Julie: Hi, I'm Julie. In this video, I'm going to give you the basics on today's camcorders, so you have the info you need to start shopping.

All of our camcorders are digital, but that doesn't mean they all record high-definition footage. Many shoot standard-definition video. That means their top resolution is about equal to DVD quality. A high-definition camcorder, on the other hand, can usually shoot video with a resolution of 1080i or 1080p. You'll pay extra to get true high-def video, but it makes sense for folks who already have an HDTV or plan to purchase on in the future.

Next, let's look at five camcorder types. The type you get can determine how easy it is to edit, store and play back your footage, and all of the camcorder types I'll discuss come as both standard-definition and high-definition models.

Mini DV is your main option for recording to tape these days. These camcorders are often affordable, and the DV footage they record is some of the best looking video available. The tapes are small and easy to find in stores. Finally, DV format video is particularly easy to edit with most digital editing software. One note on Mini DV: to transfer video to a computer, you'll need an i.LINK or IEEE 1394 connection. They can't transfer DV video via USB the way other camcorders can.

DVD camcorders record to small DVD-Rs or DVD-RWs. These camcorders are good if you want to be able to watch your videos without a lot of extra effort, because once they're finalized, these DVDs can be played in most DVD players or computer DVD drives. One thing to remember — if you want to edit your movies, make sure you have editing software that can handle the format your camcorder uses.

Hard drive camcorders record to a small internal hard drive, so you don't have to worry about buying blank media to record movies onto. The downside is that when you're out of space, you need to transfer video to a computer or delete it before you can record anything else. With that in mind, be sure you choose one with a large enough hard drive for plenty of uninterrupted shooting.

Memory card camcorders work a lot like hard drive camcorders, but they record all the video you capture onto a removable memory card instead of a built-in hard drive. That way, if you fill up one memory card, just pull out a blank one and keep recording. However, do make sure you have enough memory cards for normal shooting. A single 1-gigabyte card may only hold 10 minutes of DVD-quality video.

By the way, both hard drive and memory card camcorders record in a variety of different file formats. If you plan to do much editing, make sure you have editing software that can handle the format your camcorder uses.

Also, don't be surprised if you see some camcorders offering more than one format option. For example, it's not unusual to see a hard drive camcorder that can also record full video footage to a memory card.

Finally, if you're curious about the inexpensive and portable camcorder models designed for recoding video and popping it on YouTube or other websites, here's the scoop. The image quality you get is fairly low on those models, compared to the quality of a regular camcorder. But these cams make a lot of sense if all you're interested in is recording short clips for web use. If you want both high image quality and easy uploads to the web, look instead for a full-featured camcorder, with a websharing or YouTube mode.

This info is just the start. You may have more detailed questions as you compare prices and features on individual models. For more information you can check out crutchfield.com/camcorderinfo. You can also call one of our experts at 1-888-955-6000.