Looking to buy a digital camcorder...any suggestions?

[crous1ca]

I haven't posted in a while (no success this year, but it was still fun getting out in the woods), but my wife and I are looking into buying a digital camcorder sometime before our little one is born in April. I'd really like to get one with a hard drive built into it. I've been looking into the Panasonic and Sony brands. We're looking at spending about $600-650 after taxes, but I want to get the most for my money. I would like to use this camera to record hunts as well as kids, sporting events, etc. I was hoping I might get some input from anyone on the board with some experience using these cameras (I know that there are a lot of you).

My main questions are about the options:

zoom
3 CCD vs. 1 CCD
image stablization
view finder...etc.

Thanks for any suggestion you might have.

[duck or bleed]

I recently got a mini-DV camcorder that was low priced and has most of the options and a 34X optical zoom. I did not want to spend a lot because I will just be beating it around in the woods. I am very happy with it for what I use it for. You may want a little pricier unit if you will be making home videos with it, but don't think that because ther are not high priced that they will not work fine!

[Stins]

first establish what your budget is then answer the other questions because the answer to those questions will increase the price quite a bit.

That said I have a Panasonic PV-GS500 and am very pleased with it.