Aiptek AHD+ 1080P High Definition Camcorder Silver

Camcorder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I can’t tell you how much of a hit this was for my son. He hasn’t put it down. I did, however, purchase an extra battery – just in case.

Great Little Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
For the price, this little camcorder/camera does everything I need

from it.

Takes great videos and still photos.

But, I put in a new 4-gig SD flash memory card and it would not

accept it. The problem was, there is something inside the camcorder

that flips the switch on the left side of the memory card to “protect”, so it cannot write on it.

I took a small piece of transparent tape, and by applying it from the backside of the memory card (to prevent covering up the gold connectors) and wrapped it around. It works perfectly now.

Also, another review said it did not come with a battery charger. Well, it does not. The battery charger is internal. It does come with and AC adapter that kicks in the battery charger.

You should read all of the instructions when you get it and leave it plugged in to charge for 3-4 hours before using it like the manual suggests.

Aiptek A-HD+ great value
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I did a lot of research for an inexpensive HD camera. There are a ton of blogs and information out there for the AHD and AHD+. I have been very impressed. Like most others the sound is ok…but where it sets itself is the picture and price. I recently shot my son’s bday (all indoors) and compared it with a Mini DV camera I shot last year at the same place. Picture is better with the AHD+ and get this…it took all but 2 mins to move about 30 mins to my PC…guess how long it takes to move a mini DV to a PC – 30 mins. I purchased a 16GB card for it as 720/60fps eats memory…about 1GB per 15 min of footage. Sweet spot seems to be 720/60fps vs the other settings.

good, not great – poor audio
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a good, portable and lightweight camera, but audio issues keep it from being 5 stars.

Video is good and on par for a $150 camera. The high-def modes look good, but beware of shaking and image stabilazation. It has no image stabilazation built in, do use a tripod (it’s got a standard tripod mount on the bottom) where possible to get the best shots.

Low light images could be better. It works best outside or in well lit rooms.

Audio is poor. Anything more than two feet away and it barely picks it up.

I always carry it around to shoot videos for YouTube, I’m glad I purchased it.

Excellent Device For The Price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the A-HD+1080p camcorder at Best Buy when I was passing through Lincoln, Nebraska about a week ago for $169 dollars plus tax. To be honest, I purchased it with relatively low expectations. I already have a Sony HC3 HDV camcorder I’ve had for about a year that produces excellent video so I figured there was no way this Aiptek product could even come close.

To my surprise the video quality is actually quite amazing. It’s possible to get great video out of this unit, provided you know the device’s main limitation, i.e. the fixed-focus plastic lens. Cell phone cameras can have multiple megapixels but the optics are almost always limited to a cheesy plastic lens, yet if you know the device’s limitations it’s possible to take good and sometimes even great pictures with them.

To get great video out of the Aiptek, follow a few rules. (1) NEVER use the digital zoom function — always keep it zoomed out. Move closer to your subject if you want it to fill more of the frame. (2) Remember to use the manual focus switch — macro for around 20 inch away close-ups, the medium postion for a bit farther away, and the full infinity position for anything more than about 6 to 8 feet or so away from the lens. (3) Hold the camera as steady as possible if it’s a hand-held shot, and if possible use a tripod. (4) Use the white balance feature as necessary depending on your light source. (5) Pay attention to the basic prinicples of good photography, i.e. the “rule of thirds” — if you don’t know what that means, look it up on Wikipedia.

I’ve posted a video I put together entirely with the Aiptek from Riverside Park in West Fork, Arkansas. The HD 720p Apple TV format file is located at http://m.podshow.com/media/131/episodes/116107/truckertom-116107-06-19-2008.mp4.

Great Little Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this Camera in July last year , not expecting a lot from it, just to shoot small Videos an some Point an Shoot Pictures.

was Wrong , it is a super Camera , on both Video an Pictures alike !

I have a Sony Hi 8 Camcorder that hasent been out off its case since I got the APITEK!

It,s super easy to use , records to a SD Card , which can be easily transferred to the PC , to edit etc .

For “Normal” Family use , I could not be Happier with it ,

In short Great Camera , Great Price , No Brainer , Just get one

Terrible picture quality!!!
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This camcorder has TERRIBLE picture quality. It’s all grainy and very dark, even with the exposure set to its highest level. The battery life seems good, and it’s not too difficult to use, but the picture quality sucks. The only thing it would be good for is taking video in a very bright outdoor setting. Don’t even think about using it indoors!

Fun but flawed
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is a great camera for small sunny moments. I took it on my honeymoon and was impressed with it’s image quality and ability to quickly grab moments as they happened. It is super small and the absolute best deal for high def video.

However this camera does not focus well and is in desperate need of image stabilization. Shaky cam is no longer cool and it is disappointing when otherwise great moments captured on film are so out of focus they are hard to watch.

The battery issue (that it giggles and shakes)others have described with this camera does not seem to be present any longer and the battery life itself is excellent.

Overall this is an OK and affordable first step into HD video recording. That being said I can’t wait until I break it so I can buy a really good (much better/more expensive) HD camera.

Wow this can’t be this good for the price!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Just got this camera today and after charging the battery, I have been in the back yard taking HD movies! I can tell you that this camera is better than my Hitachi DVD camcorder that cost me $475 dollars a few years ago. The Aiptek video quality is excellent. I can’t believe this sells for $150. I hook the camera to my Windows XP computer using the included USB cable and drag the files to my desk top and put them in a program called ConvertXtoDVD. Convert X takes the .mov files from my computer and converts them to .vob files and automatically burns them to DVD! I like the 720@60 frames per second setting on the Aiptek A-HD+ Camcorder. The picture on my pioneer plasma is the best I have had to date in home movies, totally 16:9 wide screen and fills the screen. Still much experiementing with this camera. I did much research before I bought, Amazon feedback is always a great way to research and the $130 dollar model (HD-720) has audio problems. I have detected no audio problems with this model. I’m selling my hitachi DVD camcorder on Ebay! Burning the movie files to DVD is a snap using ConvertX to DVD. I just have to find a program that will cleaning play the files on my computer. The Nero 7 I am using to play the movies on my computer is a bit shakey. NO problem, I’m sure since they are recorded as .mov files, Quicktime player should work fine. I will also experiement with VLC player. By the way, Aiptek recommends a Pentium 4 to work the movie files. I’m using a 1.5mhz laptop and burning them to DVD with no problems, I also can convert them to .VOB files and edit them with all sorts of programs. I’m using a 1 GB SD card , which fits neatly in the camera handle and I’m getting 22 minutes of video at 720/60fps. So I will upgrade to a 2gb and almost get a hour of video, which is plenty for me. Another thought, the battery is slightly loose in the handle, not serious, but I read on youtube that you should place a thin piece of velcro or tape at the bottom of the battery to push it closer to the battery contacts. Speaking of youtube, I would suggest you go there and search the Aiptek A-HD+ to see all the great videos this great camera can take. Since the camera doesn’t have video stablization and its so light, you must take caution to hold it steady. No big deal for me.. And one last comment, the pictures that this camcorder takes are not bad! I’m stil testing but compared to my old Hitachi DVD camcorder the still pics are much better. You have a selection of a 3meg, 5meg or 8meg still picture. Still experiementing and loving it. I will add more on this review as I learn more tricks…sorry to ramble on…love this camcorder!

UPDATE: 8-29-2009

Still using this camcorder. I updated the SD card to a 8gb card, which the camera says will give 4.5hrs of video at 720p and 2.5hrs at 1080P. I doubt the battery would last that long! I also found that I can take 1080p HD videos, they play great on the latest windows 7 operating system on my laptop using the windows media player!! Before this I had to use a program M player and that would only play the 720p files.

AIPTEK A-HD+1080p Review – HD for the Masses
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
UPDATED December 25th. I am a pro-editor and I do not work for Aiptek so you will get an accurate review from me. Keep in mind that it is a well know fact that Aiptek has earned a questionable reputation for false advertising some features, also Aiptek has produced a plethora of models with similar names…some have been plagued with defects (loose batteries, distorted sound), so avoid those older models altogether. This review applies only to the new AIPTEK A-HD+1080p which, so far, appears to be their best model. My camera did not come with a battery charger contrary to what is indicated by the description, the battery included did not last more than one hour. This is what I know based on my brief experience:

Pros: Small and portable fits on your shirt pocket; uses memory cards (not tapes); movies are fully compatible with Macintosh computers (.MOV) excelent playback on a Mac however they still need to be transcoded for iMovie and Final Cut Pro editing. The camera lens has a macro mode. The so called 1080p resolution is surprisingly sharp and not available in any other camera in this price range (so far). It is possible to flip the camera LCD to record yourself. It takes nice stills (see the Cons). And finally, it makes for an unusual recording device (you can record from DVD or TV to the camera Memory Card and later transfer and play the files on your computer (they will not play on your PSP or iPod unless you convert to their respective codecs. You can also record voice memos.

There are certain advantages to owning such a small camera: you are more likely to carry it everywhere and record HD of something unexpected. Also, you can insert the device in unusual places and obtain otherwise impossible footage in HD.

Cons:

Be warned that video footage files created by this camera are not friendly to Windows users. (Mac users are okay). The files are H.264 Quicktime Movies which is a video format popularized by Apple. If you want to edit in true High Definition it is best to use iMovie or FCP on an Intel Mac. The sound is typical of built-in mikes, it records typical omnidirectional audio. There is no volume control except for playback audio. Not surprisingly it has no microphone input for an external mike. This camera is useless for productions which require a lavaliere or a shotgun, such as interviews in crowded or noisy environments (i.e. Conventions)

Beware of the deceptive advertising: the 8 megapixel photos are interpolated and a waste of memory space. What Aiptek calls a “zoom” is actually an “electronic” effect, you shouldn’t videotape while zooming in and out using this electronic effect. The zoom button is positioned in such an awkward place that you can not hold the camera steady while zooming anyway. However, you can pause, then zoom, then record. Which brings me to the most important issue, the lack of an image stabilizer, this is hardly a feature I expected to find on this type of camera, nevertheless, it will drive the “pros” insane. An Aiptek will only produce a decent stable image while mounted on a tripod (it has a tripod hole on the bottom).

AIPTEK video files are no more YouTube compatible than any other video, you still have to convert the codec during the uploading process like everyone else.

Conclusion:

This is not the camera to take on your vacation to Hawaii, nor a concert or to video a wedding, for that, you need to get yourself a real camera, else you may run into some serious problems. You may:

1) Run out of memory (AIPTEK claims you can use a maximum memory card of 32GB but most people will probably use 2-8gb)

2) You may accidentally deplete the battery which in turn can not be recharged without a laptop because it works like an iPod (or you can expend more money on an extra battery or a charger).

3) You may discover your sound is not good after your vacation/wedding is over.

4) Poor quality in dim light , like the interior of a Museum or at dusk.

5) You may discover your footage is too shaky because you didn’t have a tripod. It looks worse on your HD TV than it does on the camera while recording.

6) You may set the camera accidentally on Macro and everything is out of focus. (Very easy to do)

7) From time to time you may get a “Card Protect” error when you press record, this is a manufacturing error , the camera “thinks” the card’ is locked but IT IS NOT LOCKED, hence rendering the card unusable; if you are on vacation and have only one card, you are sheer out of luck. If this happens to you, try wiggling the card in and out. This error message pops up at random.

Not a problem with AIPTEK but with all memory cards is their innate propensity for data corruption, regretfully there is no way to recover HD footage from a corrupt card. This does not happen with videotape because any camcorder would warn you if something goes wrong with the tape mechanism.

My review is harsh but accurate, I don’t mean to present this camera in a negative light, it has its usefulness. It is good as a back-up camera and in my personal experience, it is the best camera to carry with you when you are in a dangerous area where things can get stolen or destroyed by accident. If you loose it then you are only out a couple of bucks. Also, it is less less likely to attract theft.

Obviously, most positive reviews here come from rookies who are justifiably excited to see High Definition for the first time and at a price they can afford. So, if you are an HD rookie, this is a nice buy for you. One could say the AIPTEK HD is Hi-Def for the masses.

Expected disappointment – but was very impressed
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This camera has great image quality, and was a great buy. But one thing that frustrated me (before buying) was that I couldn’t find much info about the more advanced specs.

But luckily, I have done the homework for you

Here are some things you might want to know:

-The CMOS is 5MP native (resolution: 2592 x 1944)

don’t bother with the 8MP it just ‘blows up’ the image (interpolation)

-The lens, even though the image quality is excellent, is the weak point of this camera. Its a fixed focus without any optical zoom. Theres only digital zoom which decreases the quality the farther its zoomed in, but not too badly.

The 2 focus modes,

Normal: From 30cm to infinity. Best for general purpose video recording. Nothing is really out of focus unless its too close to the camera. Though the image can be slow to clarify on certain patterns such as grass.

Macro: For close-ups. Objects/people look alot clearer/better when focused on than with the normal focus mode, and everything in the background is blurred. But you have to be sure the camera is the perfect distance away from the object so that its in focus.

On the camera, the top setting with the mountain/stick figure is normal focus mode and the lower setting with the flower shape is macro. There are also wide angle lenses available that fit this camera.

-The battery

Battery life for me is very good, but depends on your recording mode, screen brightness etc. Charge to 100% before turning it on (should take atleast 2-3 hours). Also sometimes the light seems to change randomly to show that its charged when its still charging. Theres a defect where the battery is loose inside and rattles around/loses contact with the terminals that make it turn off. Just improvise and put a piece of paper/cardboard below the battery to keep it from being loose.

-The screen is good quality, hard to see in bright daylight. No dead pixels. Camera turns on when you fold out the screen. There are controls on the side for video playback but I haven’t had to use any besides ‘power’.

-The mic is okay for me, but it tends to record the person behind the camera rather than whats in front.

-Records from AV-IN at 720 x 480 NTSC 29.97FPS

the quality is decent when I record from a satellite receiver (take advantage of this with pay-per-view). When played back on SDTV it looks nearly exactly as the original broadcast besides for some obvious static at the very top of the screen. Format: H264 @ 2.12mbits/sec Audio: AAC stereo 48.000khz BTW you can’t do composite-in.

-has TV-OUT with AV-out and Composite-out

You can do everything with TV-out activated that you can do normally, record vids/take pics/change settings. Video and picture quality is terrific, and they load instantly. If you lose 1 of the AV cables, they’re the same except for the colors.

-works with my sandisk 4gb Ultra II SDHC memory card

make sure your memory card is ‘high speed’ or else it probably can’t write data fast enough to keep up with the higher quality recording modes. I believe the memory limit is 32gb.

-recording modes:

1080p: 29.97FPS Data rate: 7.58mbits/sec at 1920×1080

720p 60f: 59.94FPS Data rate: 6.04mbits/sec at 1280×720

720p 30f: 29.97FPS Data rate: 4.10mbits/sec at 1280×720

‘DVD quality’: 59.94FPS Data rate: 3.57mbits/sec at 854×480

‘CIF’: 29.97FPS Data rate: 750.86kbits/sec at 320×240

All except ‘CIF’ are 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen)

Image quality is a bit grainy if the room is dark, though you can adjust white balance/exposure settings to fix this. I would say the best overall setting is 720p 60FPS. Theres no stabilization but its really stupid to complain that the footage is ‘shaky’ when all you have to do is hold your arm more steady/hold it with 2 hands. After all the camera captures exactly what it sees and its lightweight. Theres a tripod mount too.

-tips for playback

The version of quicktime included on the CD is an old version that plays choppy on even the fastest computer. The best way to play back your vids in my opinion is to first:

1. Rename the file from .MOV to .HDMOV

2. Play the file with Windows Media Player

doing it this way uses the graphics card (GPU) to help play the video, instead of just the CPU. 60fps is more intensive than 1080p at 30fps. If you get an error about codecs, look up on google ‘k-lite codec pack’.

Now the biggest problem everyone has is that the format of the videos (.MOV) is incompatible/doesn’t work right with alot of editing software. Most people convert the video to another format which decreases the quality and takes forever. Are you ready for a simple solution that will prevent you hours of frustration?

The actual video captured is encoded to H.264 codec with AAC audio, the .MOV is just a container file. AVI, MP4, MKV and lots of others can hold H.264 video. So all you have to do is…

Rename FILE.MOV to FILE.MP4

easy as that…now the file should work in sony vegas and any other editing software that supports H264, and also play back fine with supporting media players. To rename on a PC: Tools->Folder Options->View->Hide extensions for known file types (uncheck the box)

(when importing to vegas 8.0 you have to keep trying to drag the file over the window until an outline appears or it will crash, only release the mouse if an outline appears. Keep trying with new codecs if it crashes/won’t work, its glitchy)

Very nice quality !!!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I made some videos and play them in my hdtv (42′). The picture quality is perfect. It is much better than those $500+ non-HD camcorder.

Wasn’t expecting much when I purchased it but was pleasantly surprised!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I wasn’t expecting much when I purchased Aiptek A-HD+ 1080P but I was pleasantly surprised. I was trying to create a cheap way to produce youtube videos. I had a fairly new MiniDV Camera however it didn’t have the resolution to make the green screen work out as I had hope. Purchased the Aiptek and it worked like a charm.

My only complaint is with the LCD screen’s button are kind of hard to press and when you are watching the live video stream on my HD TV it jumps from full screen to letterbox when I press record. Aside from that I give it a 5+. After all, we’re talking about a $150 camera – not the professional cameras i’m used to working with!

Excellent picture, poor zoom
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Our standard def Sony camcorder finally died. My daughters karate belt test was coming up and we wanted *something* to record the event, but didn’t want to dish out $800 for a Sony HD camcorder. With a little hesitation I shelled out for this Aiptek HD and I have to say that for the money I’m very happy.

- VIDEO QUALITY

Simply awesome! I don’t have a high end name brand HD camera to compare to, but on my 50 inch plasma TV the video quality looks absolutely great. The only problem I have noticed, as some other reviewers have noticed is low light can make the video grainy, even in high def modes. For under $150 I can live with it; most of the things I want to shoot are not low light anyway

- ZOOM

I specifically did not pay the extra $60 to get the Aiptek model with the optical zoom, but I’m sorry I didn’t now. The digital zoom on this model is not smooth, it jumps as you zoom in and out. On top of that, digital zoom is lossy (the quality of the video gets worse as you zoom in). Paying a third more just to get an optical zoom sounded a little extreme at the time, but the digital zoom is the only reason I didn’t give this camera 5 stars.

- STILL PHOTOS

If you hold the camera very still during still captures, the quality is quite good. What I have noticed is that with this small of a camera its sometimes hard to hold the camera steady to get a clear shot. I found that I got better with practice and I rarely get a blurry shot now, unless I’m trying to capture my running kids or the dog.

- USER INTERFACE

The on-camera menus are simple and easy to navigate. Written documentation might be a little light for novice camera users, but was adequate.

- COMPUTER EXPERIENCE

Copying the videos and stills is very easy; plugging in via USB cable it shows up in Windows Explorer as a flash drive and you can drag and drop files from the camera memory to the hard drive. I did find that Apple’s Quicktime had problems playing back the video recorded in full HD, the frames were noticebly less than 30 fps so it looked a bit jerky. It very well could be my computer, since playback from the camera itself is flawless. Also, I found a great freeware video editing program that can convert from the .mov format the camera records in to just about any other format you want. It’s called ‘Any Video Converter’ and can be found here:

http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/

- BOTTOM LINE

I still would like to buy a Sony HD camcorder someday but I am more than content with this great camera until the price of those other models come down.

stupid dv camera
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
Never buy this product! I bought mine from a certain online store. At first the camera works fine, true to its word it has a high definition video. I kept it in a special place, I even put some moisture absorber (dehumidifier) beside it to avoid the camera from getting moist. In other words I gave it a special treatment. But then, one day for no reason, it just won’t operate. When I open the LCD, it’s totally DEAD!! I know the problem is not in the battery because I test it using a multi tester. It’s (the problem) in the video camera itself. When I tried contacting the support, he keeps redirecting me to another website, one was chinese and the other one is german which the latter don’t offer support for this specific model. If you are a person who likes to be sure of what you are buying then this video camera is not for you. But if you are a person who has a “gambling” kind of attitude, then you may try this stupid camera. For me, Aiptek is just trying to look sophisticated so as to get a big profit from the market. Talk about durability and support??? PWEEH!!!! I will never buy Aiptek products again. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way. A single star for this stupid product.

reviewing the Aiptek A HD+ 1080p high def. camcorder
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
It looks good on paper ,but thats as far as it goes.Controls are not user friendly,in fact they are confusing.The instructions are at a minamum.Using it is a chore.I tried to ,but gave up. It will spend it’s time in the trash draw.I don’t know if it’s intended user was to be under the age of 13, maybe that should have been specified.

In the future, I will get a hands on test on all electronic item ,before I buy any thing online.

Really Good for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this video camera for my boyfriend once his daughter started walking. He doesn’t know anything about computers or electronics and he can use this camera with no problem. it easily hooks up to our HD TV and with the SD chip it’s easy to put the videos and pictures right on the computer and burn them right on to a disc!

Great little camera!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Just got this camera and went traveling with it. It’s about the same size of my old Canon A40 but not as heavy. The battery life is fantastic and can be charge via your computer. The photos turn out good. Video is good too. An all around, versatile, camera in my book.

Very good for the price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This was a gift for my 12 year old daughter, it is way better than expected, she likes it alot. Not bad at all for the price.

Good price for a cheap cam.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
It’s cheap, it does HD 1080P, and you NEED a tripod. It is very shaky. That is really the only bad thing about it because it works well for a cheapo camera. I bought this to do reviews and tutorials on my website. So far, so good.

Not bad for the price, but the MOV format is a pain
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is highly portable and well-designed. It has pretty nice features for the price, and shoots some pretty high-quality video if it is held still (as on a tripod.)

My biggest complaint is that it (like many other video cameras) inexplicably uses the QuickTime .MOV format native to Macintosh. This means difficult, lengthy and error-prone conversions (especially audio sync) in order to edit with Windows PCs.

The included software is perry weak.

Apitech product are the worst products in the world
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I dont know who is this company related. all the things that you will find would be looking real but all the products of this brand is the worst performance i have seen with. Most of my friends have been unhappy for going to this product.And the service is lousy. DONT GET TRAPPED.

You get what you pay for
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
When Sony Brand HD Camcorders cost $600+ and you can find a HD cam corder for 135.99, that should raise some red flags

Pro’s:

Cheap

Very Easy to use (recording). push to record, push to stop. no pause feature. will just make new movies

Small and Light weight

easy to transfer files from camera to windows

Con’s:

Poor overall quality

Video recording stutters, when playback video jumps

Have to hold the camera dead still, or else it gets super blurry or it will stutter

I was recording my cats tail with the HD 60fps function and tail still appears as a blur, I am suspicious that this fucntion actually works

the biggest con for me is the video stuttering play back. some scenarios its so bad it looks like a slide show. All the videos ive recorded have this artifact

here is an example i uploaded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HNmY1LT4YM

Great for a full HD resolution, second-unit camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this not expecting much and not having seen any reviews on the Web or in print. The product is a couple of months old to market. There’s some misinformation floating around out there — here are a few clarifications and highlights of the product from my week’s worth of testing. First, it does indeed shoot at a 16:9 aspect ratio even as the video resolution is 1440x1080p — you just need to be sure and apply an “anamorphic” pixel ratio (i.e., not square/1:1). Also, it is a fixed focus camera: The benefit is that there’s no noisy/slow auto-focusing mechanism, but the con (as with all fixed focus camcorders) is that low light performance suffers somewhat, while close-in subjects go out of focus (though there is a manual macro switch on this product). Big pluses include the fact that it’s charged via a super-standard mini-USB connector, and accepts up to a 32gb SDHC card. There is a tripod mounting hole but no electronic or mechanical image stabilization, no optical zoom, and no external microphone/audio in port.

In short, this makes for a great “second-unit” camcorder in cases where you don’t want to rough around with your primary HD camcorder, or where you want to strap this onto a skateboard and the like without worrying about lost investment. It’s wise to take the native H.264 files that are wrapped in .mov format and convert them to .avi or MPEG-2 .mpg files for further processing/editing/burning, as most systems will stutter trying to decode the native video files at 1080p/30 fps on-the-fly (i.e., even high-end video cards do not necessarily include hardware acceleration for files in this specific format). Although users appear to be especially enamored of the product’s 1440x720p/60 fps non-interlaced mode, I’m not convinced that their bias is based on the benefit of double the frames-per-second, instead of the mere shortcomings of their system’s hardware playback at 1080p/30 fps.

UPDATE: The following wide-angle lens attachment works perfectly with this camcorder, and I’m tempted to use it full-time as it not only widens your field of view, but in the process mildly reduces the inherent shake of your footage by “pulling back” a little farther.

Sunpak CAM-2110 MagMount 0.5x Wide-Angle Conversion Lens (Large)

Worst camcorder I’ve ever owed
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
After picking this up as a recent lightning deal for $90, I figured even if it wasn’t perfect, it would still be a good deal. Wrong – this camcorder would be a ripoff at half that price. The picture quality is horrible, the audio is unintelligible and because it comes with a very cursory instruction manual, you pretty much have to figure out how to work it by yourself. This piece of junk is going back to Amazon tomorrow!

It arrived BROKEN and has poor low light
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I was skeptical to order it because of the mixed reviews. I ordered it and charged the battery and the unit would not power on. The unit would operate with the power cord connected so I can only assume there was an issue getting power from the battery. Shooting outside or in good light the quality of the footage is great. The flaw is low light, the footage is dark. I have a Flip and shooting in the same low light the Flip UltraHD is bright and clear while the Aiptek can only show silhouettes.

Comparing this to the Flip UltraHD:

LCD is better on the Aiptek because it is adjustable

Aiptek has variable frame rates and its HD quality is sharper than the Flip

Flip has no menu option just shoot 1080p at 30fps

Like the fact that the Aiptek can shoot at 720p at 60fps

If you plan to shoot indoors do not get this camera unless you are ok with having to light your subject first.

If my Aiptek had worked out the box it would still get returned becuase of its low light capability.

can beat it for the money
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
OK, here is the low down on these sub $200 digital camcorders, ie flip mino and aiptek. the flip wins in the size and ease of use department, the aiptek in picture quality and features.

the aiptek looks like other camcorders like the sanyo exacti line, but the aiptek is an all plastic deal. yes, you get what you pay for! however, for the price (the a-hd 1080p price varies between 149-170) you do get amazing hd video quality. no, it does not compare to a $1000 sony hd camcorder, but when used in broad daylight the quality is really pretty impressive. worth the purchase price for sure.

where all cheap camcorders fail is in the low light (indoors, evening) department, video will look graiiny und ugly. the aiptek only has a digital zoom. my advice, do not use it, especially while filming, as the device does not have image stabilization. also, better to avoid panning as some tv’s will show a combing effect.

but within these limitations the ability to shoot 1080, 720p and dv quality at this price point is amazing !

please read before buying!! ((MISSING MAIN FEATURES!!))
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Now Now don’t worry! the camera has a great performance for the price. I can say it’s superb, but please note that you’ll face an unexpected missing feature:

1-NO OPTICAL ZOOM, but there is optical zoom in other aiptek models starting from $229

2-NO AUTOFOCUS, however, the there is a focus switch, still you can take good pictures.

3-NO AUTOMATIC CONTRAST, therefore it’s useless for using the camcorder inside your room, everything will be dark. you can use the (Night Shot) feature but it makes it slow (about 15-20fps)

Ok we’re finished with the missing feature lets go to another type of cons:

1-strong smell of cheap plastic and I don’t (Neither you) need to know why!

2-be extremely careful for not letting any water drops into the camera because it has some exposed parts

3-the cover is easy to scratch, even though that I treat it like a raw egg!

anything else, its a good buy, if you’ll use it just for youtube videos, this is what you need! if you need a REAL high definition camcorder, go for another ($1500) camcorder because this is not considered as a replacement. after all, it’s a (budget) camcorder, don’t expect a much of it.

thats all folks!!

Good and cheap HD video camera.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Aiptek A-HD+ is a great camera for the price. It’s pretty rugged (I hauled it through a convention for three days solid on its virgin voyage) and the picture isn’t bad.

The resolution is nice, though frankly I’ve only used it in 720p at 60fps, and not at its 1080p at 30fps setting. I prefer the higher framerate for conversion and the like. Either way, the shot is good. It’s low light capabilities are noticeably grainier (which the manual warns you about) than day shots, but they are still quite good.

If there are any disadvantages in the camera, they are the fact that it has absolutely no optical zoom, and it has no image stabilization. Of course, those features add to the cost, so it’s a fair tradeoff. If you really want optical zoom, the Aiptek Action HD (which Amazon apparently doesn’t yet carry) has a 3x optical zoom at about $40 more.

A personal note, my arm got rally tired holding this in a fixed position for any real duration. If you plan on taking extended shots, get a tripod or a monopod. It’s totally worth it, and then your image will be stable.

Finally, the container format the A-HD uses is .MOV, but the video format is H.264, so you can safely rename the container to .AVI to play and edit the files in something other than Quicktime. Heck, my computer performs better playing them outside of Quicktime than in.

I see this camera getting a lot of use in the future, though I’m still getting used to deciding when an event is better served by still shots, and when video is better.

Great features for price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a cheesey plastic trinket-like getup, but works pretty well. Amazing to get such a simple yet capable package at this price. My 8-year-old nephew picked the thing up and just started making movies and using most of the features in minutes, without any hand holding. There are only a few buttons, all of which are intuitive. This thing is idiot-proof. No user guide necessary. Open the dsiplay and it’s on, close it and it’s off. Press the red front button to start and again to stop. That’s almost all you need. Plugging into your TV is also trivial. The built-in screen is beautifully clear with nice resolution, and identical to what you see when you view it via TV. Another cool feature is being able to swivel the screen all the way around upside-down to face you and it inverts itself to stay right-side up.

On the down side…

The mic is under-powered. It’s also facing the shooter instead of the subjects! I had to keep telling kids to talk as loud as they can, whereas my voice (as cameraman) was overpowering. No provision for add-on mic. This is probably a showstopper.

The on-board speaker is useless for device playback. You need the TV to really hear what’s been recorded.

You need a lot of light to get good focus/visibility (but playback in HD is beautiful if done right).

Ubuntu linux (Hardy as of this writing) is not able to detect the device when plugged in via USB. This isn’t too bad since a cardreader should be able to read the card, but the extra step to pop out the card is a bit of an inconvenience.

The camera is off balance with the screen arm out. That means you can’t just set it down without a tripod. Not too bad if you just set it next to and lean on a vertical object to keep it from falling over.

Not the best, But for the money ok
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This sd camcorder feels very cheap, has limited controls and so so quality video however for the low price is about worth what you pay. It will not give you mini DV quality or DVD camcorder quality. I also have a Sanyo Xacti waterproof and it is much better built and much better quality video. If price is your only concern, get this camcorder however if quality plays any part, spend extra money for a better product.

Very good for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
As a HD camera, it’s a great inexpensive choice. (I found it for $119.99 online elsewhere.) It’s very easy to learn to use. Battery life is excellent and the 32GB SD card capacity means plenty of HD record time.

I do have some critiques for Aiptek though. The mic is not good quality. The bad placement of it only makes it worthwhile to capture the operator’s speech. Forget it for trying to capture your subject’s sound. (There’s a mod on You Tube for it but it will void your warranty.) Next is the “distance/close up” switch on the right upper side. It constantly gets changed by simply handling the camera. So you must make sure it’s set properly before filming or you’ll wind up with blurred useless footage. The zoom is a 4 step 4x operation rather than a smooth zoom. It’s okay but a smooth zoom would have been much nicer. And Aiptek… a carry pouch or sleeve would be nice too!

Finally, I had to purchase the remote control separately from Aiptek (see website: [...]). While you can live with out it, I found it to be extremely useful. You’ll most likely want it too. So they should have included it in the package.

Is that HD in your pocket?
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
The Aiptek A-HD+ gives an acceptable HD picture in this price range, with some limitations. Audio is not so good, but useful for reference. 60fps at 720p is a nice feature for slow motion shots. Editing the H.264 is no problem. The camera is like a cell phone camera, decent image quality at 5MP but with a delayed shutter. It does not have an optical zoom, auto focus, or image stabilization, which may actually be good points considering Aiptek’s sketchy reputation for durability – less things to go wrong. Hand-held shots are a problem due to the lack of image stabilization on such a small camera. Also, there is a lot of image rippling evident in hand-held shots – it’s impossible to stabilize a hand-held movie in post-production software. A tripod is your best bet with this camera. It can give surprisingly good HD video locked down on a tripod and with good lighting. And for $150, you can take it places you might not bring a $1000+ HD-camera. If it lasts six months, I’ll be satisfied.

If you want 1080p quality, look elsewhere.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
People want 1080p for the quality, not the pixel count. This product only delivers the latter.

I was really excited but also very skeptical of this product when I found it at Best buy. 1080p for $150? Somethings not right. After reading the generally positive reviews I figured that the lack of expensive lenses or mechanical parts must be the reason for it being so cheap.

I tested the camera multiple times giving it the benefit of the doubt. I started in lower light settings, then moved to sunny motion and finally tried sunny still shots, all with very disappointing results. Even a subject just sitting and talking, not moving much was fuzzy and choppy. I tried All except the lowest resolution setting. Even at 480p the video just didn’t look right.

The first thing you notice is the frame rate. It’s bad, upon slow motion inspection, it’s not that there are less than 30 frames per second, it’s that the high compression causes any movement to undulate and warp giving the impression of low frame rate as well as inducing nausea.

The quality is bad too, as with the frame rate, the pixel count is there but it still looks blurry, like they upscaled a lower quality image. The 720p at 60 frames per second is a joke. It looks arguably more choppy than the 1080p 30fps.

The one thing I can say for this camera is that it is simple and easy to use. There is no differentiation between the still and video mode. To shoot video push the front button, to shoot pictures push the back button. The little menu navigation there is is straightforward. It’s also nice that it comes with component video cables to hook it up to an HDTV. Too bad the video that comes through it is no good.

The sad thing is this would be an awesome camera if it had usable quality, but again the frame rate is bad, the quality is bad, and the way the compression handles motion makes me nauseous just looking at it. I have a Sony Cybershot Digital Still Camera from a couple years back that has much better video capability.

cant be beat for the price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Bought this camera for something small to take on vacation. Does a great job. The .MOV files it creates are awkward on my PC as I have to convert them to .mpg’s before using my edit software but it’s really quite painless. It has 5 video resolutions. CIF is a 30 frame low resolution

that is good for anything you might want to put on youtube. D1 is what I use most. It’s a DVD quality resolution that has a real nice picture but isn’t real “Jerky” like the 3 HD resolutions. D1 .mov can also be converted to mpg’s with free software like Prisim. The HD modes have an amazing picture but I can’t hold the camera still enough to get a steady shot. You really really really need a tri-pod if you want to make the most of the HD modes. I’m not even kidding. In full hd you would have to have the steadiness of a neuro surgeon to get a steady shot, it’s super

sensitive to vibration. having said all that, it will fit in my shirt pocket and takes great video. The battery looks like a cell phone battery and seems to last a long time. You have to be careful with the focous adjustment that you flip for close up shots. If it’s flipped,

you won’t know it by looking at the display and will end up with blurrrry

video when you get it on your PC. We have 20 minutes of unwatchable blury video from a pontoon boat trip. Can’t beat it for the price.

Additional notes about the A-HD+
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The focus “switch” on this camera is more like a linear focus control, as you can park it in intermediate positions between infinity and macro. Since the zoom is digital, it can be used to determine the best focus. Before beginning to shoot, zoom in fully, verify the best focus (important for HD in particular), zoom back out, and shoot. Remember that depth of field extends further away from the point of critical focus than it does in the closer direction (true of all cameras). No autofocus = no focus hunting, which can be very annoying (as well as no mechanism noise).

By the way, this suggestion is unfortunately not true for many optical zoom cameras. Their lenses do not maintain focus throughout the optical zoom range (particularly true of digital still cameras in video mode, many of which do not even allow zooming while shooting). All video cameras should maintain focus throughout their zoom range (parfocality), so this is a good quality test. Put the camera in manual focus mode, zoom in fully, focus, then zoom out and see if focus is maintained at the same point.

Another treat with the A-HD+ is its ability to record analog Standard Definition video, and play it back on its 2.4″ screen (best with earphones). Standard Definition files are very conservative in their use of memory. Of course, it is also a portable playback device for your own videos, and is generally less expensive than devices sold for this purpose alone — and which can’t provide component output and high definition! It is like buying a portable player at a discount, and getting a great high definition camera for free. It doesn’t play native MP3 files.

The other four reviews are excellent, and required reading for this amazing camera.

Aiptek takes great video and stills shots, hard to convert file format from .MOV
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Aiptek A-HD+ 1080P High Definition Camcorder (Silver)

I do love the small size and ease of use of this camera, and the digital still shots are amazing, but I have yet to figure out how to convert the .MOV files on my Dell with Vista and Windows Movie Maker. I have downloaded several free .MOV-AVI etc converters, and none work. At least I have a MAC desktop – no problem using the original .MOV format in the IMovie program!!!

Unreal!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The quality of the video from this inexpensive camera is amazing. Worth twice the price!

Aiptek A-HD+ 1080P High Definition Camcorder (Silver)
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’m very happy with this product, it was shipped within 5 days. This is a great little video camera.

Nice little video camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve put this thing through it’s paces since I got it a month ago and it’s been great. Feels cheaply made but I’ve beat it around a bit and had no problems at all. Picture quality is fantastic, very easy to use and easy to handle. I’d buy it again.

Great fun!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I love this camcorder. Nice video, decent sound, fits neatly into my pocket. Piece of cake to operate. Just simple fun and convenience for me. I have only plugged it into my tv so far, and I see my vids in full screen. Very cool! So happy that i bought it.

Aiptek HD Video Camera
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
This camera is best suited for outdoor use as it required significant light levels to produce a good video. Using standard indoor lighting, our videos were dark. We sent the camera back and Amazon immediately refunded our money. Great job Amazon!

It’s OK
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It’s ok It’s not what everyone raves about on youtube. I had to buy the canon hv30 and I’m blown away with that one.

disappointed
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
For what I was looking for it didn’t fit the bill. It would be fine for someone who just wants to capture quick family vidoes. It’s a step up from using your cell phone to capture video.

Excellent track car camera
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this camera to use for on-board video in my race car. I have used it for half of a season and am very happy with it. It’s a good compromise between price, durability, and picture quality. But it does need a few tweaks before you use it on the track.

I started out looking for a full 1080P camera, but quickly found that the market for these starts in the >$400 range. Reading reviews on various forums and talking to other racers who had tried HD cameras, the consensus was that you should avoid spending a lot on an in-car camera, as the operating environment is obviously hard on the equipment. Vibration is the biggest issue for durability with any track camera, and solid-state storage (i.e. SD cards like this camera uses) is preferable over tape to better handle vibration. Still, the whole camera is subjected to vibration, and some handle it better than others. Unfortunately there’s no way to tell how one camera will perform compared to another in this area, except to rely on experience. Thus a big part of why I chose this camera was the positive reviews from others who had been using it for some time.

As others have mentioned, its “1080p” mode is not full 1920×1080, but rather 1440×1080. I was not impressed with the picture quality at this resolution, so I use it in 720p (1280×720). I also experimented with the 60fps mode, but I had trouble using the resulting Quicktime MOVs – the audio did not sync properly with the video for some reason. This does not happen at 30fps. Anyways, 30fps is actually plenty smooth for track footage, and takes up half the space of 60fps.

You will want to shim the battery before using the camera on track, to prevent it from losing contact due to vibration, and shutting off the camera. I cut a piece from an old credit card and slid it in between the bottom of the battery and the case, to keep the battery pushed against the contacts at the top. It has never shut off on me since doing this.

I did the “frankencharger” mod to keep the camera running on the car’s electrical system, rather than relying on the camera battery, which was usually dead within 2 sessions. It’s a cheap and easy modification, and the camera never shuts off in the middle of a session. For more information on this mod, search for “frankencharger” on the Rennlist forums.

I also added a wide-angle lens to improve the range of the picture. I bought a Rokinon .45x magnetic lens (17-27mm size), and used several wraps of electrical tape to secure it. In my car, the result is that the picture goes perfectly to the top and left and right edges of the windshield, and down to the base of the shifter. The picture is a little blurry near the edges (especially the left and right sides), but for me, the increase in view is a worthwhile compromise.

Finally, to help with wind noise, I added a piece of foam over the microphone. The plastic mic cover on top of the camera slides off, and then you just stuff a piece of foam under there and replace the cover. It does seem to have helped reduce the noise.

At 720p 30fps, the Quicktime video generally takes up around 900MB for a 30-minute session. I got a 16GB SD card for $40 on Amazon, which is plenty of room for a 2-day event with 4x 30-minute sessions per day.

It has its limitations, but all in all, this is a great HD track car camera for the money.

Acceptable for the price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Aiptek A-HD+ 1080P High Definition Camcorder (Silver)

*****************************************************

Acceptable for the price.

I would have given five stars; if this camera had a movie stablization feature in it.

.

low quality
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
The aiptek camcorder I purchased has several flaws of which two are fatal: for starters the ccd has very low sensitivity so unless you are outside on a bright sunny day and tape slow motion events the picture is dark, reddish and in general of very low quality. The second serious problem is that the size of the files produced do not get even close to what the advertisements describe. There is no way to fit more than a few minutes into the internal memory and the external card is of limited help. Finally when I contacted aiptek about the second problem they did not even bother to respond.

Very Impressed
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I like the fact that it’s small and mobile and you can take it anywhere. I put a 4gb memory card in and so far I’ve had no issues. I think it’s a pretty good investment.

Fantastic gadget for the price!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pros: 60fps 720p recording, Cheap accessories, Good still shots, Size, Price.

Cons: Low light recording mediocre, No stability control, Battery life.

I was on the fence between the Flip Mino camcorder and the Aiptek A-HD/A-HD+. I made the decision to go with the A-HD+, simply because it had 60fps 720p recording, and I would be taking a LOT of action shots. The camera’s main attraction is the 1080p recording, but I have not yet tried this, and will update when I use it in detail. On that front, it delivers! In broad daylight, the A-HD+ shoots a very clean and bright HD picture, in the full 60fps as advertised. The generated files are having a hard time playing back at the full frame rate on my laptop (Core2Duo 2GHz, 2GB RAM, 256MB Video), but when playing back directly to my HDTV, it runs at 60fps without a hitch. The camcorder has some trouble recording at the full 60fps indoors or in low light situations though… the Night mode improved the brightness of the picture, but at the cost of half the fps and some artifacts in the picture. The zoom feature does what it needs to do, although I do wish it zoomed in more smoothly. Recorded audio quality is OK, I encountered no clipping or distortion that was reported on the A-HD. Accessories for this camera are dirt cheap, and three add-ons are essential for getting the most out of this one – Tripod, at least a 4GB SD card, and extra batteries. Thankfully, all three are relatively cheap, so nothing to worry about on that front.

Still shots are very nice and I feel 5MP is the optimal setting for taking pictures. There is a one second delay from when you click and when the flash actually goes off, too much time for human error… any tripod alleviates this issue. For the price, this one trumps any other camcorder out there in it’s price range.

The loose battery problem is definitely there, but I fixed the problem by cutting a playing card in half, and taping it to the inside of the compartment, absolutely no problems now!

Great Camcorder! Not Perfect, But Great.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Ok. Just so you know I’m not just your average person playing with this camcorder. I am a video editor and install a good bit of HDTVs. I look for things that most people do not look for in video. I have to say, for me, I like this model better than the Action HD, which is technically a step up from the A-HD+. I had the Action HD, but could not get over the noise of the the auto focus and zoom on every video I recorded. It drove me to return it. The Action HD does have a slightly better video quality, a lot better 3x optical zoom, and a very nice marco mode (for close ups from 6-2inches away), but the auto focus clicking on the audio of every video kills it for me. The A-HD+ has great video. The fixed focus takes a little getting used to. Once you do this thing rocks! It has a “macro mode”, but its more just up close shots. If you are shooting something within 1.5 feet use the macro mode and it will come right into focus. Just don’t get to close or it will blur. The audio is a little quieter than the Action, but a lot cleaner. In the right light you can’t beat the price and quality. Yes, the low light recordings are a little grainy, but I can live with that (most cameras aren’t great in low light). I haven’t ran the battery all the way down yet, so I don’t really know how long it last. It doesn’t come with a remote or tripod like the Action, but it does come with a lens cap (which non of the other models seem to have). I’m sure you can find those for cheap. The greatest thing is you can just hook it up to your computer and dump the video right off the sd card (I have a 16GB which hold 4.5 hours of 1080 video). The software that comes with it ROCKS too. The digital theater plays the video back better than any other player I’ve seen.

Pictures are ok. Don’t use the 8MP setting. It’s not really 8MP its enhanced. The Camera is only 5MP and it “upscales” to 8MP. But I didn’t buy this to take pictures.

Cons:

-The zoom is really jumpy (not smooth at all) and only digital.

-Reds are exaggerated. They tend to be bright and unnatural.

-Auto brightens and dims (exposure). It’s very noticeable on some video. (But in the right light its perfect)

-No tripod or remote

-Mic is on top of the camera, not on the front

-Marco mode switch can easily be activated in your pocket resulting in blurred video at regular distances. (Have to remember to check before recording)

But I remind myself how much I paid and the how good the video quality is and it puts a smile right back on my face. I never imagined that you could get this kind of quality from a point and shoot camcorder.

You get what you pay for
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
easy to use, very small but without image stabilizer the video is very shaky. I do not have a tripod and would not use one..the point is, it is small and portable so why would you lug a tripod around!!!Low light quality seems suspect but will play around with the exposure over xmas to see if this improves. If no better and i do not master the shaky video situation i will return this product straight after xmas..i will follow up but right now i am thinking of upgrading to the Sanyo Xacti 1010.

You get what you pay for
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
We bought this because it was so inexpensive, but the quality on it is really bad. Not only is the sound and picture quality lacking, the LCD screen went out on our Paris trip (great timing) and we sent it back to get fixed. They fixed it under warranty but it took forever, so we bought a good quality Canon in the meantime. I guess my 6-yr-old will have the most expensive kids’ camera on the block now. Don’t buy this!

What’s to say that hasn’t been said
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Not much to add to all the good reviews for this camera. One thing though, watch that macro switch. I accidently bumpped it to macro and shot 20 mins of video. You can’t tell on the screen that it is out of focus. Got home and found the entire video out of focus. Live and learn. Great camera for the money. Cheap enough to feel safe strapping it to an RC plane.

Great little HC camcorder, but still need audio improvement…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Like others have said, this camera does take some pretty good pictures for the money. Its a simple HD camcorder for a simple price. It does not have all the bells and whistles that you will get with a $700+ camcorder, but again it is great for the money. What you don’t get with this camcorder is any image stabilization, so you have to be really careful when shooting, so you won’t get motion sick watching the videos later. Not a big deal really. The other thing that this doesn’t have is an optical zoom. It has a digital zoom, but it zooms in jumping steps, which is somewhat annoying, but again you can get used to dealing with it.

The one thing I am disaapointed with, like other reviewers have stated, is the microphone/audio recording capablities of this camcorder. They are poor, very poor. My cheap old JVC did a great job of recording the sounds of what you were aiming at as well as recording what you were saying behind the camera. With this camcorder, anything that is more than 5 feet away from the camera can hardly be heard, and narrating from behind the camera comes through too loud.

If Aiptek could improve this, or add an external microphone jack, they would have a real winner.

Not bad for the price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
We bought this for my parents as a 50th wedding anniversary gift. They were going to Italy for a month and we thought an inexpensive camera would be the way to go just in case it got lost or stolen. We used the camera at their party to try it out. When I plugged the camera in to charge it wouldn’t stay charged. So, I had read some other reviews about the problem with the battery charging and putting a small wad of paper in there between the battery and the cover. It worked and the battery was able to charge. The camera is fairly easy to use but all the video messages their guests left at the party could not be heard. The microphone picks up all the surrounding sounds and I don’t believe there is an optional microphone for this unit. All in all we got some nice action shots. I hope my parents were able to use it in Italy without a problem, they’re not home yet.

Hard to Use
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I was a happy owner of a Flip Video camera, but lost it.

I was going to reorder and saw this one, about $30-$40 more expensive, but it seemed to be an upgrade.

I am so disappointed and unhappy, that I wasted time. I have to return this and now order another Flip camera.

The directions are sparse, I see nothing about how to erase anything. There is supposed to be a focus, but I can’t find it. The ‘joy stick’ is made to be used by the fingers of the same children who go blind making oriental rugs.

I see that most of the positive reviews come from people who have some technical expertize. However, if you don’t want to mess with this, just don’t order this camera. Try the Flip!

However, this is going back as soon as possible and I am ordering my new Flip Recorder and giving them a very high review. (I do publicity videos for small business people and they are amazed at the quality that comes from that little Flip Video camera)

HD Test
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This camcorder is only good for testing the HD system , and I think if you want to have a HD quality you will need to buy every thing High Definition like LCD TV, and DVD player

Aiptek 1080P a great deal if u can find it for a good price
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
After having this camcorder for a year (the black version), I would have to give it a pretty high rating.

Here are some of the great things about it:

1) Its size is great to take pics or video on the run.

2) The personal media function is a nice bonus.

3) It has cables for both HD & non-HD tvs for easy viewing of videos & pics

4) The removable SD card (up to 32GB) is a nice feature, esp. when you have an SD slot in your computer for easy transfer of videos & pics.

5) Still pics are pretty good quality, particularly outside in good lighting settings.

6) The macro function is excellent for close ups.

7) this is truly a point & shoot camcorder–you are guaranteed to get quick pics and video on the spot (unless you need the flash).

Some down sides:

1) Both video & stills are challenging in low-light settings.

2) Don’t pay $149.99 for this–look for a good price on it.

3) Sometimes the screen goes black and requires you to remove the battery.

4) There is no image stabilization, so you need to be sure not to make jerky motions (i.e. my poor wife is motion sensitive and sometimes gets nauseated by my quick, jerky videos).

5) one time I had an issue with my SD card and I lost my videos & pics.

6) the 8 meg pixs really is not that–it is best to leave your stills at 5 or even 3 meg pixs.

Overall, this is a great deal and I highly recommend it, especially if you follow the following tips:

1) Don’t depend on it in night settings or where there is extremely low light.

2) You can use a program such as [...] that is free and will allow you to convert your Quicktime videos to be burned onto a DVD.

3) The macro function is also a great feature. I am a masters student and instead of making photocopies, I put my camera on the macro function, take my pics, and use my jpeg the way I would my old photocopies for research. This is quicker, cheaper, and better quality than making copies.

4) The video function is great for things like your child’s soccer games (i.e. it can pick up movement great, as long as you are not running around when you take it).

5) The personal media player can drop anything on your tv to the SD drive on the camcorder. I have even run a streaming video from my computer through my tv (using my s-video cable) back to my camcorder to convert my computer video to Quicktime and also have a portable file that I can take anywhere.

6) Be sure to transfer your videos and pics periodically from your SD card to your computer–I lost my once.

7) If the screen goes black on you, or there are red streaks on the picture, don’t sweat it. Just pop out the battery and put it back in, and it should work good as new.

I am tough on my technology. After a year with this camcorder, I am convinced that this is a great deal. I now use this as my primary camera and camcorder because of its portability and ease of use. If you are in to high quality, this could still be a good secondary camcorder/camera. Just look for a good price and don’t settle for anything above $110.