Aiptek DV4500 Pocket Digital Video Camcorder (MPEG4)

Rating:
Summary: this is da bomb diggity
Review: I believe this camara is a very decent camara for the first time camara holder. It has many good features like a still shot and recorder. You can even use the voice recorder to speak your mind. Also, the mp3 player can play clear, crisp sound. However, the mp3 player does not play WMA. Also, depending on your scenary, pictures come out dark in some instances. Although, I still strongly suggest that you purchace this device.

Rating:
Summary: Not Mac compatible
Review: A pretty competent little camera, especially for the price. Decent (not great) pictures and video, but beware! This camera advertises itself as recording "MPEG-4" video. The files are NOT standard MPEG-4 files. They are Windows Media Player (.ASF) files that cannot be opened by any QuickTime compatible applications. VLC is the only Macintosh application that can play back the video files. Even Windows Media Player cannot play back the files until you install the proprietary codecs on your Windows computer.

If you're looking for compatibility and industry-standard video, stay away from this camera.

Rating:
Summary: useless, junky toy
Review: Here's the litany of failures I've found in about a couple weeks of owning this "video camera":

1. Malfunctions constantly: the 4500 frequently becomes totally unresponsive to input; won't even turn off! You have to actually disconnnect the batteries to reset the thing. This happened starting from Christmas Day, about 10 minutes after opening it. Do you really think it'll be working at all after, say, 6 weeks?

2. Light Sensitivity non-existent: If you plan on using the 4500 as a video cam, a digital camera, or a web cam, then I suggest you move immediately to the surface of the Sun or another medium sized star, because you (it) can't see ANYTHING in normal indoor or low light conditions. I tried to take some pics on new year's eve and they were totally dark.

2. Use the built-in strobe you say? Good luck getting it to even charge up more than a couple times per 2 AA batteries.
This thing is a battery leech: it uses 2 AA's, and boy it'll use 'em fast. Better invest in the Eveready Corp. if you plan on actually using this thing.

4. USB Port: first off, the cover to the usb and memory slots is totally cheapo....surely a matter of time before it simply breaks. Secondly, the cover is on the FRONT of the camera (the lense side), and since the provided USB wire is roughly 4 inches long, it's nearly impossible to situate the 4500 as a web cam (not that you'd see anything anyway without about 4500 watts of light in your room). This is just bad design, plain and simple.

5. Jack of all trades, bad at them all: The 4500 tries to be everything at once...and fails miserably...do one thing and do it right! Again, it's bad design to try and cram an mp3 player in with a vid/digital/web cam.

6. Doesn't come with memory: be aware this thing has virtually no built-in memory whatsoever, so you'll be buying a card...about 60 more bucks for a 512 MB card, which is the minimum I'd recommend.

I could continue here, but let me just finish with a word of caution to the readers: keep your BS filter on high when reading
all these so-called positive reviews, and ask yourself if it's a regular guy giving an objective opinion or someone with certain other interests at heart, because there's no way a majority of rational people could give this product a 4 or 5.

Rating:
Summary: alright on sale i guess
Review: I havent used this camera outside that much... but indoors the video is very dark. This camera can take alright shots if there is sufficient light (or you can use the flash). THe flash works pretty well indoors, except there isnt any way to really adjust it to my knowledge (auto/on/off). I tried to take some really close-up shoots of random small things..but the flash just made the object come out comepletely white. The video isnt that great, but i guess you could say on par with the video modes built into may other digital cameras. However for the list price, i would take a look at some other cameras and maybe try to find one on-sale that is of better quality (without being much more). My lil bro got a nice canon PowerShot A75 onsale and the quality of his pictures are atleast alot better (not sure about the video). So what im trying to say is that if u really dont need all the other features (mp3 player, etc.) than i would check out others. However for such a small camera it does an alright job and for the sale price i think i got a deal. If you think you will use alot of its features (webcame, mp3 player, voice recorder, etc.) then its probably not that bad of a deal. But if your looking at taking high-quality video clips, you might want to reconsider. I still have to play around a lil more with the video mode outside and see what results i get. All in all it seems like a relatively good deal. The Aiptek DV5300 is out now and is the same price i believe.. so u might want to check that out instead.

Rating:
Summary: Cool little gadget
Review: I like this little device a lot. It's really useful for somebody like me who travels a lot, and needs something inexpensive, portable, and with lots of features. I'm sure more expensive devices of his type are better, but that's why they cost more money. This product is great for the money, and works quite well for a casual user.

Rating:
Summary: Where's my 4 megapixel camera?
Review: I ordered this camera from this site and it does everything I expected it to do except I found out that this camera is only a 3.1 megapixel camera even though it says 4 on the box and instructions. In the digital camera mode you only have the options of 1, 2, and 3.1 megapixels. I'm still pretty mad at how Aiptek lied, but I'm getting over it. So if anyone can get their DV4500 to take a picture in 2300x1800(4mp)instead of 2000x1500(3.1mp)please say it in your review. Besides that problem this is a great camera and will be alot of fun, but get some rechargeable batteries first.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully Perfect
Review: I received this little thing this christmas and was quite happy with all of its features. It takes nice snapshots, plays mp3's really well, and takes good video. I was quite impressed with the Digital Still Camera, and it has a flash that helps a lot. The Mp3 player is nice too, as it is all in one deal/component. It comes with a bunch of stuff like a tri-pod and earphones, and even a carry-with-case. The screen can be easily used to watch previously taken video and photos in the dark.

The video is best in bright light such as outside or in a commercial office building, though as long as you have decent light, your video will come out nice.

I recommend a 512 mb memory card and rechargeable batteries, and you are set. It's worth its price and is a sure thing you will use a lot.

Have Fun!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I was very excited to get this camera the other day. I had to buy a new one because a mustek one I bought offline was pretty crappy. Though this camera is a great camera every picture is focused unlike the other one I had and it takes extraordinary photos. Though I was contemplating to keep my other one because this one has such a small LCD and doesn't swivel like the other one. It does have better filters than the other one though they are just black and white and sepia they are still better than all the other ones. One big problem I've found with mine is that to open the connectivity area it's like you have to break off the plastic you don't but it feels like it maybe in a newer model they will have fixed that.

Rating:
Summary: great value for the money
Review: I've had my DV4500 for 2 months now, and I continue to enjoy using it. It's big pluses are it's portability and ease of use. The controls are well designed, and it's a quite versatile little gizmo. I bought it because I wanted an inexpensive still and video camera, but I find I am using it just as much as an mp3 player and voice recorder. The pictures it takes are very good, and there is a built in flash for indoor and low light shooting. The biggest downside (for me) is that it is not compatible with mac computers, only pcs. Also, the video quality drops under low light conditions. I hope Aiptek corrects these deficiencies in future models. It uses standard AA batteries, but consumes them very quickly, so get some rechargeables. But for less than $150, you can have a wonderful camera that you can always have on you, and capture spontaneous moments as you please.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome for the price
Review: If you are familiar with the video quality of most digital still cameras, you will no doubt like this camera. The quality is slightly better than that of those videos. I enjoy the fact that it is small and easy to use. It is perfect for normal outings that you would like to have video of. In fact, it is smaller than my digital still camera. I carry it everywhere I think there is going to be something I want to capture. I also enjoy that is uses battery power sparingly and allows them to hold a charge. It also does not use battery power when transfering files onto a computer. In short, if you are looking to capture videos with out spending a lot, the DV 4500 is perfect.