Firstly I am impressed by this camcorder. I will tell you why and what 'more' I would I have loved if it were there!

I was shopping for a camcorder - and had loads to choose from - DVD, HDD, HD, from various manufacturers and various features. I had earlier TRV820 from SOny for last 7 years which I enjoyed thoroughly. But lost patient over time to capture the video, edit and then burn it on a DVD and then watch.. as Tapes are very difficult to maintain and over a period of time take space and are prone to loosing the data.

This time I was looking for simple but one of the best camcorders - as all I wanted was best of features and quality and as simple as take the DVD out and watch it on a home theatre with no what-so-ever headaches of editing and reburning! UX7 achieved that for me.

Very easy to operate, high quality images and video, nice touch screen that responds very well, menu options are very few - but thats what all you need, very well thought about and provided inputs / outputs. And 5.1 mic works excellent!! Overall I will recommend any one to go for it. HDD I avoided as again I need to capture back and edit and burn DVD's! a NO - NO for me!

What is miss - Firewire (USB does very well on UX7 though)so no complaints, Capture a video frame while playback as a jpeg image (this feature is very handy where you shoot the video and while playing back you want to capture an image of a scene - this I loved on my TRV820 - alternatively I use the software while playing back to capture this which negates my requirement of doing away with editing), and the third is the viewfinder could have been bigger - though I seldomly use it.

This camcorder - UX7 indeed is a great piece, excellent and easy to handle, and its looks and feel do impress.

Pros:

1. Built like a tank. Very sturdy and comfortable to grip
2. AVCHD recording gives beautiful, breathtaking pictures. It captures more color than my eyes can. Outdoor shootings are incredible, even with just HD SP setting. Indoor is OK.
3. Big LCD
4. Nice NP-FH70 battery included
5. Downconverted AVCHD to Std Def DVD Video using the supplied software is incredible and retains the DD 5.1 sound as well. It matches or even surpasses the quality of the Sony top of the line std def DVD camcorder DCR-DVD508.
6. AVCHD can be recorded on a regular DVD-R media. We can combine multiple mini-DVD into one DVD-R for at least 1 hour video in AVCHD. Once the next generation HD player like Blu-ray becomes affordable, you can watch incredible HD picture using the regular DVD blanks.
7. Mini-DVD doesn't require you to connect the camcorder to PC when transferring the video to PC

Cons:

1. Recording time. This is the trade-off of choosing Mini-DVD. One Mini-DVD can record only about 14 minutes at HQ setting and 18 minutes at SP. I haven't tried the highest HQ+ setting, I'm thinking like a Hummer gas mileage.
2. Heavier than average DVD-Camcorder. This is the trade-off of having very large CMOS sensor.
3. AVCHD playback options are very limited right now. Only the camcorder itself and Blu-ray player can play it.
4. Downconverting AVCHD to Std-Def DVD takes a lot of your PC muscle. I left it overnight and it was completed in the morning.
5. TOUCH SCREEN!!! Sony please get away from this very annoying feature. The beautiful glossy LCD screen is full of smudge from my fingerprint. Playing back to my TV using HDMI, I still have to open the LCD to press the play button, and the HDMI cable gets on the way when I try to open and close the LCD.

Besides those cons I've mentioned above, it is still a great camera. I don't regret at all of choosing DVD. The decision of using tape vs. mini-DVD vs. HDD is yours. Every media has its own pros and cons, but you can't go wrong to go with HD camcorder right now.

I was looking for a hard drive High Def camera. I purchased the JVC GZ HD7 and took it home. The camera was $1,800 and rated at much higher resolution but the picture quality was nothing compared to this Sony HDR UX7.

Everyone complains about the 15 minute recording time in full High Def but I don't think that is a problem. If you think aboit it, how boring are home movies anyway! Short scenes, short clips for 15 total minutes is plenty of time to look at a home movie. If you need more time, say 30 minutes or more, just use two DVD-R's or a DVD+R DL.

With the $1,800 Sony I had to buy another $400 DVD burner to get my movies onto DVD, with this little Sony, as soon as I finish shooting, the DVD is done!

With the expensive JVC, the indoor recordings were terrible, with this little Sony they are stunning!

I have done alot of research and spend alot of time at many elecronic stores, this Sony Camera is the Best Value for the money out there. If you just want to be able to record High Def movies fast and be able to have them on a DVD, this is the Camera for you. Don't worry about AVCHD format, very soon there will be many software programs to edit this format. I own 5 Macs and I know that in the next 2 months there will be at least 2 programs to edit AVCHD.

The touch screen is awesome, very intuitive and easy to navigate. Despite the negative comments about getting finger prints on the screen, I like this function. Hey with clean hands the screen doesn't get that dirty!

Quality and construction of this camera is the best I have seen. It is solid and feels awsome in your hands.

You can buy this camera under $1,000 here at Amazon, don't bother with Electronic Stores.

Happy recording, with this awesome camera.

Rob

When you record in HD, you can only playback your 8 cm disc on a SONY Blu- Ray, not any other manufacturer's Blu-Ray's!!!!!!!! When Sony was contacted about this, they said they were sorry but you would have to just contact the other manufacturer to discuss playback options.

I love this camera - video quality stunning. I'm a non-techie so let me toss a question out to the crowd - the 6.1MP still photos this camera takes are average at best. My 6.1MP Nikon D50 takes much better photos. Specifically I'm talking about grain and what I would call pixelation. I've double checked the settings on the HDR-UX7 and have them all set to max resolution. What am I missing? Other than that tiny issue this camera is great!

I have only had the chance to use this camera once, during a fishing vacation. I spent some time reading the reviews on the camera and on the DVD player which has to be a Sony Blu-ray. The camera was formated for HD and results were a true 1080 when played back. You will have to spend the money to make the whole thing work right. Purchase the Blu-ray BDP-S1. The Sony package was amazing. I really like being able to go directly from the camera to the DVD player.

Not much to say here other than it's awesome! Until 1080p camcorders come out, this is the one to buy for ease of use and portability. Shipping was fast. I am completely satisfied with this product! Thanks Amazon & Sony for having/making an awesome camcorder!

I chose this camcorder because I don't do any video editing, and just wanted a high quality easy to use camcorder. The touch screen is great, doesn't smudge up much at all. I can't imagine why this is a problem for anyone unless you play with your own fecal matter and don't wash your hands. The camcorder stays charged for a long time. The picture quality is incredible. The night mode is amazing. The only thing to know. If you do the HD recording, you can only play in this camcorder, or a Sony brand blue ray disk player. Enjoy.

I owned a DCR DVD 305 previously and decided to take the next step.
Glad I did. Nothing compares to AVCHD. Except maybe real film.
This cam is prosumer. I cont care if it doesn't look like an FX-7.
The selling points for me were:
1. The assignable dial for manual control of shutter, exposure, focus, whatever you decide to assign to it. Having auto settings can be great but some shots require some tweaking and manual control is a must.
2. 6.1 mega pixel still shot. The 305 had a lousy 1mega pixel still shot. Not worth a darn. The 6.1 quality is an option I can boat about. 6.1 mp may be a few years behind, but this is not a digital slr folks. It's a video cam. Often camcorder shot leave traces of interlacing and such that reveal the source of cam it was taken with. Not this one. It looks like a still right from an early digital slr. No interlacing.
3. Mini DVD storage. It seems most the newer AVCHD cameras are going HDD. Hard drives crash. They are prone to incurable errors. If you have ever own a PC with windows XP, you know this. Lesson learned. My previous camera the Sony 305 was a mini DVD storage based cam. When it failed, I was able to recover the disc out of the cam and rip it from my DD drive on the PC. If this had been a HDD cam, I would have lost the footage forever.
4. External mic option. I plan on using a lav mic for interview types of footage. This has the option for an external mic. Super.
Besides the jump to HD, those were the main reasons I bought it. It has all the normal options you will find in a DVR. I used Sony's website to compare shop. Very helpful.
Some things to think about when you go AVCHD.
Editing software is still behind the ball. I managed to score a copy of Sony Vegas Pro 8 which totally supports the AVCHD format and the 5.1 surround audio. Nero 8 Ultimate supports it to but, Nero is limited if you want to get creative. Adobe products, so far are still just supporting HDV, not AVCHD. If you like editing, get a MAC or go with Vegas.
The software bundle with the cam is necessary. I tried to bare bones the install and it would not recognize the cam as a valid drive. Take the hit on your start up and install it ALL.
Some additional cool things about this camera are that fact that if the cam is on and running on AC power, then a screen saver that is also a tutorial on how to perform tasks runs. Not sure if it is standard but a nice hefty NP FH-70 battery comes with it. Thats about 120 mins of recording. Most Sony cams follow the same ergonomic design so no learning curve required. This cam is not light but also not dead weight. You know you are holding cause it just fills up the hand without rendering your digits feeling fat and uncoordinated. I thought this was the icing on the cake and decided to write this review.
And NO I do not work for Sony, but let me tell you this, they have a very fair Customer Service Department.

Dave T