The Sony HDR-CX110 offers outstanding value in a camcorder under $400 and is our top choice in the category. Video quality is excellent considering the cost, this camcorder shoots full 1920 x 1080 HD video. Low light performance is very strong due to Sony’s back-illuminated “Exmor R” CMOS sensor. Image stabilization may be the best in this price range. The camcorder has a very capable 25x optical zoom. Additional strengths are a high quality LCD display with intuitive menus, excellent auto focus, nice quality audio and good battery life at around 2 hours. Sony’s automated settings function is called “Intelligent Auto”, and this is a very effective system, making this camcorder very easy to use.

On the negative side this camcorder has no internal memory, it records to a memory card slot, so you will have to buy a memory card. You can buy a 8GB SD card for $20 but should go with a bigger, better card if cost is not a serious issue. Still pictures quality isn’t good as is typical with a camcorder in this price range.

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Sony adds a number of useful additional features including a LCD display that rotates 270 degrees for various viewing angles, Face Detection, Smooth Slow Recording is great for analyzing a golf shot or tennis stroke and Smile Shutter snaps a still picture whenever a subject smiles in the frame.

In summary the Sony HDR-CX110 is a great choice in the under $400 price range for it’s excellent Hi-Def video, strong all-around quality and features list.

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