Rating: 
Summary: Amazon's Review is Right on
Review: A must buy if you want a 2-megapixel camera.
Amazon's review of this camera is very accurate.
I have had this camera for 4 months now, and it goes everywhere with me. I Just keep it in my jacket or backpack. I love it. For the cost, it has paid for itself in pure ease of use and convience, and the video, although mpeg-4, helps capture those moments hard to get with a single picture.
I found that using rechargable Ni-mh batteries last much longer per use than Alkalines, especially when using the flash. Outdoor picture are remarkably crisp, but indoor pictures in average or less light are a little less desireable.
The other plus, and deal sealer for me, was the 64mb internal memory. That is alot of pictures, 350+ at a more than decent medium quality, and 100+/- at high quality.
Rating: 
Summary: Like the size, not the quality
Review: For the size and price its not a bad deal, but it didn't have the video quality i would've liked. The stills aren't bad but good lighting is needed. The video is very choppy and jumps around when recording. If you're looking for a cheap, small camera with video and don't need good quality, go for it. Overall I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Good Idea, Bad Product
Review: Gateway calls the DV-S20 a "multi-cam". I think it is a brilliant idea to combine digital camcorder and camera into one unit -- that is, if Gateway could only deliver it. It turned out that the DV-S20 is not suitable for either role.The biggest flaw -- and a fatal one -- with this DV-S20 is lack of picture quality. The video is recorded in MPEG4 at 320x240 resolution, similar to digital cameras with movie mode, albeit at a higher speed of 25 frame per second. Video is blur at best, even with the super-fine mode. The picture is nowhere near a regular camcorder quality, but also has severe color shifting problem. At super-fine mode, a 512MB secure digital card, which costs about $150, will only yield 40 minutes of video. The quality of still image is the worst I have ever seen. Clarity was poor and the colors came out unnatural and weird all the time. About 1/3 of pictures were out of focus. When using the flash, the object was often washed out. My son¡¦s HP 1MP digital camera takes much better pictures. There are also weaknesses in design. Because of its boxy shape, it is hard to hold steady with only one hand while shooting video. To prevent blocking flash, sensor, and microphone in the front panel, you need to hold the unit at its lower half; however, that make using those control buttons (located at the upper half of the unit in the back) inconvenient. Beware of the 2.5X digital zoom, it only works for video, but not for still image. Worse, the image in the LCD depends on the zoom setting, so if you forget to set zoom back to 1X after shooting video, what you see is not what you get when taking still images. The time lag is about 1 second. It is hard to catch the moment you want. The power consumption is way too high. Using 2 AA alkaline batteries, I had to change batteries every 30 minutes. Rechargeable NiMH battery is a must. To be fair, the DV-S20 does have some good points. Its size is small enough to fit into a pocket or purse easily. The flip-open LCD provides decent quality. The menu is easy to maneuver. And it comes with a generous 64MB internal memory, as compared with the 16MB comes with most digital cameras in the market. However, all these become irrelevant when the picture quality is so poor. After all, what you want it for is to take at least acceptable quality picture and video. Gateway had a brilliant idea but came up with a terrible product. In my opinion, Gateway shouldn¡¦t even have released it to the market with this kind of quality. Needless to say, I returned this junk to Gateway, even though it would have cost me only $99 after rebate, and even though Gateway charged $36 restocking fee (based on its regular price plus accessory kit). There are plenty of choices for quality 2MP digital camera with 3X optical zoom and movie function for less than $150, such as Kodak CX6230, FujiFilm A205, HP PS-635, to name just a few. You will be much better off with any of these than Gateway¡¦s so called multi-cam.
Rating:
Summary: DVS20
Review: Great for Moblogs.
I want to make it clear that this is NOT a precision high tech video camera. The DV-S20 is a TOY that you can take anywhere and have fun with. That being said, on with the review... I am a television video producer; I edit video for a living. I am always updating my "goings on" via my moblog and the DV-S20 Multi-Cam continues to be perfect for taking video of an event and quickly uploading the video onto the web. The small camera's appealing design (about the size of a deck of cards, only a little thicker) attracts attention whenever I use it. Even my peers in the "television world" take note. I carry it around with me everywhere I go because it is so small and at such a low price I am not afraid that something may happen to it. The camera can be held and controlled with one hand. The A/V out is great for watching the photos and videos on TV or recording to VCR, if that is your type of thing. I would suggest getting an SD media card for heavy use. The stock 64mb memory has plenty of room for photos, but video will quickly eat up that space. Having separated "video record" and "photo" buttons makes it nice to take a mix of video and photos on the fly. Sound quality is about par with the average consumer camcorder. I want to make it clear, the Multi-Cam is a toy. If you are looking to replace even the lowest end camcorder, you will be VERY unhappy with this product. Don't use it to document "Babies first steps" or "Julie's Second Wedding". The DV-S20 Multi-Cam is not made for these events... the price should clue you into that! The DV-S20 Multi-Cam is made for Bloggers, Young people just getting interested in video production, and the "Gadget Freak" that loves to show off. I love my Multi-Cam, I use it everyday. It fits my mobile technology life and I recommend it. PRO: Cheap price for a well made product, small package, attracts attention, fast and easy uploading to the computer, easy memory upgrade. Very easy to learn and operate. Quality consumer software included. CONS: Lackluster video quality if used for TV viewing, .asf files do not agree with some computers and editing programs. No zoom in photo mode, 2.5x digital zoom in video mode.
Rating:
Summary: Severely underimpressed
Review: I bought this for my wife for the holidays, and was really disappointed. Under perfect lighting conditions, it gives decent still pictures - but for anything less, the camera is lousy. Flash pictures completely wash out the subject unless you're standing far away, and pictures in moderate-light conditions can get blurred easily if you don't hold the camera real steady. And the movie mode is average, at best. Even though I only paid $140 after rebates at Gateway, I'm still underwhelmed. Going to take it back for a refund.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute piece of garbage!
Review: I got this camera last year for Christmas. At first, it worked great and took great pictures. I took it with me to Thailand and the pictures were fabulous. Unfortunately, as soon as I got back (a month after I was given the camera), the buttons started jamming and I had to send it back to Gateway. They sent me a brand-new one. However, the new one's pictures show up with lines and multi-colored streaks through all the pictures (they display normal the first time you take the picture, then it surprises you later with a bunch of ruined pictures). It's also useless for taking video, since it only takes about 20 minutes of poor-quality video, and don't bother using the flash, because it washes everything out. DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than Nothing
Review: I got this for Hannukah from my parents, and although it's not exactly a real camcorder it really is better than nothing. The Digital Camera on here all out sucks basically, but once in a while you can nail a decent digital picture. As for the camcorder it's ok, you can't exactly make a real movie, (unless you buy more memory, which is almost the price of the camera/camcorder itself), but even so ive enjoyed making short documentarys and sending them to my friends. Anothjerb great thing is the size, I mean you can take it anywhere, you never know what you could get on tape. Anyway overall, this is a decent item.
Rating:
Summary: You Get What You Pay For
Review: I purchased a DV-S20 last week. Well, I have to agree with what the people who give this product one and two stars have to say. I really cannot add much more to what's been said about it, but I can confirm that it performs poorly in pretty much all aspects of operations. The one thing that I truly did not care for, is that the camera insists on taking pictures at 1/30 of a second, no matter how much light is available. I adjusted the ISO by bumping it up to 400, but to no avail. In some cases, the shutter operated at 1/6 of a second! With shutter speeds that slow, it's no wonder that most of the pictures were fuzzy. Once in a great while, I was able to get a good, clear picture. But that was only achieved by holding the camera perfectly still with two hands and leaning up against something solid. Unfortunarely, this method isn't very practical in the real world. I used up the batteries very quickly because I spent so much time deleting a lot of bad pics. The video I took of my normally graceful gray tabby made her look as if she was in an earthquake. It was very jerky.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Bloggers and Gadget Freaks
Review: I want to make it clear that this is NOT a precision high tech video camera. The DV-S20 is a TOY that you can take anywhere and have fun with. That being said, on with the review... I am a television video producer; I edit video for a living. I am always updating my "goings on" via my blog and the DV-S20 Multi-Cam continues to be perfect for taking video of an event and quickly uploading the video onto the web. The small camera's appealing design (about the size of a deck of cards, only a little thicker) attracts attention whenever I use it. Even my peers in the "television world" take note. I carry it around with me everywhere I go because it is so small and at such a low price I am not afraid that something may happen to it. The camera can be held and controlled with one hand. The A/V out is great for watching the photos and videos on TV or recording to VCR, if that is your type of thing. I would suggest getting an SD media card for heavy use. The stock 64mb memory has plenty of room for photos, but video will quickly eat up that space. Having separated "video record" and "photo" buttons makes it nice to take a mix of video and photos on the fly. Sound quality is about par with the average consumer camcorder. I want to make it clear, the Multi-Cam is a toy. If you are looking to replace even the lowest end camcorder, you will be VERY unhappy with this product. Don't use it to document "Babies first steps" or "Julie's Second Wedding". The DV-S20 Multi-Cam is not made for these events... the price should clue you into that! The DV-S20 Multi-Cam is made for Bloggers, Young people just getting interested in video production, and the "Gadget Freak" that loves to show off. I love my Multi-Cam, I use it everyday. It fits my mobile technology life and I recommend it. PRO: Cheap price for a well made product, small package, attracts attention, fast and easy uploading to the computer, easy memory upgrade. Very easy to learn and operate. Quality consumer software included. CONS: Lackluster video quality if used for TV viewing, .asf files do not agree with some computers and editing programs. No zoom in photo mode, 2.5x digital zoom in video mode.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Quality Pictures, Blurry Video, Short battery Life
Review: If your only other option is to flush your money down a toilet, then maybe buy this, otherwise, don't even bother. It is a terrible camera and a worse camcorder. Here is a list of my complaints:
1) Unacceptable exposure AND color control. The exposure is close to correct only on a small percentage of pictures. If I were to carry this camera around, I would also have to Cary another camera, because it takes poor pictures.
2) Battery life is unacceptably short. 26 minutes for fresh alkaline batteries, not the 45 they advertise.
3) I do not believe the door over the battery/card slot would last over a month. It is very flimsy, and 'pops' into the wrong place from spring-load from the battery. Extreme care has to be used to close the thing. I would open the thing constantly, because I prefer transferring via the memory card, and I'm sure that door will not last.
4) Too much pressure is required for the video record button. This would not be an issue on a three-pound video camera, but this camera is so little, one cannot press the button without jerking the camera, and that messes up the video.
5) Everybody turns yellow when you use the flash.
6) The screw inset for tripod is too shallow. I cannot tighten the camera onto a standard tripod and make it tight because the screw cannot be turned into the camera far enough.
7) The only thing I do like about the camera is the Pinicle Video software, but I can't make it even see the camera, and downloaded video clips have to be changed to another format, and that's just too many steps for anything useful.
8) The low light warning is always on except in bright sunlight.
9) Costomer service is ridiculous. Here's an unedited clip written from GATEWAY Customer Service Department: "I am sorry that you had to go through all of this just to receive a product that you could not use. Therefore, there is nothing further that my supervisor can assist you further in this regard." --In other words, they don't even try to defend their product or to deny that it's a piece of crap, they are just sorry for me because I was unfortunate enough to be stuck with it!
|
