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Panasonic SVAV30 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera w/ 64 MB SD Card & Docking Station

Panasonic SVAV30 MPEG4 eWear Digital Camcorder/Still Camera w/ 64 MB SD Card & Docking Station

List Price: $399.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: pretty cool
Review: Sure - its not 3 megapixels and not regular handycam...but, it is exactly what it is advertised to be. Very cool. I'm glad I bought it. A 512 flash card will record an hour of video at the highest quality, which is plenty considering you can always carry more than one with you.

I bought a flash card reader to go with it which makes it easy to connect to your recorded stuff as if it were a drive on your PC. The process for importing MP3's is a bit odd, but works fine. Make sure you read the manual. Battery life is good.

Like many others have said, if you want to take pictures to print and hang on the wall - look elsewhere. If you want to have something that you can slip in your shirt pocket so that you dont miss moments that you otherwise might, this little doodad is perfect.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: pretty cool
Review: Sure - its not 3 megapixels and not regular handycam...but, it is exactly what it is advertised to be. Very cool. I'm glad I bought it. A 512 flash card will record an hour of video at the highest quality, which is plenty considering you can always carry more than one with you.

I bought a flash card reader to go with it which makes it easy to connect to your recorded stuff as if it were a drive on your PC. The process for importing MP3's is a bit odd, but works fine. Make sure you read the manual. Battery life is good.

Like many others have said, if you want to take pictures to print and hang on the wall - look elsewhere. If you want to have something that you can slip in your shirt pocket so that you dont miss moments that you otherwise might, this little doodad is perfect.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great all-in-one (almost) audio/video device
Review: This has been a perfect buy for my wife and I. She wanted an easy-to-use, easy-to-carry digital camera. Well, I found exactly what she wanted, plus a digital camcorder (it records/plays MPEG4 clips), an audio recorder, and a MP3 player --all for the price of an entry-level digital camera!!

The video editing software that comes with this baby is not ideal, but it handles the basic tasks of viewing and deleting files. I also wish I could use the device as a webcam. But other than that, I've had so much fun with it, including recording instructions for my wife on how to use it!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great little gizmo
Review: This is a great little stealth camera for snapping shots for blogging or other purposes, and the mpeg video capture is pretty simple to operate. I don't like that the audio player function seems to not work with anything other than their proprietary format, so putting audio onto these for listening isn't as simple as it is with the legacy audio players.

The software works well, was easy to configure, and the overall product is a five star.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great little gizmo
Review: This is a great little stealth camera for snapping shots for blogging or other purposes, and the mpeg video capture is pretty simple to operate. I don't like that the audio player function seems to not work with anything other than their proprietary format, so putting audio onto these for listening isn't as simple as it is with the legacy audio players.

The software works well, was easy to configure, and the overall product is a five star.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome digital camera
Review: This is my first digital camera and I absolutely adore it. The best feature is the swiveling display which allows you to take pictures of anything and always see the display, no more guessing games. It's really easy to download the pictures to a computer and it is just a good investment. I recommend this camera to anyone who's thinking of switching to digital. It also has a built in camcorder, voice recorder, and able to store music files. And it fits in your palm! An awesome buy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: VERY GOOD
Review: this is the coolest thing you get four great things in one, although i cant print out the pictures because my mom lost the product key

a retard could figure this out it's so easy,but if you are going to buy this buy an extra card for recording because they dont hold very much. well, you should still buy this because instead of buying those expensive video camera, or mp3 players, or digital cameras it's all in one and VERY COOL

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: VERY GOOD
Review: this is the coolest thing you get four great things in one, although i cant print out the pictures because my mom lost the product key

a retard could figure this out it's so easy,but if you are going to buy this buy an extra card for recording because they dont hold very much. well, you should still buy this because instead of buying those expensive video camera, or mp3 players, or digital cameras it's all in one and VERY COOL

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good enough bang for the buck [UPDATED]
Review: UPDATE: The unit is absolutely flawed in that it cannot play mp3's in native format directly from the SD card. You MUST use the enclosed software to transfer a music file to the unit, and in doing so it "locks" the mp3 file on your system. This is NOT acceptable in a unit that is advertised as an mp3 player. Calling customer service, they WILL NOT release firmware to allow direct MP3 play. Downgraded to 3 stars, because the video, still, and voice recorders are still very nice.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I pulled my SV-AV30 out of the box and mistook it for a battery. This thing is small- shorter and less hefty than my flip cell phone. It works like a charm, with all the functions advertised surrounded by a relatively intuitive GUI. My verdict is based on quite a few positives and several negatives:

Positives:
-The unit is very small, but with controls easy enough to use.
-Performs its functions smoothly, with transition between them very easy.
-LCD screen is very adequate considering the size of the unit.
-Microphone picks up sound from a subject ~3-4 ft away with no problem.
-Recording from, and playing back to a TV is relatively easy.
-Digital picture quality with flash is very nice.
-Video framerate is on the low end, but is more than adequate for intended purposes.
-Files are stored on the memory card in such a way that it is easy to pull them from the disk using a separate SD Card reader. File datestamps are accurate, which is very handy if you have a large number of files.

Negatives:
-The highest video quality is still too low to be viewed clearly on a larger TV. Video appears as blurry, although distinguishable, on my 27" TV.
-The unit won't register on your computer unless you have both the USB cable AND power cable plugged in. Because of this, I recommend buying an inexpensive USB-based SD Card reader (I suggest the Cruzer from SanDisk)
-No way to tell how full the memory card is until the camera gives a "Memory Full" message.
-Default position for holding the camera (the position at which the files will show the images as being upright and not upside down or rotated 90 degrees) is in a horizontal position, which is not nearly as comfortable as holding it vertically. It's easy enough to flip the images later, although it is somewhat inconvenient.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not bad at all! Recommended.
Review: When reading these reviews prior to purchase, I got nervous that I would recieve a piece of garbage that didn't live up to the curiousity surrounding it.

I was wrong!

This is a great gadget for on the go, making home movies, anything. When taking a picture, if you are too close with the flash on, all you will see is a flash of white light. Just don't take it less than 1-2 feet away from the object.

I was very impressed with the video aspect. The sound was very impressive and I was able to watch the videos immediately after taking them, and the picture quality is impressive considering how small this is.

Overall, I'm really glad I bought this. The voice recorder is reliable, I haven't checked the Audio player, but I mostly bought it for three out of four purposes. It is absolutely worth it, especially to slip in your pocket and make videos/take pictures on the go.

TIP: The SV-AV30 comes with a 64MB Memory Card. If you are planning to use this full-time, or are taking this on a trip, buy an additional card. 64MB is really not a lot of room, especially if you will be using all of the options offered (Voice/Audio/Camera/Video). The memory cards are somewhat expensive, but if you invest in a high MB card, it will last you for a while.


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