Aiptek PocketCam DV Digital Camera

Pros: Inexpensive, cute, good video, sound and picture quality. Lots of software.
Cons: Body seams not perfectly aligned, auto-off too fast, shutter button.

After having the misfortune of owning the Polaroid Funmax digital "camera" which goes by a few different brand names i have discovered, i was wary of buying another inexpensive digital camera.

Im glad i took another chance!

...

Pros: Ability to do video with sound. Comes with stand and decent instruction manual.
Cons: Poor quality video, even for a "cam". Very poor LCD. Overall cheap-ish build.

What You Get

At first glance in the box, you're quite impressed with the Pocket DV II by Aiptek. The cam itself has a nice silvery look to it, and you get all the goodies and more: Transfer cable for photo downloading to your...

Pros: Small, quick and handy. Excellent value for money.
Cons: No flash. No time exposure setting.

It's digital camera, a camcorder, a dictaphone, a webcam and it's pocket size. The pictures and videos are just the right size to email or upload to a website. Best pictures are in daylight as there is neither a flash nor any way to connect one. The...

Pros: Easy to use lots of pictures
Cons: CHEAPLY made and makes you feel like you have a cheap camera

This is a pretty good little camera...as long as you don't mind the drawbacks. It is easy to use although it auto turns off too quickly. The focus is adjustable from landscape to up close, but you have no way of knowing what the picture will look like once taken...and no lcd preview. Just be ready to take several pictures of whatever you want at each turn of the focus...that way you know you'll get at least one.
It does take good landscape shots, as we used it at the Grand canyon this year...and video is "okay." It isn't very durable, and you'll never use half of the damned software you get with it. Overall it's okay...does hold a slew of pictures!

well unlike many of the other people who wrote in, i was really pleased with my camera. I didn't have very high expectations, having only used super quality expensive cameras before. however, when i first downloaded the pictures, they were great! I wanted to use the camera to take pictures form my website and send to friends on e-mail, and it's perfect for this use. The videocamera is great too.. i expected much worse for the money. i recorded fireworks on new years eve, and the atmosphere was captured perfectly! i love it! The webcam is probably the best feature. it si a much clearer image than the stored videa footage. go and buy one!

I've purchased both the PenCam as well as the Pocket DV, both from the same company and found that the PenCam was by far the best purchase. I have yet to see one picture that I've taken from the Pocket DV and I plan to send it back.

This would be a great camera for your small children. Otherwise forget it. Although it is cheap, you get what you pay for. It is very easy to use and I had no problems with instalation or uploading pictures. I have two SLRs and this was my first digital. It prompted my desire for a decent digital which I am in the process of purchasing.

For ~$100, this is a decent value. The videos are okay and the still pictures are pretty good, acceptable for web postings and emails. The camera needs lots of light so indoor use can be a little tricky. The use of compact flash cards is very nice, though it wouldn't work with my 128mb Simple Tech card (various 64mb cards work fine, though). The menu and functions built into the camera are non-intuitive (at least there's a cheat sheet printed on the camera for each function). The software package gives you a lot more functionality. If you have a newer digital camera that has built-in video with sound, then you don't need this. If (like me) you camera lacks this function, it's probably worth the ~$100 to be able to shoot digital videos (.avi's). BTW, my home (crappy) computer can read the files via my printer's built-in card reader. I don't even connect the camera to my computer. That's the beauty of the compact flash cards.

The first day I received the camera the battery cover broke off. It also eats alot of batteries. The next day I saw another web camera made by the same company it looks easier to use. I live on a fixed income and really feel ripped off. I would not recommend.

this camera should be a good gift for an electrical computer engineering student with knowledge of digital systems and interfacing since it needs to be opened up and redesigned!!!!!! FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN INSTALLING AND RE-INSTALLING YOU MUST BE DOING ALL THAT WITH THE CAMERA COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED FROM THE COMPUTER. THE WAY I FINALLY DID IT WAS TO 1) CONNECT THE CAMERA SO MY WINDOWS XP SEES IT. 2) WAIT FOR A BOX TO INSTALL DRIVERS/SOFTWARE (10 SEC MAX). 3)DISCONNECT THE CAMERA COMPLETELY. 4) THEN CLICK YES TO INSTALL THE DRIVERS. but for those who dont have this camera yet as you can see big problems. THIS COMPANY SHOULD DIE!!!!!! and send me a new version of this weak excuse for digital equipment. ALSO DONT BUY THIS FOR YOUR KIDS EITHER AS THE PREVIOUS COMMENT SAYS

Very upset with this product. I spent several hours installing/removing the drivers onto a laptop purchased two weeks ago with no success. Finally, after multiple attempts was able to download pictures (Did nothing different from the rest of the attempts); only to have the connection problem show up again after a few days. I was somewhat relieved when I read in this forum that others were experiencing the same issue. To add insult to injury, upon return of this camera to the retailer, I was charged a 15% restocking fee (Even though I showed them a copy of these reviews) because as they put it "My experince and these reviews are not representative of the thousands of satisfied customers for this product" I will never purchase an Aiptek product again. Buyer Beware

can't get response from technical help. followed directions to the letter. installed/uninstalled 6 differenet times. website offers no support except by email. tried that and still can't get help. can't tell if the pictures will be alright because we can't get them uploaded. we will be returning this item.

The installation of the camera wasn't a problem, however the video sound quality had so much distorsion I can hardly make out what i recorded. It lacks a focusing ability as well as a flash therefore you would never get a good quality shot. It okay for the kids, but it not a subtitute for a real camcorder

About the only savig grace to this cam is the price. I didn't expect high picutre quality from this (I primarily wanted a webcam and something to take quick pics when I didn't want to carry my 'real' cam) but this quality was worse. Audio isn't even usable. Works as webcam but you can't access quality or framerate controls like other webcams. Only buy for less than $40 and beware you don't get one cent of value more than you paid for it.

When I first purchased the Pocket Dv, I had got what I had expected for the price paid. It's very easy to install and very easy to use, I didn't even read the instruction manual and was snapping pictures in less than ten minutes, however the picture quality is very primary, and the audio is so distorted and muffled, that you sometimes can't even make out voices. That's okay though, I just bought it to record my good friend breathing fire.