My wife and I want a digital camcorder and video camera I say buy separate, she says get one that does both?

I've checked the prices, and you can get really good deals on digital cameras for about $100 and camcorders for $200-$300 - but digital camcorders that also take stills retail for about $500 - seems better to buy separate

Dual use devices are always compromises. They do each job half as*sed. ~
And if one goes down, they both are usually compromised.

Get a $250 - $300 digital camera (it will take pretty good video, all of them do now). AND save up more money and buy a $350+ Digital Video Camera. If you buy a digital camera less than $250 you will be disapointed in the long run. You won't like the quality of the pictures.

I would buy the one that gets them both. Can save some trouble about worrying about them both. Among other reasons.

Get both. A still digital camera will be better than a DV camera that takes stills.

There are some DV cameras here for under $300 bucks.

http://camcor.com/pc/944.html

As for whether to buy seperately or not, that really depends on how extensively you want to use them. Buying them seperately will mean that both will probably have extremely specialized and nuanced, but if you're not going to use them anyway, might as well save money and buy one that does both.

Good luck.