I've been using a Sony TRV22 and Vegas 5 for awhile now, and it was very good for starting with, but the more I learn along the way, the more I realize that the image quality with this camera is just not good enough anymore. So I'm wanting to upgrade to a DV camcorder that has a much better image than the TRV22...but then price is still an issue here. Yes, I know that I should probably pay more to get the best, but many of you have much more knowledge about these things, and any helpful insight would be greatly appreciated.

Based upon another post from the forum, I found this info that Event DV (formerly EMedia Magazine) posted their Reader's Choice Awards for 2005. I put an average price beside each unit.

Sony HDR-FX1 $3500.00
Canon XL2 $4800.00
Panasonic AG-DVX100A $3000.00
Sony DSR-PD170 $2900.00
Sony DCR-VX2100 $2900.00

Here's are a couple less expensive camcorders I found that might be good:

Sony HDR-HC1 $2000.00
Panasonic AG-DVC30 $1600.00 - $2100.00

So here are my questions:

1) Are there any camcorders costing about $2500.00 and LESS that will have as good a picture quality as those top five listed above?

2) Are there any online websites that have "AVI clips" taken directly from some (or any) of the DV camcorders on the market, that I could pull into Vegas to see for myself exactly what the captured footage will actually look like?