Sony Handycam DCR-PC120BT Mini DV Digital Camcorder

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locurasa
Epinions.com ID: locurasa
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Good choice great value top of the line

Written: Jun 23 '03
  • User Rating: Excellent
  • Ease of Use:
  • Durability:
  • Battery Life:
  • Movie Quality:
Pros:Size, durability, features and use
Cons:Bluetooth useless accessories.
The Bottom Line: This camcorder is great. If you have the money, buy it. It works for beginners and advanced users.

A couple of months ago, I decided to buy a camcorder and did a lot of research. Finally, decided to get the PC120BT. The camcorder looks and is compact, has a lot of features and options, but surprisingly you can leave everything on “auto” and everything will work with the touch of a couple of buttons. (Off-on, rec-hold).
I tried to do more sophisticated work connecting it to my pc and ibook. I just had to buy the firewire cables (4 pin to 6 pins for the ibook and 4 pins to 4 pins for my tecra 9100). I have already taken it to some trips with my family and it is easy to carry and hold. It is the first time I own a camcorder, I have had a lot of digital cameras and other gadgets, but this is one of my favorites. A couple of years I went to Disney with another camcorder (video 8) and let me tell you after a couple of hours holding the camcorder you will not feel you hand, well with the PC120BT you will not suffer this.
Again everything works great, I am just a home user... maybe for the advanced, pro, or semi-pro users this does not have the quality video that they may expect, well I guess in that instance buy a pro, or semi-pro equipment.
Playing with the computer and the camcorder is great, remember to buy the cables. The USB cable is semi-useless, only transfer pictures and video from the 8 MB (expandable to 128 MB) to the computer. The other important cables you have to buy it.
Battery gives you what is says 90 to 120 minutes. You may need a couple of accessories like an extra charger and battery. The remote control is nice because you can tape yourself, with a tripod works 100%.

The Bluetooth accessory is as useless as an ashtray in a motorcycle. I think Sony should have put the cables (firewire) and a 128 MB memory stick instead of the model and connector. Really it is slow, super slow ! and does not make sense... You are going to transfer something at “dial up” speed while you have a computer with broadband connection. You will say, that there are many people without a computer, and I will tell you the probability of using the bluetooth scheme without owning a computer is super low. Besides I tried to connect the bluetoth connector with ADSL and it does not work. Anyway, I think that is the only “con” I found for the camcorder. Everything else works 100% ok.


Recommended: Yes


Amount Paid (US$): 1200

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