I have a stone old Sony DCR-TRV 33E, but it's still doing its job very well. I can control it from my PC (stop, rewind, forward, play, etc...), and transfer movies via Firewire to my PC. It has also 16:9 WideScreen mode, which I started to use only now. The optical Zoom is also very nice, haven't needed a better Zoom yet. Picture quality is also very good. One thing I also like is the nightvision mode, you can make movies when it's totally pitch black dark, as the camera sends an infrared signal and records the reflections, the result is a black/greenish-gray movie which looks totally cool :)
I think there are better camares out by now, but I would take the Sony DCR-TRV 33E as comparison model when buying a new one, it should do everything what the Sony does plus tons more and with better quality.
I think there are better camares out by now, but I would take the Sony DCR-TRV 33E as comparison model when buying a new one, it should do everything what the Sony does plus tons more and with better quality.