Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This review is for the Panasonic HDC-TM55P Panasonic introduced four mid-level camcorders in 2010: HDC-SD60. Uses SD/SDHC/SDHX memory cards. No built-in memory/storage. HDC-TM55. The TM stands for Twin Memory. It has 8 GB built-in memory (roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes of video recording) and also uses SD/SDHC/SDHX cards. HDC-TM60. Has 16 GB built-in memory (two hours and 40 minutes) and also uses SD/SDHC/SDHX cards. Sold exclusively at Best Buy. HDC-HS60. Equipped with a built-in 120 GB hard drive (twenty hours and 30 minutes). With the exception of the different storage methods, all four units have the same specs. I've extensively used the HDC-TM55 for a week and it has entirely met my expectations. The four areas I wish to highlight: Video output Yes, this is an HD camcorder, but what does the video *really* look like when played back on a HD TV? That was my question, and all I can say is, Wow! After taking some video footage at Kings Island, I hooked the camcorder to my Panasonic 50" plasma TV with the supplied video component cables (an optional HDMI cable can be purchased) and my wife and I were blown away with the detail. The colors were rich and the detail was true HD. Mac compatibility Panasonic includes video software compatible with Windows PCs, not Mac. No worries though, I hooked the HDC-TM55P to my Mac running Leopard OS X 10.5.8, using the supplied cable. It was immediately recognized as a mounted disc, and iMovie 08 offered to import the video. OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard and iMovie 09 are also supported. iA You can shoot in Manual mode, which gives you greater control over all aspects of recording, or in iA - Intelligent Auto mode, whereby the camera automatically adjusts for the conditions. It knows when to switch to Portrait mode (when the object is a person) or Scenery mode (when outside recording a landscape), etc. It also utilizes OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), wind canceling, face recognition, and other technologies. I'm sure sometimes it will get things wrong and I'll have to manually override it, but for the most part iA works very well. In other words, to get excellent video results, all you have to do is switch to iA, point the camera, and press record. Photos The quality of photos was just OK, even at 5MP and highest quality. Perhaps unfairly, I'm comparing them to my Nikon D40 SLR. Compared to a compact point and shoot camera, they are more acceptable. Overall, the HDC-TM55P gets 5 stars, because its controls are intuitive, it's fully Mac compatible, it's full-featured, manually or in iA mode, and the video quality is excellent. We bought this primarily to use on our upcoming Disney Cruise, and I'm confident we made the right choice. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed with this outstanding camcorder.