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Product Reviews:
Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) OLD MODEL |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: great video quality, easy to use and carry
Comments: After trying out several other inexpensive camcorders, this is the1I have kept. Here's why.
- Excellent video quality. This was my almost all important criterion. Should you expect great video quality from a cheap product ? Well, this device produces quality great enough for me, better than I expected, in fact. (I deal with video encoding/decoding at work, so I have some experience in evaluating video quality). The picture is sharp and crisp in great lighting, however more importantly, noise levels are low even at low light levels. Indoors under normal room lighting the pictures are low noise. Playing back the videos on a 42-inch TV and viewing from normal distances it is hard to see the noise unless you are looking for it. I recorded a few test clips inside my car at night with the reading light turned on, and even these are watchable. Panning and zooming are also handled well.
- convenient to carry. Smaller and thinner than the Flip products. Comes with a soft cover included, which is a nice touch. Seems fairly robust, my kids have not broken it yet.
- Battery life is great. The manual claims2hours, and so far I have seen no reason to doubt that claim. USB charging is convenient.
- I thought the limit of 2 hours of recording time might be a bit restrictive, however in practice we are not even getting close to that amount before downloading to the PC. Of course if you are traveling and do not have access to a PC then this could be a problem.
- Controls are simple to use. My4year old son is getting close to being able to operate it on his own.
- The included software is basic however seems to work well so far. I have not attempted to do much with it yet though.
Highly endorseed.
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Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Summary: An HD Camera that Fits Your Pocket
Comments: Great ultra portable video camera. If you want to see the actual performance of the Vado, just go to Youtube and you will see tons of clips.
FEATURES:
- 720 HD
- Easy one-howeverton operation to shoot and pause
- Easy transfer to PC viabuilt in USB connector
- USB charging
- RCA (AV cable not included) connection for older TVs
- Instant preview on a 2-inch LCD screen
- A tripod mount on the base
- 2x digital zoom (not excited about that, however at least it has a zoom)
- Removable battery (this is a biggie for me. How many time have I been to an important occasion and found myself with a depleted battery). Now I can get a spare. The Vado HD uses a 3.7V, 1050mAh Li-Ion Creative Labs Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery for Vado HD Camcorder.
I am happy that Creative is not skimping on this product. Along with the camera, it also Comes with an HDMI cable, an additional USB extension (the Vado already has a USB connector at the base of the camera), and comes with its own protective silicone shell. Another cool thing is that after using the the USB connector, it snaps back in its place magnetically.
You can charge the battery in2speeds. quick charging in 4.5 hours and normal charging in 7 hours. The common law about charging battery is to avoid express charging as it produces more heat which results in shorter battery life. Charge normally unless you are in a hurry. Also, you can only watch and transfer videos while normal charging. The battery is easy to install just like a nomal cell phone.
HOW MUCH VIDEO CAN YOU STORE IN THIS?
-You have an option to select 3 video resolutions:
2 hrs - for enhanced HD resolution (this is the default)
4 hrs - for nomal HD resolution
8 hrs - for VGA resolution (640 x 480)
VADAbuilt in EDITOR:
- The Vado comes with its own movie editor installer in the camera hard drive. You are supposed to be able to upload to 3 sites; YouTube, Photobucket and [...]. The problem is, what you can do is limited unless you purchase the 20$ software upgrade from their site. With the included limited editor, you can only edit 3 clips and can insert only 1 music. In short, useless. Now I tried the free Picassa's own movie editor and was able to make a file in HD and upload to Youtube.
MAC & IMOVIE?
- Vado was automatically recognized by my Macbook (1st generation white plastic with 2G memory, running on Snow Leopard). iMovie 6 was able to do edit with transitions however I still cannot find a way to export a 720P HD output. I tried DV, Mov, etc and still producing less res.
Made in China.
CONS:
- Microphone is a little weak
- Artifacts are magnified: 1) under low light and 2) Scenes with sharp contrast.
TIPS FOR SHOOTING WITH VADO:
1) As with other portable HD cameras,1of the main weaknesses of this type of camera is panning (shooting from left to right or side to side). Avoid panning as possible. Just do it occasionally, just to spice up the video.
2) Steady your hands as best as you can.
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Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: A GREAT Camcorder at a PERFECT price!!
Comments: I am no techie, I have a more than basic understanding and a far greater ability than my husband however I do not have the time or patience to really get into technology. I just want it to work, work properly, and be1touch easy!!
My husband is a drummer who wanted to record his sessions, my kids wanted to post their stupidity on YouTube, I just wanted to share their moments with family and friends across the country. WE LOVE THIS CAMCORDER!!!!!! They aren't lying,1touch use, great picture quality, decent sound quality, and super portability. It fits right in our pocket so no bulky equipment or bag to carry around. It downloads immediately to the computer so no worrying about having memory sticks, discs, or tapes to purchase or worse yet having that moment where you accidentally recorded over something important or have to choose between recording the moment or saving what was already on the tape.
I worried the sound would be less than acceptable however it doesn't sound any different that the old VHS camcorders and I do not have to strain to hear it. The picture quality is great!! I do not have HD on my TV or computer so we record in VGA however it takes better quality video than my digital camera and VGA allows 8 hrs of recording so we're great no matter the event!! I can only imagine how great the HD would look if the VGA is so great. You do have to have a steady hand and be focused if handing it off while recording because there really isn't any picture stabilization, however we're careful about it when holding it so it's been great and only shaky when we forget or hand it over to someone else while still recording. It fits on the dollar store tripod so we use that when recording drumming sessions.
My husband can barely work the DVD however he purchased this up right out of the box and had it working in minutes. I will say the instructions are pointless as it doesn't come with any. We updated the software and started recording. It downloaded immediately however the picture did not match the sound timing so it took me a few minutes to look up the problem. Easy fix, we had it set to record in HD however since my computer doesn't have HD the feed was slow. We switched to VGA and they matched up automatically....
Ething downloads to my computer or directly to3video sites (YouTube being1of them). I had no problems uploading the video to emails and FaceBook. I really like that we can "capture" still photos from the video as we play it or edit them from within the software. I also like that the usb cord is attached so we do not have to look for one. We rarely use it away from a computer so we haven't had any issues charging the battery however just in case I purchased a usb to dc converter so we could charge it on the go.
We paid with shipping and taxes less than $110 so the price was great, I spent half as much as friends and they all want to know where I purchased it because the ease of use/portability and the quality of picture and sound is just better than what they purchased. I highly endorse it and would happily purchase1for each of the kids!! I did a lot of research and my only advise is that do not be fooled by the 2nd generation version. It's $20 more and the only added feature is the black is shiny instead of matte and comes with "mauve" howevertons... |
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Summary: Great portable camcorder
Comments: This is a camcorder I actually use. I have another camcorder that has a flip screen however it is a pain lugging it around. however no problems carrying the Vado around. It appears and weighs as much as a cell phone and is easy to use. |
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Summary: great for the price
Comments: I checked many reviews before I got it (6 months ago, paid $125), so it is more or less what I expected. I use it for fun, so it is ok for me. Flip and Kodad HD camcorders were more expensive ($50 or so more). I prefer to use VGA mode because files are smaller so it is easy to upload videos to youtube, however HD is pretty great.
pro:
- easy to use
- video quality options: VGA, HD and HD+
- able to connect to HDTV directly (cable included)
- easy transfer to computer
- light
cons:
- my real complain is the mic. You need to talk really close to the camera to get great sound. If recorded sound would important for your videos, you should look for another make. Also, you can not connect external mic.
- software included is useless.
My computer have vista ultimate 64. I could see the videos I recorded, however couldn't edit them using WMM until I found this tutorial [...]
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