Samsung or Sony? Help me!

[justinthefilmmaker]

Greetings!

*I'm new at this site!

My birthday is coming up and I need a digital camera that shoots stunning HD video and great stills for under 200 bucks. My two options are:

Samsung WB500/HZ10W- Great video quality and stills. But the brand name is,,, ehhhhhh.
Sony Cybershot W350- Good stills and video (some processing that makes the video reddish for outdoors that I didn't like). I really like the panoramic feature though! =)

Help me guys! If you have any other suggestions under 200 bucks please tell me. Or if you own one of the cameras above, tell me your experience with it and your thoughts!

Thanks guys!!!

[digicams]

I don't think the brand name is a big deal now. If you think that WB500 has better quality than Sony, then go ahead.
For your reference, Samsung's current cameras have good reputations. For example, Samsung EX1 camera has received an excellent score from CNET Asia reviews as shown in EX1(TL500) Beat the Other Competitors with an Excellent Score! | SamsungImaging

Two years ago, I purchased a Sony camera (worth about US$450) but the camera has some problems now. This means that the brand is not so important for me.

[alexblack]

There are lots of cameras for less than $200 that shoot 720p HD video. Panasonic has a stellar line up of cameras, with good zoom, good wideangle, and good video/image quality. I'd recommend the Panasonic DMC-ZR1 for $220.

Snapsort has a list of all the 720p cameras for less than $200, the Sony DSC-W350 gets ranked #1 there.