HD Camcorders are the cutting edge trend for this Holiday shopping season that can be had for around $1,000.
The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 is another great choice if you want to gift somebody (yourself) with the wonders of HD. JVC pioneered the use of Hard-drives in camcorders years back. The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 packs a 120GB HDD; storage you need when recording HD.
The first JVC Everio four years ago came with a 4GB drive. It sold back then also for about $1,000. Four years later we are getting HD and a 30x bigger HDD for the same money. The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 allows for up to 50 hours of AVCHD Full HD video recording. Other features of the GZ-HD40 include JVC’s HD Gigabrid video engine, HDMI (V.1.3. with x.v.Color), 2.8 inch screen, and 10x optical zoom.

The Sony HDR-SR12 camcorder we also feature in our Top 10 Video camera guide is comparable to the JVC GZ-HD40. The differences are in details like face detection and recording times.

For Whom:
The JVC Everio GZ-HD40 is a great gift for video enthusiasts who want to take it to the next level and go HD.

The Good:
Compact full HD Camcorder
120GB HDD

The Bad:
No optical image stabilization

Where to Buy:
The JVC GZ-HD40 is currently on sale on Amazon.com for $1,029.99. Compare prices in other stores.

See all our top 10 gift tips in the Video Camcorder Category. Explore all our Top 100 Holiday Gift Tips 2008.