[Stephen Kling]

…but at the same time, you have to factor in the cost of digital storage, whether it’s on tape or a chip. A mini-DV tape holds an hour of data for about $4. For $25 you’ve got a half-day of data in your bag. If the cost of a card for the Panasonic P2 is any indication –and even if the new Sony cuts that price by three-quarters– an hour of data on a card costs 50 times more!

Plus, you can’t duck into a CVS and pick up a spare 32-gig card in Paducah, Kentucky…yet.