Rating: 
Summary: a nice camcorder, but sitting on the still picture fence...
Review: the trv22 is the in the middle of the trv19/22/33 family. it has a nice camcorder feature set but it's sitting on the fence as far as still capability is concerned.pros:
- compact design, light weight.
- larger size CCD should provides better low-light performance.
- miniDV media is widely supported.
- ability to take vga resolution pics to memory stick.
- ability to record mpeg videos to memory stick (choppy).
- analog-to-digital conversion with pass-through.
- great connectivity options: firewire, USB, S-video, headphone, mic input, etc.
- carl zeiss lens.
- color viewfinder.
- intelligent accessory shoe.
- steady shot and night shot.
- progressive shutter system.
- supports exif 2.2. cons:
- it would have been nice to get a bigger 3.5" LCD.
- you could do better on the still photo department. unless all you want to do with your digital pics is to send over email or post to a website, you will be disappointed with the maximum 640x480 resolution this camcorder supports.
- no pop-up flash for taking stills and no built in video light but you can get a flash/video combo light for less than a hundred bucks.
- as with most sony products, you pay a premium, pushing up the price. this is a nice camcorder but in my opinion, it is in no-camcorder's land with regard to still capability. the supported maximum resolution is really only good for posting on the web or email. if you don't care about still capability, save a few bucks and go for the trv19. if you want better still resolution, go for the trv33 or pc-105 or panasonic's gs-70. good luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreliable
Review: This camcorder may have impressive enough specs for the average user (certainly not for the "prosumer" market). If you want a simple to use, well enough endowed of bells and whistles, but not impractical camcorder, I'd say on paper this one looks fine.
I am however opposed to the touch screen, found on most of the cheaper sonys; how fun is it to view your image through eons of fingerprints? Also the bottom loading (cost efficient) tape is irritating. You have to remove the camcorder from a tripod to change tapes. Not great design.
But by far the reason I rated this camcorder so low is that my university has a dozen of these for use by students. They are all fairly new. And in the time since they've been purchased 2 have been sent back to Sony for repair. the camcorders have power, have all settings checked, but there is no picture. Just black. Not mistreated equiptment, not broken by any human error, not misset, they just stop working. There might as well be a lens cap on. 2 out of 12 bought in bulk is NOT a confidence yielding statistic. Spend a little more money and get a camcorder that can stand to be used.
Rating:
Summary: Unreliable
Review: This camcorder may have impressive enough specs for the average user (certainly not for the "prosumer" market). If you want a simple to use, well enough endowed of bells and whistles, but not impractical camcorder, I'd say on paper this one looks fine.
I am however opposed to the touch screen, found on most of the cheaper sonys; how fun is it to view your image through eons of fingerprints? Also the bottom loading (cost efficient) tape is irritating. You have to remove the camcorder from a tripod to change tapes. Not great design.
But by far the reason I rated this camcorder so low is that my university has a dozen of these for use by students. They are all fairly new. And in the time since they've been purchased 2 have been sent back to Sony for repair. the camcorders have power, have all settings checked, but there is no picture. Just black. Not mistreated equiptment, not broken by any human error, not misset, they just stop working. There might as well be a lens cap on. 2 out of 12 bought in bulk is NOT a confidence yielding statistic. Spend a little more money and get a camcorder that can stand to be used.
Rating:
Summary: Motor Noise!
Review: This camera is great EXCEPT for the motor noise. The hum comes through load and clear when filming school concerts, people talking, or anything else where it is generally quite in the background. Do not buy this camera if this will bother you! I am now buying a $100 external microphone to counteract this problem.
Rating:
Summary: Watch Out!! Switches itself ON, and MAC users beware!
Review: This is a very cool-looking, little camera that takes decent video, but watch out. In none of the editorial or customer reviews I read did anyone mention the fact that the power button can switch itself ON accidently. The switch has a button you must push to turn it to camera or VCR mode, but it is so sensitive that when I carried it in my bag it turned itself on and drained my battery (while I was in Venice! Such a drag!). Another time, it happened again and actually recorded OVER footage that I really wanted to keep. I am really disappointed with this feature, but as this is the most comfortable model for me to use (I have small hands and the record and zoom buttons are positioned well) I decided to keep the camera. I just have to check it continuously in its carrying case to ensure that it is still OFF. There is a 'lock' button but it only prevents you from switching it into still mode. It does NOT prevent the camera or VCR from turning on. Also, I use a Mac, and there is almost NO information in the manual to help you connect and download to a Mac. I was annoyed that it didn't come with a firewire cable. If I'm spending nearly $800 on a camera, I want it to work out of the box. Or at least be informed BEFORE I purchase it that I will need to buy a $40 cable to download it to my computer. Again, no review mentioned this, so I will: If you are on a Mac, and you're going to buy this camera, YOU MUST ALSO BUY A FIREWIRE (iLINK) CABLE if you want to download to iMovie or any other film-editing program.
Rating: 
Summary: Great camcorder, if only if had higher zoom
Review: To be honest, I love this camcorder. It is light and easy to use. I thought that the LCD screen menus would be a real hassle, and just a gimmick, but the menu is easy to use and it is better than trying to find a million tiny buttons behind more doors than "Let's Make a Deal" used to have. The picture quality is very good and image stabilization works fine. The only negatives are that it has a relatively weak zoom (optical 10X) compared to the competition, and that the tape is bottom loading meaning that you cannot switch out the tape if you have the machine on a tripod. Copying movies and pictures (don't use this as a snapshot camera, not great pictures and too big for that purpose), is a snap. Sony includes some basic software. You do not need a firewire connector (extra cost) as it includes a USB cable, which any computer has these days.
Rating: 
Summary: Camcorder buying is hard, but this is the one!
Review: We got a Canon ZR70 because the place we were going to buy the TRV22 was out of them. Within an hour, we knew the Canon was not good. The color was so poor that it looked black and white. Our house isn't badly lit, but even so, the video came out looking bad. The picture was so grainy and it looked like sand. We were sorely disappointed. We wondered if camcorder technology wasn't worth paying for, if this was an example of what was out there. We decided to send it back, and buy a TRV22 locally. I took it home and it was immediately obvious that it blew the Canon away. The picture is clear, the colors look good. The sound is pretty good too. I did not notice the motor noise that others have. When I took it outside, it was not windy, so I don't know if I will experience the mic wind noise that others have. The TRV22 feels better in my hand, too. The weight is more evenly distributed, and the shape fits comfortably into the hand. Two caveats on this item. Performance is great, but the warranty that Sony gives you is NOT. I think it's 90 days. We bought this one at Circuit City. For $145, it's three years parts and labor. Plus two cleanings and year for free. Second, this model is being discontinued to make room for the new line. The new line doesn't sound like it's as good as this one. So if you're wanting a TRV19 or a TRV22, better buy it now. The TRV 19 is almost as good as the 22. It costs less, but it doesn't take digital stills (probably not a big deal--cameras don't take good stills anyway) and it won't convert VHS home movies over to DVD. The next one up is the TRV38, I think. It has a bigger LCD screen and that's about it. Didn't think that was worth the money, for us. We found ourselves a bit overwhelmed with all of the conflicting opinions and reviews of different camcorders. There are so many models out there. But the TRV22 is a definite pleaser and unless you're wanting a lot of extra manual options to fiddle with, or you're wanting professional-quality equipment, this is probably the right camera for you.
Rating:
Summary: Great Camcorder
Review: We purchased our Sony DCR-TRV 22 about a year ago and we have used it indoors, outdoors, night time, windy mountain tops, dark caves, poolside...you name it, we've tried it. And, we've been very pleased with this camcorder. It has a fantastic zoom on it, the night shot works great, the microphone worked well even in windy conditions. No, the still shots don't have a high enough pixel to print out into pictures but, we bought this to be a camcorder, not a camera! And for e-mailing, it works just fine.
We have found that every Sony product that we've ever purchased has performed wonderfully and we've been very pleased them. I do recommend this camcorder, and I know that when it comes time to replace this one...we'll be buying another Sony!
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