Reviewed by: iansriley on 30-Apr-07 Rating:

Strengths:Low Price, Good Video.

Weaknesses:Doesn\'t take digital still photos very well.

Summary:This a good camcorder for the price... it\'s my first one so I can\'t really compare it to anything else. But it does take nice video that looks good on playback. I like the ability to plug right into the video source and record what your\'e watching.

I wanted to get something that would server as a good camcorder as well as a digital camera... this one is close, but the still photos always seem to have a little bit of motion trails. I have to really try hard to hold the camera still when taking still photos.

Reviewed by: mamcglaughlin on 27-Dec-06 Rating:

Strengths:Good indoors and outdoors shooting. Easy for my daughter to learn and utilize on her PC.

Weaknesses:Plastic case. 20% off was better price at my local Target store than purchasing online.

Summary:My 13 year old daughter loves this video cam. She can create and edit her own movies. I selected it over dxg305 because it had comments of good indoor video recording capability. It is intuitive for her to use and download to PC. Downsides is that it has a plastic case and was on sale at my local Target store for 20% less than online. It has good camera images and a socket for a tripod on the bottom. The tripod helps steady close up shooting. It also has PC video cam capability which we haven\'t tried yet. Overall for a non-expensive kid\'s camera, I like it.

Reviewed by: kristine233 on 01-Dec-06 Rating:

Strengths:Easy to use, includes a lot for its size.

Weaknesses:Construction isn\'t as durable as I\'d like.

Summary:I bought this when it went on sale at Target for $99. Works great for everything listed. I bought a few smaller SD cards for MP3s and then a 1Gb card for photos and movies and it works well. I couldn\'t figure out how to get it to work like a webcam at first (instructions not included for that) but Yahoo recognized it with no problems.

My warning is to be careful with the screen! Mine stopped working after 3 days and I had to have it replaced. The replacement has been working fine.

Someone asked about tripod use with this camera, Works fine with any universal tripod.

Reviewed by: elicohen on 05-Oct-06 Rating:

Strengths:many features - camcorder, portable video player, MP3, ...affordable pricevery portableone small device does several task reasonably well

Weaknesses:lack of optical zoomlimited recording timelimited battery lifewhen battery goes, all unsaved video is lost

Summary:If you want more features for a camcorder, you can get them elsewhere for more money. I was searching for an inexpensive way to record lectures that I could easily put up on the web. This camcorder does the trick. I purchased it with a 2 Gb flash drive and an extra battery. One of the big problems is that when the battery goes out, all unsaved video is lost. This means that you need to save lectures in parts or risk losing everything when the batteries go. And while the battery is rechargeable, it takes many, many, many hours to recharge the battery for its 1-2 hour use. (Other models from Aiptek use standard AA batteries, my preferred rechargeable battery option.)

The device also does other things, such as play MP3s, take so-so snapshots, record your voice for notes and such, and lets you records from any video source for playback on its internal screen or, using its video output, on any TV, monitor, or projector.

The price/performance frontier changes all the time. This model is okay.

Reviewed by: nohobear on 28-Jun-06 Rating:

Strengths:intuitive controls, ergonomic design, multi functionality

Weaknesses:not mac friendly, no lens cap, plastic body case

Summary:This is my 3rd Aiptek camera and I couldn\'t be happier with it. Aiptek continues to improve and add more extras. The lcd screen is big and clear and conveniently swivels unlike earlier models. They\'ve improved the low light capabiity, and increased the zoom power. A really nice feature of this camera is the ability to record video directly from dvd, vcr, or tv. With an extra 2 gb sd card, you can take a favorite movie with you on a trip. The controls are very intuitive and the rechargeable lithium battery is a big improvement over earlier models that gobbled up AA\'s. Yes, there is some blur on fast moving objects under low light levels, but a high speed SD card can alleviate some of the problem. This camera packs a lot into a small package, and because it is so portable, I take it with me everywhere. Best of all, I got my Aiptek on sale at Targ@t for $88!!! How can you beat that?

Reviewed by: BILLYGOATS on 28-Jun-06 Rating:

Strengths:Compact and consolidates many features and affordable.

Weaknesses:Camcorder function is not for low light or night time use. No optcal zoom is also a minus.

Summary:This is a nice little device to carry around during the day. With this, you can leave @ home your MP3 player, expensive camcorder, digital camera and voice recorder. The instructions are very easy to follow and learn. Much simpler than my digital cameras that I have own.

I do recommend you buy some extra SD cards and a extra battery too. You can also sand down the threads of a water bottle cap to use as a lense cap.

This was all I needed when packing light for short trips.

If they can make one with a strong optical zoom and function in low light, I would have gladly paid double.

I have seen these go on sale for under $100 since my purchase. You\'ll have to own one at that price.

Reviewed by: marykerchner on 20-Jun-06 Rating:

Strengths:320x480 asf video format (for Windows), voice recorder, twisting screen

Weaknesses:no optical zoom, bad light contrast, only records nearby sounds

Summary: I have really enjoyed the camera. I like the way movies are compatible with Widows (asf format). The voice recorder is good for near sounds like voice, but if you record something far away like birds chirping it is hard to hear. I especially like the 320x480 recording because it is a lot larger that normal digital camera videos. I also like the way you can twist the screen around, because it is useful - for example, if for some reason you had to video from the ground, you could twist it so you don’t have to put your head on the ground.
It can also plug into the TV, which is good for recording shows and playing back shows and even videos you make yourself. This is a really great feature.
Just about the only thing I don’t like is that there is no optical zoom. The digital zoom just makes it get blurrier the closer you get, as all cameras without optical zoom do. In addition it does not capture even slightly dark pictures well.

Reviewed by: mshan242700 on 18-Jun-06 Rating:

Strengths:Excellent value and everything is so well thought out ergnomically.

Weaknesses:Has difficulty (blurring) with rapid panning.

Summary:This is a wonderful entry level camera / camcorder that is extremely well thought out ergonomically (the more you use it, the more you appreciate how intuitive and logical all of the controls are).

It produces an image with very low digital artifacts and produces a surprisingly good image in fairly low light (e. g. indoor) condition, even without the very powerful flash kicking in.

It does have a problem with rapid panning, which produces a very noticeable blur of the overall image.

Also doesn\'t have an optical zoom and digital zoom starts to add noise as you approach the 4x limit.

That being said, used within it\'s limitations, it really is a remarkable little camera / camcorder that boots a 2.4 inch color LCD, very good audio recording capability (no motor noise since there isn\'t any dv tape in there), and good battery life (say 90 minutes) with included battery.

Reviewed by: blur78 on 10-Apr-06 Rating:

Strengths:Great concept, multi functional at a cheap price

Weaknesses:The video gets out of sync with audio when playing back a movie file. At first the video matches the audio but the longer the video is, the more the video lags be hide the audio.

Summary:Like I said it is a great concept. Being able to take video and pictures, and use it to watch TV recordings and also like everything else listen to mp3s. The only problem with it is this was there first try at it. This means problems like the video sync are going to happen. Also for anyone that has recently used a Sony camera where it is impossible to take a blurred picture. This is not the camera for you. It takes a step back in time where you have to have a steady hand to take a clear picture. But nonetheless it is multifunctional at a cheap price so even it does not do everything it sets out to do you can still use it for some of its other functions, like an mp3 player.

Reviewed by: robpower on 10-Dec-05 Rating:

Strengths:Has stuff not even listed in the specs and on the package, and does all the listed stuff quite well. Solid state means no moving parts (less noise), which means lightweight with long battery life.

Weaknesses:The door/flap over the mini-USB and TV-Out connectors looks like it will break long before the camera is obsolete. No lens cap included. Have to switch \"modes\" to see the photo you just snapped.

Summary:This camera is worth every penny, so long as you only look at the actual, and not interpolated, resolution. This means that it\'s a great 3-megapixel still camera (the pixel doubling the camera does is no better than resizing you can do in software), and the digital zoom is only interpolation-free up to just under 3x zoom (you lose some pixels to the stabilization feature, which is totally worth it). The video quality rivals that of the 8mm analog Sony Handycam camcorder I\'m replacing with it, but the device is about 1/10 the size and weight of that camcorder. And it cost me about 1/3 as much as the old one did, not even adjusting for 7 years of inflation. I\'ve used the included video conversion software to copy a 2-hour movie onto the device, and the picture quality is amazing for the file size. Unfortunately, I\'ve not yet found a way to fast forward or rewind in one of these converted videos. That\'s probably the conversion software\'s fault and not the camera\'s. My biggest surprise is, after reading reviews here and elsewhere as well as looking at the features list provided by Aiptek, that the MPVR has webcam functionality when I had thought it wouldn\'t. They don\'t include webcam software with it, but one of the USB connection modes is \"camera\", and sure enough, I was able to use it with my Yahoo messenger to do a video chat, and that also includes using the camera\'s microphone for the videoconference. I had been waiting for more than a year for Aiptek to come out with a true 640x480 VGA, 30 frame/sec camera with 2GB memory capacity, and I\'m not at all disappointed. I\'d have gladly paid an extra 50 bucks for a more sturdy casing, like magnesium, and I wish Aiptek would buy up a bunch of lens caps like the one I found for $7.00 and sell them as accessories on their website. With such great video quality, a scratched (and unreplaceable) lens would be a real shame. The lens barrel is 26mm, so buy a 28mm diameter lens cap somewhere as soon as possible.