Must Buy!!! No Questions.
Written: Apr 20 '01
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Pros: Compact, Light, Nice Casing, Well-built
Cons: Short Battery Life, Long Distance Zoom is average, Costs as much as your right arm.
The Bottom Line: If you have the money then buy it. If you don't save up and learn how to cook, b/c eating in is the best way to save money.
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| thomasglee's Full Review: JVC GR-DVM50 Camcorder |
Why I bought it?
Plain and simple, I needed one. I never owned one previously. I was going on vacation and I wanted to memorialize the trip by video taping it. I wanted to buy something affordable, yet, state-of-the-art. Basically I looked at everything, from HI-8 to DV, etc. But it came down to convenience and size, versus battery-life and price.
What is so great about it?
It is small enough to fit in your back pocket. And light enough to hold so your arm doesn't die. It lasts long enough for a short excursion to here and there. (So don't think you can tape wedding on one battery alone). Although, I have not explored all its features, it is fairly intuitive and easy to use.
What I can't stand
1) I can't stand the 1 hour battery life. And in about year, the life of the battery will decrease noticeably.
2) I can't stand that the difficulty in connecting it to my PC. I just bought a new computer (avg at best) so that I could download photos and parts of video footage to my PC...but alas (sigh) I ran into a dead end.
3) Tech support as all companies, is an agonizing ordeal of pushing 15 different numbers before finally getting to someone that can help. Expect about a 30 minute effort to get help (includes dialing, waiting, transfering, holding, repeating the prompts, etc.)
4) The cost of the tapes.
What my advice is to you?
Unless you are some kind of aspiring movie buff, then this DV is tops in my book. No matter what you are trying to use this for. Size and ease of use are most important. If you needed an extra battery or longer life battery, then you should look at others. BUT!!!!! You probably don't. You can always purchase a large fat battery for this camcorder for about $100 USD and "Freak Out" when you see the size of it. But I would say for your average day trip out doing this or that or your average tour of this or that...45 minutes is plenty for you to capture the "highlights" of the day. If you need more, then ask yourself whether you really want to live every single second of the event. There are some things you just have to learn to live without.
Save up! And you can own it. I did and I am still happy I bought this. I have owned this for over a year now. So don't wait. Go out and buy it.
Where to shop?
www.VANNS.com - I live it VA and they are in MO(?). But I saved $300+ USD on it, compared to Best Buy, etc. So shop around and be weary of the "non-rated" e-tailers. I got mine for $900.
Good luck.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 900.00
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Epinions.com ID:
thomasglee
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Location: McLean, VA
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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