I bought this video camera with price in mind. My budget was under $400 CAD, which in this case it came to $370 w/taxes at the Sony store. Not bad. Now here's the good: The DCR-HC26 is very compact and lightweight perfect for taking around to trips and stuff. My Sony TRV-308 Hi8 was just too heavy to carry around, compared to that the HC26 is awesome! I think I got what I paid for, no real special features here just basic stuff. The only thing that stands out is the touch screen LCD panel, which is a pro and con of this camera. Anyways, Sony makes the touch screen feature almost standard in all models. Here's the bad: Because it's a Mini DV camera I can't really do anything with it on my computer. However, I saw a Sony appliance that can remedy that but for $350 CAD, cmon! Also the pixel quality that shows up on screen is a little bit better than my Hi8. Recording in SP (short play) mode will improve this but will reduce recording time. Furthermore, the supplied battery is not meant for long periods of use so buy a better one if you need to. Also I mentioned before about the touch screen, it's only downside is that the LCD will need to wiped frequently. Word of advice, put the camera in "easy mode" in order to press basic function buttons (will appear bigger) on the screen. If easy mode is not on and you have big fingers you will have difficulty pressing the buttons on the LCD. I know if I spent a couple hundred more I could've upgraded to a Mini DVD camera but read the title "I'm on a budget okay!"