchased this camcorder, and am very happy with it--happy enough that I wanted to address some of the perceived negatives in other reviews.From jemaer_rf's helpful review: cons:
- average low light performance I disagree - I find the low light performance to be excellent. This is also borne out by comparative tests published in _Consumer Reports_' camcorder evaluation issue. - no memory stick support; if you want to take a still picture, it is saved on the DVD. This is true--but hardly a disadvantage: surely more people have DVD-ROM drives than memory stick readers. - mic picks up DVD spinning noise in quiet environments. This is true: you will have to live with this or choose another camcorder. I'd be curious to know if this is the case with other DVD camcorders. - finalizing a DVD takes upwards of 10 minutes, and it can be a confusing process. It takes about 3 minutes, assuming the disc is full. The less full a disc is, the longer finalizing takes. Since this process is only necessary for playing the disc on other DVD players, I fail to see how it's a disadvantage when compared to, say, a tape-based camcorder (where you can't play the tape in anything but the camcorder). It isn't confusing either. I'd like to just digress here and say that the product manual is very good--certainly the best manual for a piece of consumer electronics I've ever used--and describes very clearly how to exercise every feature and function. - don't expect much from the still images recorded. No- they are 640x480 images: okay for the web and email but not much else. I wouldn't even bother, really--just take a short video shot instead. - getting video into editing software (e.g. Final Cut Pro) is harder than it should be. I don't know about the specific software mentioned here, but since the video is recorded in a standard format on a standard DVD-R (assuming you use a DVD-R) it's very universal. As I use Linux and Macintosh systems exclusively (Linux rarely supporting a particular camcorder) this universality was a big selling point of a DVD camcorder for me--and thus getting the video into any particular piece of software has been very easy so far. - not Mac friendly. In the sense that the bundled software doesn't come for Macintosh. But you don't want that anyway--you want to use iMovie, right? I hear (have not done this myself) that this is easily done by using Quicktime Pro to convert the .vob files from the DVD into .dv files, which can then be used in iMovie. Secondly, I will bet iMovie will soon support these camcorders. From an anonymous review: - There is a significant delay between when you push the record button and when recording actually starts, in the neighborhood of a few seconds. This is true. I have gotten in the habit of recording extra footage before and after what I want to capture, and editing it later on the computer, so this doesn't bother me. - Also, there is no editing as-you-go with DVD. If you are used being able review the last part of what you taped and record over it if you don't like what you see, you will be frustrated with DVD recording. There is no editing unless you transfer it to your computer and then of course you need to record it again on a DVD burner or video CD. This is only true if you are recording to a DVD-R (write-once media). You are free to record to a DVD-RW and erase/edit as you like. These reviews do not mention two other potential drawbacks: namely (and this applies to any DVD camcorder) the media is low-capacity and somewhat costlier (I found DVD-Rs for $3 ea; they record 30 min in standard quality and 60 min is extended play mode) so you may be paying more per minute, and changing media more frequently, than with a tape camcorder. The second is that the camcorder doesn't support Firewire, only USB 2.0, which you may not have if you don't have a fairly new computer. Again, this wasn't much of a disadvantage for me since I always planned on reading the DVDs directly rather than transferring the video using the camcorder (popping the disc into the DVD-ROM drive *has* to be faster than transferring the files by wire. Overall I'm extremely pleased with my purchase. I decided not to spend an extra, about, three hundred bucks, for the DVD300; and I'm so happy with the image quality: excellent low-light, image stabilization, nightshot (and aren't these what you're buying a camcorder for?); that I'm convinced it was the right call.
Rating: 
Summary: Only 50% true
Review: I've purchased DVD200 from Sony in Nov'03. This is how I feel so far. Pros..
1) The clarity and resolution are really good.
2) It is very easy to play back on TV Cons..
1) Mic picks up noise from spinning disc
2) 1M digital camera is simpy useless (only if you never saw a dig camera, then you may appreciate this)
3) DVD R/W media (DMW30)is not available in market, even at sony.com
Rating: 
Summary: EXCELLENT
Review: It is one of "the easiest to use and best with the features" camcorder. I strongly recommend it. There are different recording speeds so you can record on one disc up to 1 or 2 hours. Everything is great ! Excellent picture quality. The only drawback is quality of still shots. They never match to this camcorder's quality. But who would buy a camcorder to take stills ?? Go for it. You won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Works as Advertised- Very nice camcorder
Review: My wife wanted the convenience to record video and immediately play it on the DVD player (much like the old days of VHS), but I wanted the ability to edit and make copies on the computer. This camcorder serves both purposes well. Build quality seems good, and more importantly it works as advertised- great picture quality, excellent sound recording, and our first DVD-R played fine in our 2 yr old DVD player. The unit is easy to use- much like any other camcorder other than loading the DVD discs instead of tapes. IMO all camcorders don't produce very good stills so I don't expect much in that area which is also the reason I didn't spend the extra $ on the DVD200 model (put the savings toward a digital camera instead). Our first recording event was a Christmas program in dim lit auditorium several rows away shooting many zoom shots on a lit stage. To my surprise, the white balance was good (not yellow), exellent sound of chorus, and very little camera shake considering it was hand held during the program, and pleasing picture quality on the DVD player. It only took about 3 minutes to finalize the DVD in the camcorder once we got home, but this can vary depending on how may scenes you have on the disk. Bottom line- we are happy so far with this camcorder. We also opted to get the Handycam DVD starter kit which includes a nice carrying case, which is just the right size for the camera, spare battery, and a few disks. The kit also includes a DVD-RW disk and an extra battery. In addition, I have ordered a 30mm UV protective filter for the lens.
Rating:
Summary: Less is More
Review: Ok, Ok, I got duped into this buy due to "improving, but degrading" technology. I have been using Digital-8, and I wanted a new mini-DV, but this year (2004) Sony decreased the chip (imaging sensor) size to 1/6" in the mini dv tape models. First reviews from camcorderinfo.com are not enthusiastic (smaller chip, higher noise in the image, degraded low light performance and some color saturation issues) this packing more pixels into a smaller die size problems are true in digital cameras (the smaller more dense sony 8mp digital camera sensor), as well as in "new, improved, more pixels" camcorders. So after reading of this "improvement" and browsing the other reviews I discovered:
1) the sony DCRDVD100 has the largest chip (1/4") size (vice 1/4.7" for the 200 and 300, and 1/6" chip (same as the 2004 mini dv tape model) for the 2004 dcrdvd101 dvd camcorder)
2) the test reviews from last year (100 vs 200) said the 200 "drops from the abilities of the DVD100" in video performance. (you don't EVEN want to read how poorly the new even smaller 1/6" chip in the 101 does compared to those two!)
3) there were still some 100's available as of mid-may this year.
4) all professional (broadcast quality) camcorders are on the verge of going tapeless this year or next, eg the trend will only make dvd camcorders more common. So here was the cheapest dvd camcorder sony made last year, outperforming it's more expensive brethren and even the "degraded" model for this year! Yep, wasn't planning on it's purchase, but sure didn't want lose video performance by waiting for one! Gripe 1, the 100 takes lousy still photos. Ok, so you can take a megapixel still pic with the 200 and 300. 1mp is still lousy in the 8mp era of digtal still cameras. And any camera phone can do a better photo easier. So I am not willing to trade the superior low light, low noise capabilities on video in the DVD100 to gain (still) mediocre still picture performance in the 200 or 300, which I will never use. Next gripe, there are no mini-DVD's available, and the price is too high! Standard complaint with the introduction of every new technology. I paid $8ea. for the first Maxell 120 VCR tapes back in the mid-eighties, now that buys 10 of them! Froogle mini dvd-r and you may find a bundle of 25 mini dvd-r's for $1 ea. (on sale) like I did in mid-may. Next year at this time they may be 50 cents each, regular price. NOW compare that to the price of mini-dv tape! S'hows it look? I can't see any difference on playback between the DCRDVD100 and my 3 year old TRV-730 digital eight camcorder, but the convenience is a thousand times better. The mini-dvd's play on my tv dvd, they play on my pc dvd, they play on the camcorder dvd. try that with mini-dv or 8mm dv! I can make mini-dvd duplicates using the camcorder and PC and send these mini-dv's to any relative to share our videos with. I never had the patience to transfer 8mm to VCR, not to mention the bulking up factor of VCR duplicates. ok, so the time is down to 20 mins per disk. About the same amount of relevant footage I get off a 1 hour 8mm tape, in which I just stick the 8mm camcorder in a corner and let run at parties, too bulky to carry. savings too, since the 8mm tape is still $4ea and I've got that full coverage using 3 mini dvd-r's at $1 ea. And bless sony for keeping the same battery, charger and flash accessories as in my 8mm dv! Now I have the same batteries to run my cd-r digital camera, the 8mm camcorder and this dvd-r video camcorder. a real dollar savings! Sony has always won the low-light full color indoor camcorder shoot-out contests, but with the new reduced-size imaging chips for the 2004 models , they apparently have slipped a notch backwards. So if absolute all-round video performance is the most important thing for you, I encourage you to run, not walk to locate the DVD100, before they are all gone. Or wait until the model 102 for 2005 is introduced! other pros: storage size of completed videos
instant useability/exchangeability with other machines besides the camcorder, no tape drive mechanisms to wear out and eat your prized videos years down the road. dramatic decline in cost of mini dvd-r media compared to micro-dv, mini-dv and 8mm dv tape. cons: no firewire connection to allow direct digital duping, I'd love to use the sony mini-dvd-r's to download my digital SLR camera's images into a permanent file while I am traveling, but guess that will have to wait until 2005? I like it, recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Bitterly disappointed
Review: One star is not exactly right because I never was able to try this camcorder. I was not able to find the discs for this ANYWHERE locally. The stores told me even SONY has them backordered. I had wanted a disc that could be re-recorded so I could play with the camcorder as I learned. I'm glad I didn't use the only disc enclosed (not re-recordable) as I sent back the camcorder in three days. It was useless to me. Perhaps Amazon has discs available, but I had less than a week to get the discs and figure out how to use the camcorder before my son's wedding. This is totally unacceptable.
Rating:
Summary: Bitterly disappointed
Review: One star is not exactly right because I never was able to try this camcorder. I was not able to find the discs for this ANYWHERE locally. The stores told me even SONY has them backordered. I had wanted a disc that could be re-recorded so I could play with the camcorder as I learned. I'm glad I didn't use the only disc enclosed (not re-recordable) as I sent back the camcorder in three days. It was useless to me. Perhaps Amazon has discs available, but I had less than a week to get the discs and figure out how to use the camcorder before my son's wedding. This is totally unacceptable.
Rating:
Summary: Less is More
Review: Sony DVD Handycam has great picture quality, if all you want is to film and playback on your DVD player. I wanted to make a compilation DVD but The "ImageMixer Ver.1.5 for Sony DVD Handycam" sucks. I bought another Movie editor but it cannot read the MPG created by the Sony software. So you have to convert the file to MPG2 format. It takes six minutues or more to finalize a dvd, It's faster to download using USB2 to finalize, Unfortunatly the Sony Software does not reconize the dvd it not finalize. I can't belive how hard it is to find, Sony minDVD media. I tried other brand names, but I lost some of the DVD because it did not finalize correctly. (...).
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