Before using the camera......

A few evenings ago, I splurged and bought a new video camera. I have been looking for one for a month or so. We have an old Sharp Viewcam that I bought a bunch of years ago, but the video quality is seriously lacking. Being that we are expecting our new baby to arrive within the next two weeks, I figured that now would be the best time to update equipment.

I was hoping to find a video camera that didn't require tapes or dvd's as the recording medium, but rather some sort of perpetually reusable media stick or drive. I looked online, unsuccessfully. Then I made a trip to both Circuit City and Best Buy (I was leaning toward Circuit City anyway because they actually mention the word "Christmas" in their advertising).

Both stores carried the JVC Everio, a "Hard Disk Camcorder." The price at Circuit City, due to a sale and a 15% discount coupon, ended up being $150 less than Best Buy. I'm loving the camera. It's very tiny, yet it takes great video that will be no problem to edit on my computer and upload to the net if I so choose.

In the instruction manual, there is a section titled "Before Using this Camera." I made certain to read that first and this is what they recommend.....

When formatting or erasing data using the camera or PC functions, only the file administration information is changed. The data is not completely erased from the hard disk. If you want to completely erase all of the data, we recommend either using commercially available software that is specially designed for that purpose, or by physically destroying the camera with a hammer.

Really. Of course that's the first piece of advice you want to read before using your brand new, expensive video camera. Thanks for the head's up, JVC.

For a funny observation about labels, be sure to check out Erin Pavlick's blog. I laugh every time I read this post.