Sanyo Xacti CG9 Standard-Def Camcorder Saves Money (Bonus: iMovie '08 Support)

There's really no reason not to get a HD camcorder these days, but HD is an overkill for some of us when you take the complexity of high-def editing and the cost of the equipment into account. That's where Sanyo Xacti CG9 comes in with its affordable pricing and simplicity.

The handheld camcorder retailing for $279.99 features a 9.1MP CMOS sensor and 5x optical zoom with a max aperture of f/3.5 wide. It also has the ability to capture up to 10 photos in raid succession and auto focus on up to 12 faces. The CG9 writes in AVC/H.264 format, but just in standard definition on a SD/SDHC card. Sanyo claims the camcorder can manage to store an hour of video per gigabyte; the length of the video is merely limited by the capacity of the card. Compatibility with Apple iMovie '08 is an added bonus, and the lack of HDMI output may not be something you will miss when the CG9 doesn't even do 1080p recording.

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• Get Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 (Silver) now for $185.95 at Amazon.com Marketplace