Sony’s venture into the high def is proving to be a smart move. The Hdr-hc3 produces excellent hi-def image quality and really sets the bar for all other consumer camcorders to follow. It is easy to use and includes seven preprogrammed shooting modes including one simply named “Easy Mode.” Novices fear not, your HDV king has arrived.

The Sony Handycam Hdr-hc3 has a 2.7 inch touchscreen LCD display. The menu can be toggled between the touchscreen an scroll button located just behind the lens. Battery life varies depending on how often you turn the camcorder on and off, but average usage is between 60 and 90 minutes. Although the Handycam Hdr-hc3 has a maximum zoom of about 10x, the absence of an image stabilizer makes viewing footage at that distances difficult to watch because of hand shake.

Both experts and average users go crazy over the picture quality the Sony Handycam Hdr-hc3 produces, especially when the camcorder is connected directly to the television through the HDMI port. However, Sony does not include bundled software and support for transferring your video to your computer is minimal.

For the average user looking for great HD picture quality you really can’t go wrong with the Sony Handycam Hdr-hc3. Few average users have anything bad to say about this camcorder.