Sony DCR-DVD708E Handycam

With so many camcorders, formats and makes, to choose from, there's always a certain uncertainty whether the camera you picked up is better than the others available in the market. Sony, with it's majority share of the market is generally considered a safe bet - partly because of the attention that its brand name commands and even due to the simple fact that they do seem to provide quite a bang for your buck.

Do their DVD camcorders live up to their reputation? Only one way to find out.

The 708E is kinda big, considering the camcorders we've reviewed before, but I guess that comes with being a DVD camcorder. But since the DVD part comes right where your handgrip is, it gets a bit uncomfortable to hold for long periods. Not something that's a big issue though, but it still needs to be mentioned.

The thing about Sony handycams is that the interface is pretty much identical in all their models, and the same applies here. There's the trusty touchscreen interface that manages to pack in a lot more than most other uncomfortable button interfaces that I've seen in mid-range camcorders. You can use the interface for just about every function of the camera and it feels a lot more natural too than using something hidden behind the screen flap.