If you want to edit, stick with the industry standard mini dv krub. I don't know about the jerky motion or something you said though as I haven't used it before.
It's my understanding that mini dvd tends to have problem with editing software in term of both capturing and editing, ie for importing file to editing program - it's a hit or miss!!!
For Sony DCR-DVD403D - probably the best mini DVD camcorder at this moment.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1836429,00.aspAnd as we've mentioned in earlier articles, it's hit-or-miss if you want to reedit these videos in a popular video-editing program.
We were able to import the finalized video into the Sony Picture Package proprietary editing, but we couldn't import it into Adobe Premiere Elements, MyDVD Studio Deluxe, Pinnacle Studio 9.4, or Ulead VideoStudio 9.
For Panasonic SDR-S100 (US$1,200 or HK$9,990), not DVD camcorder but SD card camcorder, also the same problem with editing program.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1855115,00.aspBut editing your video after it's on your computer can be a bit trickier, akin to the hassles we have with DVD-R. In our testing, we weren't able to import video footage from our SD card into three of the most popular video-editing software packages—Sonic MyDVD Studio Deluxe, Adobe Premiere Elements, and Ulead VideoStudio 9. We only succeeded with Pinnacle Studio 9.4,and though the camcorder comes with its own software, it wasn't very intuitive or easy to use.
Whether you should choose MiniDV tape for its easy editing, DVD-R for its easy viewing, or SD for its easy video transferring will essentially come down to personal preference.
I'm very interested in Panny SD card as it has 3CCD and easy to transfer file via its SD card medium. The price is something one need to think a lot about it.
