Other than miniDV, I’m not sure if there is anyone in the market for a tape-based camcorder these days. Samsung must be echoing my sentiment with the launch of their latest four digital camcorders. The SC-D165 records your family events (both stills and video) onto a DVD, including compatibility for dual-layer disks. Expect a more than adequate 33x optical zoom and 120x digital zoom, then review it all on the 2.7-inch LCD screen.

Samsung’s SC-HDX15 stores everything onto its 4GB of internal memory, and if that doesn’t cut the mustard, it’ll also fill up as many SD cards as you can feed it. More notably, this $1499 memory-recorder can record at 720p—it is being marketed as “the first HD flash camcorder”.

If you’re in the market for something sportier, including head-mounted “lipstick” lenses, then the SC-X210L (pictured) and the SC-X205L will definitely be your cup of tea. Internal memory isn’t exactly impressive with 512MB on the X205L and 1GB on the X210L, but you’ll get other goodies to compensate; like MP3 playback, 10x optical zoom, and SD-card expansion.