Reviewed by
hikky dude , Professional

Price Paid
$4500.00 at wallyshouse.com

Summary
i hated it, the cam does not even come with crayons! i mean come on for that kind of money?

Strengths
none

Weaknesses
no crayons

Similar Products Used
crayons and paper

Customer Service
crayons.com

Reviewed by
David Melendez , Beginner , from California

Price Paid
$799.00 at GoodGuys

Summary
Very nice camera! I did notice the the new Sony DV tapes with diamond edge do not work well with this camera. Easy button use with right thumb and you don't have to open LCD window. I like that. Audio recording is awesome. You don't get the normal "HUMMMMM" or "echo" you get with most other systems such as Cannon or sony. The only con's are bad night light shooting and stabilizer on zoom shots very bad. You need a tri-pod if you want still at a zoom. I recommend this camera as it gets an awesome picture!

Reviewed by
Mike , Beginner

Price Paid
$700.00 at online

Summary
Compared with a JVC JY-VS200u the design of the 820u is much better . Video quality is just as good as the JY-VS200u
but far from being perfect . Considering the price better look for a Canon camcorder . Indoors the video quality is slightly better than the Sony TRV530E which has too much color noise but outside you can't see much of a difference . Compared with a Panasonic S-VHS camcorder which was $1000 about 8 years ago , the video quality is dissapointing , not so much in resolution , as in color reproduction . The Panasonic routed to the computer through the firewire cable using the JY-VS200 as a analog to digital conveter looks more colourfull and bright than the 820u or the JY-VS200 . It seems that the conversion must be very good but the poor quality comes from the CCD and color filter , plus there is not enough GAIN in these new camcorders . The problem with vhs is the way the information is stored and compressed on the tape but the pickup system is much better than these "NEW" mini-dv camcorders . In conclusion , if you want pictuare quality and ergonomics , look for Panasonic and Canon camcorders unless you preffer a lot of features with a dissapointing final result .

Strengths
big LCD and good outdoors video quality , photos look better than the Sony DCR-TRV530E in all situations

Weaknesses
poor photo quality , poor low light performance , dead pixel in CCD , battery life

Similar Products Used
panasonic S-VHS and sony TRV530E Pal