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Rugged Mini-DV Camcorder for the Road?

Posted by Cliff on from the movies-on-the-move dept.

step asks: "As part of my job, I (and my colleagues) spend weeks at a time on the road, doing science shows for high school students. To review our work, we carry DV camcorders to tape and watch our performances. Unfortunately, all the previous models we've tried haven't lasted more than 12 months on the road (and not from lack of care). When returned for repair we were told that they weren't faulty, just not up to the task. We don't need a full feature camera, just solid reliable recording and playback. In fact, simple is probably better to accommodate the most users. What experience has Slashdot had with camcorders? What's a good model that can handle lots of travel?"

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  1. My experient with the Linux "operating system" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    During the summer of 1999, my friends introduced me to this operating system called Linux. They claimed it was superior to Microsoft Windows, so I decided to try it out for myself. I navagated my way through the RedHat web site and found a download link for the latest RedHat disc image. I burned the image to a CD and booted from it.
    The installer wasn't what I was used to with Windows, but I was able to figure it out. I got up to the point where it asked me to input some information about my video card and monitor. This scared me, because it wanted to know something about my refresh rate and vertical sync. I wasn't sure what to enter, and it informed me that inputing the wrong values could permanently damage my monitor.
    I found the owners manual for my monitor and located the values it was looking for. I entered the data and proceeded with the installation. After the installation was complete, I booted into RedHat Linux for the first time and attempted to enter XWindows using the 'startx' command. The command executed, and I saw the screen flash for a fraction of a second.
    Then I heard a loud pop and a crack, and saw smoke coming out from the top of my monitor. Linux had permanently damaged my monitor because it sent it a signal that it couldn't handle. I will never use Linux again, it is an amateur hobby operating system that has no business being run on expensive, modern hardware. I might consider tinkering with it in the future, on some old cheap hardware that I don't mind ruining.