need advice for digital camcorder, graphics card

[aliasghark]

hello friends,

i need your valuable advice for purchase of:

1. a digital camcorder:

what features i need are: minidv, mpeg4, analouge-digital pass, 1 megapixel pic res, 20x zoom, sd/mmc slot, 0.6 or better video res, zoom mic, a/v in/out, external mic slot, good nightshot performance, good picture stabilization. the budget is up to $550 max.

2. a graphics card:

this is for my bro.. he wants to play NFSU-2 all the time.. apart from occasional quake, at smooth frame rates. i'd like to go for dx 9.0 compatibility and tv-out, dvi. budget: $150.

i also want to know whether it will be advantageous for me to buy these from india or gulf, and opinions on HIS Excalibur 9550, and its availability in India.

thanks everyone, for ur help in advance.

btw, if anyone reading is currently in the gulf (esp. in UAE) pleeez contact me to discuss the prices in various gcc markets.

256 mb 400 mhz (samsung i think) ram is selling for 150 s.riyals (Approx 1725rs) and 512 for 290. r these prices competetive?

[geek_rohit]

Well for your Digicam querry please refer to one of the recent past issues of DiGit. It had carried a full shootout for the digicams.
As for your GFX card, in your budget the nVIDIA FX5700 would be the best bet.

[tuxfan]

Good digital camcorders are still too expensive. What you get at reasonable price are not good enough. Either take a normal camcorder or wait for some time for prices of good ones to come down.

If you are talking about regular digicams then Nikon coolpix is the best. I use 5200. It has 5.2 mega pixel with 3x optical zoom and some more digital zoom, it can also record video clips with sound at TV resolution. The length of video depends on the memory card and resolution that you choose. Lots of adjustments that can be made for taking good pics, but it also has ready made scenes. Select one of them and you don't have to worry about the individual settings to get a good pic

As for graphics card, check the Jan issue of Digit.