Help with Camcorder purchase

It was upgrade to 20gb hard drive(lol) and some other modification. My 14yr old daughter just got a new laptop so it looks like she will be doing the file transfers on it. It's her games i'm recording anyway. So lets take my computer out of the equation. I will look at the Canon ZR800 or 850, Panasonic PV-GS320 or the Sony DCR-HC96. Thanks for the input. Anything else i should consider?

I always suggest a good sturdy case, a decent tripod and at least one optional high capacity battery (consider two) to last you through the game - the battery that comes in the box will last about 20 minutes. Unless you have access to power... Games take much longer than that.

Panasonic has a 10xOpZoom vs Canon 35XOpZoom. I don't know if that a issue or not? Also the Pan has 1/6"3CCD vs Canon 1/6 CCD" not for sure how much difference this makes? The Panasonic is about $150 bux more. Any comments on the about points would be appreciated.

but, assuming the court lights are on during the game, the chips won't matter that much - my opinion.

We need to know what kind of new computer (laptop) will be used for the editing. Same issues: Available hard drive space, available FireWire port, is there a DVD burner?

Some other tips... carry 4 tapes (minimum) for each game - yes, the tape hold an hour, but you most likely won't use the whole tape as you *could* miss game action. As you get to around 5-8 minutes of game time, when a timeout hits, pullout the old tape, drop in a new one and you are ready to roll. Lock the full tape and mark with a Sharpie 1, 2, 3, 4; put the tape in its case and into the camcorder case...

Get some pre-game and post game shots (good for running credits like team being played, team members, coach, date, league standing at that game, overall win-loss record so far, etc.).

When you zoom in or out, go S L O W L Y. When you pan left/right or up/down, go S L O W L Y. Watch TV (football, basketball, etc.) and pay attention to the camera motion and zooms... They cut to the other cameras - which you cannot do, hence the S L O W zooms. Their pans are either following the ball or a single player or slow pans... which you can do. It takes practice and discipline to do that for a WHOLE game. During timeouts, get the crowd, scoreboard and team meeting...

Use your tripod as much as you can. The cam corder may be small and light, but it is not possible to hold it steady (and no amount of camera stabilization can fix it) for THAT long.