I have a TRV-310E - I think - which is very similar. You learn to love the zoom because modern camcorders seem to top out about 10x. My only problem is that I have to keep the thing now if I ever want to view what is on the tapes unless I find them all and move them onto DVD or DV tape. I wasn't a "shoot it, transfer it immediately and record over" user. The main thing I'm wondering is: are you sure it does 16:9 widescreen? Also, it may be one fromt he time when a camcorder with digital in AND digital out was taxed more than a camcorder with just digital out, so a lot of camcorders just had digital out. Mine does. This is only important if you want to export it, edit it and put the edited result back on your tape. When you're buying tapes, if you buy Hi8 the 60 minute ones only last 45 minutes in a D8 camcorder. Get Digital8 ones unless you're OK with that. The ten hour battery is excellent. You'd be using the eyepiece for that length of time. If you used the screen it'd be 2-3 hours So, just a few things to think about