Best HD camcorder under $500

[sharanmini]

Hi there,
I am amateur videographer using Sony camcorder and records on MiniDV.
Capture as DVI and edit using X2 and looking to upgrade to HD world.
I shoot kids and family and most of the time it is indoor.
I am looking for camcorder under $500, and should be good in low light, please suggest me one.

[Black Lab]

In that price range you will most likely be looking at an AVCHD cam. AVCHD is the most demanding type of format to edit. It would be helpful if you would fill in your profile info to include your pc specs, as we could then recommend if your computer is up to editing AVCHD.

[sharanmini]

Thanks for your reply.

I have laptop with Intel dualcore, 4 GB RAM running on Windows 7 64 bit Home Edition.
External Full HD Monitor.

[Ken Berry]

If it is indeed a dual core CPU, as opposed to a decent Core 2 Duo, then it will not be sufficient to edit, let alone play, AVCHD video smoothly. You could use SmartProxy for the edits, but you require at least a Core 2 Duo to play it smoothly...

[sharanmini]

Eventually I will be on quad core running on Win 7 with HD support.

Please suggest me a good HD camcorder.