Some stupid *features*
Mar 19 '00
There are plenty of reviews for this item. As far as using this device as a camcorder, the other reviews are sufficient. However there are some features that need to be mentioned, else you will be left hanging when you try to use the camcorder for unusual purposes.
The primary feature that is a problem is that the camcorder shuts off after 15 minutes if you are not recording. Although this feature has the benefit of helping to prevent you from wasting your battery should you forget to turn it off, it lacks an override to make it stay on. The lack of an override has meant that I had to purchase another digital video input device such as a QuickCam. I wanted to use the device to connect to my computer, and then use it to feed my computer video that was being taken live. Of course there is no reason to actually record onto a tape since the video is being recorded on the computer. But, after 15 minutes, the camcorder shuts off. Every 15 minutes, I have to turn if to the off position and then back to the on position to continue to use it. Of course, a work-around is to just record onto a tape and after the 60 minutes is up, rewind the tape and rerecord onto the tape. The work-around means wasting a perfectly good tape (which incidentally costs about $20).
I also had to return the camcorder 3 times (yes, 3 times!~#$%). Each new camcorder was defective in one way or another. Since I got the camcorder from a single location, it is possible they were all from a single batch from the manufacturer... but that didn't make me feel confident in the quality.
Next, after about 6 months of very occasional use (maybe 8-10 hours of recordings!) the zoom function occasionally zooms in without any reason or instigation from me! When this problem is happening the zoom must be watched like a hawk, as it will rezoom in over and over again. The zoom switch doesn't appear to be damaged or worn, and when I took it back to the place I bought it (Circuit City - that's for another review :-) the problem wouldn't occur - alas, I'm stuck with this one.
The on and off switch is very difficult to use. It is a round disc that you have to rotate among four positions that allow you to turn it on for play, turn it off, turn it on for record (normal), or turn it on for record (with special features). The disc requires significant pressure to turn, which can easily result in overturning the disc and leaving the camcorder in a mode you did not intend. This happens just about every time it is used because the modes are ordered - Play, Off, Record (normal), Record (Special).
The switch to turn the light on and off is difficult to find when it is dark, which is when you would need it! It also suffers from overclicking because it is a sliding switch that is quite small and has three positions in the order - Off, Auto, and On. Try going from On or Off to Auto without clicking right past it and having to say to yourself, "Oh, this is that switch that requires me to be gentle with it" and you click a few times until you get it right (which is also difficult to tell since the settings are only about 2 mm apart from each other).
If you are recording and pause the camcorder via the remote control, and your 15 minutes elapses and the camcorder shuts off, there is no way to turn it back on via the remote control. You have to go to the camcorder and use the nasty disc to switch it off, then back on, then press play, then pause, and then return to the scene you were recording, and then use the remote control to start recording again. Ugly!
The quality of the image and sound is great. Had these few issues with usability been addressed this would have been a GREAT camcorder. With these issues I find it so annoying to use I don't much use it at all.
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Epinions.com ID:
pableau
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Member: Paul Ruseau
Location: Medford, MA, USA
Reviews written: 3
Trusted by: 0 members
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