mini: I'm trying to decide which kind of camcorder to buy (within my price range) but I really don't know anything about camcorders. What is a hi8? Is that the little cassette that you slip inside a vhs tape thing to watch? Is a mini dv a little dvd and how do you get it converted to a dvd if so? Please help!!! Thanks in advance :)What is the difference between a hi8 and a mini dv and how do you view the tapes after recording?a mini dv is not a little dvd, lol, it's a small tape, smaller than any other cassette type tape, It records in the best quality, better than hi-8. Hi-8's can be put inside of adapters and played in vcr's, so thats probably what your thinking of, they are bigger. Hi-8 cams are probably cheaper, but mini dvs are better quality, if ur looking to load stuff onto your computer, i'd get a mini dv cam..What is the difference between a hi8 and a mini dv and how do you view the tapes after recording?Hi8 tapes are like vhs-C tapes (compact vhs) in size, it can either be used to record from a digital camcorder or an analog one. And miniDV tapes are the smallest ever cassettes, digital in format only but records really good footages. Depending on your needs, both does the job but miniDV camcorders are easier to connect to a PC/laptop to upload your videos, however, hi8 camcorders are cheaper (but not the digital hi8 one). I got a hi8 camcorder & a miniDV camcorder and both gives me what I want but uploading from a miniDV is better to do. Thumbs Up!What is the difference between a hi8 and a mini dv and how do you view the tapes after recording?Get a minidv much better quality then a Hi8 those camcorders are going to be off the market soon because they're useless most people use the minidv cams they're the best right now next to the HDV. But HDV's are expensive.