As per the title ...I have a now aging Canon camcorder (about 7 years old) so I was looking around to see what is available, but have no idea what is good or bad.....so any reccomendations or sites are welcome....looking at a maximum of £400 really

Get one with a Hard Drive, made by JVC, cant go far wrong, 40gb or 60gb

Is it worth looking at hi def camcorders

Hi mate.

A couple of things to think about:

(1) storage medium. Today, you've got DV, DVD, Hard disk and some feature solid state (memory stick / compact flash). The first is the old-fashioned way and is very reliable, but of course you're limited to real-time streaming from camcorder to PC if you want to edit stuff. On the plus side, because it's removable medium, if you need lots and lots of storage for a long holiday, DV tapes are cheap and readily available

Personally, I wouldn't go with DVD as although practical for taking round to a friend's and for immediate playback, you can do that plugging the camcorder straight into the telly. And then when it comes to transferring to PC for editing, you're far better off with HDD / flash based ones.

(2) Standard Def or High def.

I'd go with high def, but just for it's high-def capability: most camcorders with HD sensor will give you a better SD quality. Some SD camcorders are a bit on the limit at SD resolutions. So even if you don't shoot high def (for the moment ), it's a worthwhile investment. Today, the prices of HD camcorders have come down a great deal and don't make them that much more expensive than SD camcorders of yesteryear

Should you be interested in a Sony, I can tell you what we have in the shop next week. But don't want to sway you towards a sony - other than possibly price compared to high street

In terms of what you'll enjoy most; check out the usability of it. It's great having a camcorder with a gazillion features, but I'd argue that I'd prefer a simpler camcorder with less functions to make sure you get the initial capture right and not lose moments because you're fumbling for that elusive button behind that flap

Remember that post production on a PC with video editing software will be infinately better than doing it on a camcorder because of (a) the limited flexibility / quality of effect on camcorder and ( how fiddly it may be.

Have a look at the shops. Each manufacturer tends to have their way of operation and you'll either love their thinking or hate it. So have a play and see what you like the feel of.

HTH