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Rating: 
Summary: Great camcorder for the price!!
Review: Any comments about poor image quality when zooming in are because the user didn't know that ANY zooming beyond the 20X Optical zoom mark is then converted to a Digital zoom which is a conversion of the maximum Optical zoom (20X) by blowing up the image digitally. This results in a poorer image as ANY DIGITAL ZOOM would gives exactly the same effect. DIGITAL ZOOM IS JUST A GIMICK!!!!<br />It is like taking a picture and then expanding it 990X in a program like Paint. There are a fixed number of dots in the image and expanding it makes it look worse because they get farther apart.<br />This is a great little camera for the money. Easy to use. Cheap tapes. Built-in light!! (many have none)
Rating: 
Summary: JVC Unit in general
Review: DO NOT buy JVC products. The digital units in general have a VERY high failure rate and JVC turns a blind eye to it's customers. They are happy to charge you 50% or better to perform ineffective repairs to the units which last a very short time. The most common error is "Unit in safeguard mode error E04" which can occur within days of purchase. Save yourself the hassel and by anything other than a JVC product.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad for low-end model
Review: I bought this as an upgrade from my VHS-C camcorder. I tested it against my roommates' Canon ZR80 and Panasonic GS9.
The video quality in low-light situations was suprisingly good, given what I had heard about most digital camcorders' abilities. The video quality in outdoor situations was even better. It's not up to spec with a Sony, but it's way cheaper, and it outdoes the more expensive Canon ZR. The GS9 was about the same in quality.
However, the camcorder didn't seem to handle combined bright/low-light situations all that well. While it had no problem filming dark regions (shaded/indoors) from a brightly lit area, when filming brightly-lit regions from indoors, the camcorder recorded white streaks that partially obscured whatever was being filmed. I had this problem with the ZR80 and the GS9, so it may just be an issue with low end camcorders in general.
The camcorder had no problem focusing when zooming below 20x magnification, though above 24x, it had noticeable difficulty focusing in low light. It couldn't focus at all above 40x in either bright or low light even with highly contrasting backgrounds and scenery. It shares this problem with the GRD73 and GRD93. The GS9 and ZR80 were noticeably better at focusing at these magnifications.
Though it offers the option to record photos as "stills", the quality wasn't very good. It was also difficult and time-consuming to retrieve these "stills" because the camcorder doesn't use a flash card to store them. I ended up sticking with my digital camera for taking pics; the low quality setting was better than the high quality setting on the camcorder.
I had no problems with audio. The motor, which could be heard during recording and playback (on the camcorder) was not recorded to the video and was not audible when played back on a tv or computer. However, it is very loud, and quickly became annoying. The GS9 recorded a barely noticeable shrill, but the ZR80's motor drowned out softer sounds and was very noticeable on playback (using a TV or computer).
The camcorder doesn't come with the cable needed to hook it up to a computer, but any Firewire card (aka i.Link or ieee 1394) you buy comes with the cable, so that's not much of an issue.
However, I was peeved that most of the packaged software were demo or trial versions.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing for the price!
Review: I spent some time trying to find a Minidv camcorder under $400 that had great low light capabilities. I ended up with JVC's GR-D33, and here's what I found after shooting some test footage and making a DVD:
The picture quality of footage shot outside was outstanding and never looked digital. The low light capabilities are in fact impressive. Footage shot in my basement (less light than a "low light situation") was clear and wasn't too pixilated. There is a neat backlight feature that cancels out background light to record detail of the subject in the foreground. The motor noises from the camera and the zoom can be heard on tape only when recording in quiet situations, but this shouldn't be a problem under any normal circumstances. My Windows XP system saw the camera when I Firewire'd it to the computer. I captured footage in the native DV format, edited it, made a DVD to watch on TV, and was extremely impressed by the quality of the picture. This is a fantastic no-frills camera with great low light performance, and is a steal at the price.
Rating:
Summary: Great value!!!
Review: I was looking for an inexpensive digital camcorder (i do own a very good digital camera) and this fit the budget perfectly. Its very easy to use on auto mode (it does have a manual mode for savvy users) and the video quality is great even indoors on dim light situations. The audio quality is good (though the mic is not external) and there is no motor noise that i've seen people complain about in other camcorders.Pros:
Great quality, incredible value, easy to use. Cons:
Remote control for play back.
Rating:
Summary: Very HIGH Failure Rate
Review: JVC Camcorders are highly UNreliable. Once they begin to display errors, you are done. This may occur very shortly after purchase. I received the infamous "Unit in safeguard mode error E04" and that was the end of it. Got some other errors. I did everything the camera (and instructions) told me to do...change the batter, bought a new battery, cleaned the head etc... But it just does not matter. You will get errors. And once you have these errors, the camera refuses to work. And in some cases, it refuses to simply stay ON long enough to do anything at all, including getting your tape out of it.
There are too many other GOOD digital camcorders out there. Don't buy JVC.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome gadget
Review: Mommy and Daddy bought me this camera at Best Buy. I love the sounds it makes similar to the E.T. ride with the beeping sounds. I give it a 5 star rating by PG, R and Y.
Rating:
Summary: Beware - low quality and need to make more purchases!!
Review: We bought this as an upgrade to our VHS camcorder we got 6 years ago. I wanted to be able to edit our videos in the computer. After my first filming, I quickly learned this camcorder has poor zoom quality (if you zoom in too close it gets fuzzy) and very poor audio as you can hear the motor running on playback. When I wanted to hook the camcorder up to the computer to try to do some editing, I discovered the cable you need to hook the two together is not included. This is an extra $30 purchase. Either put more money into a better quality camcorder or save your money until the better quality lower in price!!
Rating:
Summary: Beware - low quality and need to make more purchases!!
Review: We bought this as an upgrade to our VHS camcorder we got 6 years ago. I wanted to be able to edit our videos in the computer. After my first filming, I quickly learned this camcorder has poor zoom quality (if you zoom in too close it gets fuzzy) and very poor audio as you can hear the motor running on playback. When I wanted to hook the camcorder up to the computer to try to do some editing, I discovered the cable you need to hook the two together is not included. This is an extra $30 purchase. Either put more money into a better quality camcorder or save your money until the better quality lower in price!!
Rating:
Summary: Save for a better camcorder
Review: With the best lighting conditions the video is great any other forget it. The audio? What audio, voices have to be yelling to be picked up and be heard on playback. There is no memory card if you're thinking of taking photos.
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