Oh, I am not made of money either...and I don't have a GoPro or alternative myself. The camcorder I have is a POS Sony that uses the mini DVD's...soon to be ex-wife and I bought it 5 or 6 years ago. Was probably the same or more than the GoPro.
However, there is quite a bit more you can do with a GoPro than you can with your camcorder when it comes to recording action/automotive/other stuff. You can't attach your camcorder to the outside of the car and expect any kind of sound other than wind noise...same with attaching it to a helmet for some kind of sport. It's not going to hold up to falling off of anything either. LOL
I have numerous friends who are made of money and have all these kinds of gadgets. Specifically one friend who buys everything under the sun and later sells it because he's bored with it...but when you make the money he does it's no wonder. He went from Grand Prix GTP's to an 04 GTO AT with a Speed3 DD...then got "bored" with them and sold the GTO for a while...picked up an 06 fully built MT later...got rid of that and the Speed 3 for a Mountaineer and a boat. Then got sick of the boat so he got rid of it, then because he didn't have the boat he got rid of the Mountaineer....currently has a Speed6 daily and a C5 Z06 pushing 410whp. He's considering selling the Z in the spring...I think he wants a Viper now.
Me...I make a quarter of what he makes a year probably. I just wait for deals from him on cheap **** that he doesn't want anymore and get some nice secondhand things once in a great while.