Some of the benefits of a memory stick based camcorder is that if you need more record time either get more memory sticks or bigger sticks. If there is repairers needed to do on the camcorder the memory and footage stay with you. The memory based camcorders are smaller and lighter than the DvD and Hard Drive based systems.
If you already have a DvD recorder deck, one that you would use to record TV shows, you can also use it to record footage from the camcorder. Just connect to the A/V (Audio Video) inputs of the deck with the cables that come with the camcorder. This will work with both SD and HD, however the HD will be recorded in Standard Definition. If the DvD player is a Blu-ray, you can copy the AVCHD video file from the camcorder to your computer and burn it directly to a disk (if the computer has a DvD Burner) and play the disk on a Blu-ray player in HD.

Panasonic used to have a HD Camcorder that included a USB DvD Burner but I believe that has been discontinued. You can add a external DvD Burner to your laptop with a Sony DVDIRECT EXPRESS found here :
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...
There are several models available to choose from.

This A/V cable is different than other Sony A/V cables in that it includes a S-Video connection and uses a different connection to the camcorder body. You can check with the Geek Squad and see if one can be ordered into your nearest BestBuy.

It's not so much how far you can zoom out as in the ability to have a Wide Angle. This will show the rooms better than just zooming out. Look for cameras that list Wide Angle Lens. Panasonic and Olympus have several models with this feature.