Aiptek DV4500 Pocket Digital Video Camcorder (MPEG4)

Rating:
Summary: great value for the money
Review: I've had my DV4500 for 2 months now, and I continue to enjoy using it. It's big pluses are it's portability and ease of use. The controls are well designed, and it's a quite versatile little gizmo. I bought it because I wanted an inexpensive still and video camera, but I find I am using it just as much as an mp3 player and voice recorder. The pictures it takes are very good, and there is a built in flash for indoor and low light shooting. The biggest downside (for me) is that it is not compatible with mac computers, only pcs. Also, the video quality drops under low light conditions. I hope Aiptek corrects these deficiencies in future models. It uses standard AA batteries, but consumes them very quickly, so get some rechargeables. But for less than $150, you can have a wonderful camera that you can always have on you, and capture spontaneous moments as you please.

Rating:
Summary: Where's my 4 megapixel camera?
Review: I ordered this camera from this site and it does everything I expected it to do except I found out that this camera is only a 3.1 megapixel camera even though it says 4 on the box and instructions. In the digital camera mode you only have the options of 1, 2, and 3.1 megapixels. I'm still pretty mad at how Aiptek lied, but I'm getting over it. So if anyone can get their DV4500 to take a picture in 2300x1800(4mp)instead of 2000x1500(3.1mp)please say it in your review. Besides that problem this is a great camera and will be alot of fun, but get some rechargeable batteries first.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing Great
Review: This is just a toy. None of the features really excell in any way but they do the basics. The camera's ok, but the flash runs the batteries down pretty quickly. The video camera was ok too. The mp3 player alphabetizes the songs if youl load them in a group and there's no way to sort through them without going through the whole list to find the one you want. The body feels a little cheap and the flap covering the head phone jack is a bit cumbersome. On the up side the menus are pretty intuitive and it's easy to use and the software's OK. I returned mine after about three days and I got the SV-AV25 by Panasonic. I recomend the SV-AV25, and you can get a good deal on one if you check e-bay.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Leave Home Without it!
Review: The DV4500 is hands down the best money I have ever spent! It has been trouble free and easy to use. Recording video and taking pictures is a one touch operation, and I love being able to take my MP3's with me without a separate player. Using it on Windows XP is also as simple. I can even transfer the pics and video to my Mac. I read the review from the Guest in Norfolk. I beg to differ. Aiptek does not need to USB 1.1 Drivers on XP! Windows provides the drivers. You only need drivers for the webcam mode to work. Check out http://www.aiptek.com/support/dv4-faq.htm for some help if you need it. Thanks for another sensational gadget Aiptek!!

Rating:
Summary: alright on sale i guess
Review: I havent used this camera outside that much... but indoors the video is very dark. This camera can take alright shots if there is sufficient light (or you can use the flash). THe flash works pretty well indoors, except there isnt any way to really adjust it to my knowledge (auto/on/off). I tried to take some really close-up shoots of random small things..but the flash just made the object come out comepletely white. The video isnt that great, but i guess you could say on par with the video modes built into may other digital cameras. However for the list price, i would take a look at some other cameras and maybe try to find one on-sale that is of better quality (without being much more). My lil bro got a nice canon PowerShot A75 onsale and the quality of his pictures are atleast alot better (not sure about the video). So what im trying to say is that if u really dont need all the other features (mp3 player, etc.) than i would check out others. However for such a small camera it does an alright job and for the sale price i think i got a deal. If you think you will use alot of its features (webcame, mp3 player, voice recorder, etc.) then its probably not that bad of a deal. But if your looking at taking high-quality video clips, you might want to reconsider. I still have to play around a lil more with the video mode outside and see what results i get. All in all it seems like a relatively good deal. The Aiptek DV5300 is out now and is the same price i believe.. so u might want to check that out instead.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome for the price
Review: If you are familiar with the video quality of most digital still cameras, you will no doubt like this camera. The quality is slightly better than that of those videos. I enjoy the fact that it is small and easy to use. It is perfect for normal outings that you would like to have video of. In fact, it is smaller than my digital still camera. I carry it everywhere I think there is going to be something I want to capture. I also enjoy that is uses battery power sparingly and allows them to hold a charge. It also does not use battery power when transfering files onto a computer. In short, if you are looking to capture videos with out spending a lot, the DV 4500 is perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I was very excited to get this camera the other day. I had to buy a new one because a mustek one I bought offline was pretty crappy. Though this camera is a great camera every picture is focused unlike the other one I had and it takes extraordinary photos. Though I was contemplating to keep my other one because this one has such a small LCD and doesn't swivel like the other one. It does have better filters than the other one though they are just black and white and sepia they are still better than all the other ones. One big problem I've found with mine is that to open the connectivity area it's like you have to break off the plastic you don't but it feels like it maybe in a newer model they will have fixed that.

Rating:
Summary: this is da bomb diggity
Review: I believe this camara is a very decent camara for the first time camara holder. It has many good features like a still shot and recorder. You can even use the voice recorder to speak your mind. Also, the mp3 player can play clear, crisp sound. However, the mp3 player does not play WMA. Also, depending on your scenary, pictures come out dark in some instances. Although, I still strongly suggest that you purchace this device.

Rating:
Summary: Great little gadget
Review: If you're a gadget person, you'll love this. If you're looking to film the next "Titanic", don't buy it. It's great fun, easy to use but it is not an $800 camcorder. I suggest rechargeable batteries though, it goes through the regular pretty quick -- especially if you play with it as much as I do. The video can be dark indoors so turn on the lights!!

Rating:
Summary: Not Mac compatible
Review: A pretty competent little camera, especially for the price. Decent (not great) pictures and video, but beware! This camera advertises itself as recording "MPEG-4" video. The files are NOT standard MPEG-4 files. They are Windows Media Player (.ASF) files that cannot be opened by any QuickTime compatible applications. VLC is the only Macintosh application that can play back the video files. Even Windows Media Player cannot play back the files until you install the proprietary codecs on your Windows computer.

If you're looking for compatibility and industry-standard video, stay away from this camera.