Summary: it's an ok camera

Comment: It works ok for small video screen views. Options are good but the battery life is short. I also had problems with this camcorder and the charger. Camcorder cap is a joke and dust will get behind the lens that you cannot get out. It's not worth the money. I replaced this with a Canon FS100 which cost me $350.

Summary: Better still camera than my $400 Olympus

Comment: As others have noted, this little unit falls a little short when compared to a MiniDV camcorder. Sound quality is very modest, and the video quality has more artifacts that you expect from a MiniDV unit. Still, it's so tiny, and handy to shoot with, you'll likely catch a shot you'd miss with your bigger camcorder, as you left it back home.

The amazing part is the still camera. Fairly quick time to shot, and very respectable image quality. It actually does better in low light than my pricey Olympus. The teeny flash has more output that you might expect too.

Summary: Best camcorder at this price point

Comment: Purchased this camera to replace my old digital camcorder. Still picture quality is above average which is a bonus since you don't need to carry both a camcorder and still image camera on trips. The 4 megapixel shots should be just right for most casual photographers. Higher resolution just makes it harder to manage and share photos since the picture files become too large to email and don't really add anything in terms of quality to anything smaller than a 5X7 print. Great video performance except in low light conditions. When capturing video in low light, the color fades and turns brownish. Other than that, performance far exceeds what you would expect for the price.

Where this camera excels is in value. What most people don't realize is your true cost doesn't stop at what you pay for the camera. For my first camcorder (which was also a Sanyo), I had to purchase an extra high capacity battery for about $40. The standard battery lasted only about 45 minutes and the extended battery lasted about 90 minutes. Plus, countless mini DV tapes which run anywhere from $5-7 each or more for 60 minutes of recording time. With the xActi, I was able to find 2 extra batteries online for $30 (for a total recording time of 3 hours), plus cheap and readily available 2Gb SD cards for $15 each (each card can hold 2 hours of video or over a thousand stills). So not only do you get a great value with the camera, the add-ons are reasonably priced, and reusable for the life of the camera. Total investment was under $300 which you would be hard pressed to beat with any other digital camcorder on the market if you included the accessories and tapes.

Picture this....you go on vacation overseas with a full-sized camera bag. In the bag you have your camcorder, still camera, tapes, film or memory media, chargers, and anything else you need to take video and stills. All this probably weighs at least a few pounds, plus the headache of packing it with your luggage or carrying it on a plane and to your sightseeing destinations. Or, you can carry the xActi, plus batteries and extra memory all in your purse or pocket. Travel light and be ready to take the picture at right moment.

So if you fall into the 99% of casual shooters out there, this is definitely the camera to buy. First rule of technology, unless you have money to burn, never buy the "cutting edge" products. You'll pay through the nose and it will be half the price you paid for it within a year or two. For convenience, ease of use, features, and total investment cost, you can't go wrong with this camera.

Summary: Great little camera/video camcorder

Comment: I own this camera and have to say it is a very good with stills and video. It doesn't compare with a 3CCD camera or even to a mid-grade MiniDV camera but the portability and ease of use is fantastic! This unit can easily fit in your pocket/purse and within seconds can be turned on to capture video. I cannot do this with my regular MiniDV camera as it is too big to haul around. In low-light the unit performs okay but not crystal clear. I am able to easily capture Christmas lights, etc. with the unit @ night time. There are add-on lights you can purchase. If you are into archiving video, such as converting footage to DVD, the MP4 video codec it uses allows for easy editing; only if your video editing program supports MP4 format (I use VideoStudio 10). Most important is that when you convert your video to DVD the quality is still very good for viewing on a TV. I had tried Aipteks, Samsumg, etc. but always during DVD conversion the video quality degraded substantially. Not with this unit. When converting remember – MP4 to AVI then to DVD.

There is the C6 model to always consider. I choose this one instead since the difference in price between the two models doesn't justify.

One note, if purchasing this unit, make sure you have no bad pixels on the CCD sensor. A simple test is to put the lenses cap on and take a picture. Then examine the picture on your computer screen and look for any visible white or pink dots- hint boost zoom up to 300%. Google this topic if you have any concerns.
Cheers,

Summary: This camcorder is great

Comment: This is a great camera and camcorder. The daytime pictures and mp4 clips come out good and is comparable to the more expensive Sony. Nighttime/indoor pictures are okay. The MP4 clips indoor and at night is good enough for TV viewing unless you are looking for high def stuff which will run your at least a thousand bucks at this time.

If you want a camcorder that captures to a memory card instead of DVD or tapes, then this is the one with an affordable price and quality. The size is small enough to slip into your pocket so you don't need to carry a camcorder bag around with you all the time.