primesuspect had this to say

I hate to say it, but $300 isn't really much to spend on a digital video cam... you're gonna get a very low end one. If you can find a way to spend a bit more, you can get a pretty good one: The Sony DCR-TRV350, which we were talking about in this thread.

On this note, the TRV250, the Camera I have, is IDENTICAL to the TRV350, except that the 350 has "Memory Stick" (who needs this? as we already said, DV cameras can't take good stills, and if you use the "mpeg capture" feature you can only store a couple minutes, if that, on the memory stick...thats why video cameras use TAPE in the first place..) and it has "SuperNightShot" which just has a stronger IR transmitter for picking up things farther away in 0 light situations, the 250 has the regular NightShot feature, and if you really want, you can buy an adapter that adds an external IR transmitter that lets you do like 100ft or something)

I think the camera might also have some better onboard editing/effects and stuff built into it, but personally I have no use for it, editing directly on the camera as you film is a royal pain in the arse, much easier to do after you transfer to the computer.

Has all the outputs you want; svideo out, composite out, iLink (FireWire) and USB2 connectivity.

AND the TRV250 is only $400, pretty damn good price for a camera of this quality. I love mine.