I have a couple Sony HC-90's. I like them, they're small, have a very nice image, and they aren't too bad in low light also. Battery life is pretty good too. Look at some of the reviews of cameras at www.camcorderinfo.com . As for software, Movie Maker is pretty unstable in my experience. If you don't want to break the bank, Corel's Ulead X2 isn't bad. Sony Movie Studio is another decent inexpensive program.