digital camcorder

1. Posted: Jul 22 2008

   I got this camera about 4 mos. ago, and have waited until I fully used the camera a lot to write this review. So here we go: The Pros: 1. This is a cheap camera, and won't hurt your budget. 2. This is a great camcorder for vacations, where optimum picture quality isn't your number one concern. 3. This camcorder is small and very easy to operate. 4. The camcorder comes with a USB cable and it is easy to post videos and pictures onto your computer. 5. It's a camera and camcorder all in one. The CONS: 1. This camcorder ISN'T COMPATIBLE WITH WINDOWS VISTA. I found this out the hard way, when I couldn't even so much as play my videos on my computer, unless I uploaded them on Youtube, then watched them. I watched the videos on my brother's computer, which has XP, and it was fine. So watch out. 2. This camera comes with features that actually take away from the quality: For example, there is a built-in microphone that sounds like you're talking into a tin can. Also, the camera is only battery powered (2 AA batteries), with no AC adapter. If you even wanted an AC adapter, there is no jack on the camcorder to use one. 3. The product eats your batteries if you happen to film anything over an hour in length. Duracell usually lasts longer, but I'd recommend lithium batteries so they last. Cheap, dollar store batteries take about five minutes to die. Also, the flash on the camera will drain fully powered batteries. 4. Whenever you record a video and stop, that is the end of the video and you cannot continue the same recording on the same file. For example, if you were making a movie just for fun, and you stopped the recording to cut a scene, you'd have to start another video file to do that. It's irritating if you're trying to make a movie. 5. The picture quality suffers drastically unless the lighting is really bright. 6. The zoom is worthless, and when you zoom something, it is just blurry. Well, that's about it. If you want a camera to kind of fool around with, here you go. If you want a camera to do anything semi-serious with, you should just pay a hundred more and get a better one. If you want to see examples of the camera in use, check out my youtube page: www.youtube.com/user/fillingthevoidreview Good luck.

2. Posted: May 18 2008

   After maybe two or three videos with this product, it gave out on me. I pressed the button, it stuck and never worked again. No damage or misuse. I didn't expect much, but I was at least expecting it to last a little longer.

3. Posted: May 9 2008

   I bought this camera with the undrestanding that it was small and the price gave away the fact that you may not get much. But I never would have thought one could box such a peice of poo and let/allow others to purchas it. My story of "Joy, to This isnt even a good toy" I wanted something compact that my wife could purse away until our children did somethig cute or fun. We were able to use it twice with the children and then the dial on the sidr containing features fell off...and i mean not just the knob but even the switch attached to the curcuit board...so after two grainy videos that made my kids heads look like MAX HEADROOM it was finished...I should have and now can suggest to everyone that you should save a few more $99 and get something way better

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1. Posted: Jul 13 2008

   My husband and I recently purchased this camcorder and used it on a road trip. Having never purchased a camcorder before it's functions were very easy to figure out. We used it for inside a museum which it did very well with and for moving car shots. The sound quality is very good and best of all it is small enough that you don't need some giant gaudy camera bag for. Most of the time I kept it zipped in my coat pocket! The only thing that was cumbersome is when you open the screen to begin recording it takes about 20 seconds to be up and running so you need to plan your recording ahead of time.

2. Posted: Dec 28 2007

   I got this as a Christmas present from my parents. And it's perfect for what I use it for! I usually like to take short clips of my family, friends, or whatever and make them into slideshows that are viewable on Youtube. This camera is compact, the buttons and menu are easy to navigate. I'm not too fond of the way the microphone picks up the sound when you zoom, but I usually play over the sound with music. Not too big of a problem there. I edit my clips on a Mac, so I have to take one extra (but not too complicated) step to convert the ASF files to a Quicktime file. All in all, I'm very happy with this product and hope to have it for years to come!

3. Posted: Dec 10 2007

   All I wanted when I bought this camera was something easy to use every now and then, sadly this camera fails so bad that I'm looking for something new now. I go to conventions every now and then and like to snap shots while there, however this becomes an issue with this particular camera. It may be that I'm not doing something (even though I've fiddled with all the controls) anyway when trying to film in areas with lots of people the video comes out awful. The camera attempts to focus on everything or something and you end up with all these blurs of light moving around on screen. Then if you try to take stationary pictures your target must remain perfectly still or there will be a blurred effect to the picture. Another annoying thing about the pictures is how long it takes to take a single one. First you have to wait for the camera to focus, then you must hold down the button for a second or two, THEN after the camera makes the sound to let you know the picture is taken you must keep the camera aimed at your target or it will blur. If you are trying to take a picture of someone who is in a hurry good luck keeping them still that long. I didn't expect this camera to be top of the line and ignored the bad reviews because of it's cheap price, however I seriously wish I had spent the extra money for an overall better camera, the only plus for this thing is that it's durable and easy to carry.

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1. ( 0 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 8 2008

   Cumpli?? con creces mis espectativas, es completa, f??cil de usar y una excelente calidad de filmaci??n. Si me pongo exigente, un punto en contra es la ubicaci??n de las conexiones de los cables USB y para cargar la bater??a. Pero como dije, son peque??os detalles que no empa??an para nada las buenas cualidades de esta c??mara.

2. Posted: Jul 31 2008

   I bought this because my old Sony was acting funny, and I was disappointed that there was no way to have a timestamp on the video. So if I watched my video after 20 years, I would have no way of figuring out when I shot it unless I remembered myself. The unit seemed to go out of focus very often while zooming. The software with it was mediocre, the Everio specific one was atrocious. MiniDV videos can be run through a software to put timestamps on the file, but it seems to be impossible here. I sold it and went back to my old one. On the pro side, the unit feels compact, though it has a badly made feel to it. No Nightshot feature that I could see.

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