Sony HDR-SR12 120GBAs many of you know, I am expecting my first child soon, in about three-months. And with that comes a lot of shopping and preparing for the new child. Cribs, car seats, gliders, toys, safety devices and the list goes on and on.

My big purchase will likely be a video camera. My wife wants me to get one and I have always wanted a real video camera. I do weekly videos on search topics and I currently use my built in iSight, so the quality is not great. I did invest in a USB mic because sound quality is something people aren't willing to put up with. But video quality, on the web, is still something people don't expect much from. That will change, YouTube now allows you to watch videos in higher quality and my iSight won't do that. I know people don't care to look at me in high definition. But when I take videos of my new kid, I am sure family will want to get the best quality as possible.

In any event, I am a bit iffy on which video camera to get. I 100% want a camera that is HD quality. I 100% want a camera that is plug and play with iMovie. Outside of that, I hear there are many things you should look for in a camera, but do I need it. Those features include image stabilizer, good in low light, hard drive based, and some other things.

So if I want the best possible HD hard drive camera for personal use, I believe my best bet is the Sony HDR-SR12. It does pretty much everything I want and works incredibly well with iMovie, as far as I can tell from all the reviews I have read.

The big draw back is the price tag at being about $1,200 - but doing some quick searches, I think I can get it for in the $900 range. But $900 is still a lot of money. Last year, I would have likely purchased it already. But we are in a recession, if you haven't noticed and I am much more careful with what I do buy and what I don't buy.

The question is, do I go for this camera or get a cheap one instead? I know I will use it for both family purposes and business purposes, very often (at least once a week). I know it won't just sit in the closet and collect dust. But do I need to get the top of the line model? Is the price worth it? Should I go cheaper?

Really looking for advice here...