Rating: Summary: Hi-tech toy Review: The picture quality isn't comparable to "regular" digital cameras, but then again - this isn't a regular camera! The Internet Viewcam is extremely small and very easy to handle (point and shoot). Barely OK for taking simple still images (640 x 480) and OK for making small MPEG-4 movies (max 320 x 240) that you can distribute over the Internet. It's really simple to transfer pictures and movies to/from the camera via the included smartmedia floppy adapter, but the bundled software is crappy. The Internet Viewcam is more of a toy than anything else (because of the poor picture quality), but I would recommend anyone to buy it as it's the coolest hi-tech toy I've seen in years.
Rating: Summary: Sharp VN-EZ1, I highly recommend this internet camcorder! Review: The VN-EZ1 will never surpass its bigger brothers at Sharp, but for what it does... it is a nice unit. I wanted something that I can record, then email the video to friends and relatives. The VN-EZ1 fit my needs. I just got back from Las Vegas, and I took several shots around town. Most files were under 1.5 MB. I placed all the videos (and they look great)on my Yahoo Briefcase and emailed several to friends and relatives. Windows Media Player latest version is needed to play the .ASF format. The product is fine for internet use and I usually have it set on Super-Fine mode. The best feature is its size, (a bar of soap) sold it to me. I hate lugging a full size camcorder around Vegas. The VN-EZ1 fit in the belt pouch (included). The software and the floppy disk adapter make downloading easy. In fact, operation is so easy, I hardly used the manual at all. I recommend this little unit to those who want to put fun in your email and web pages.
Rating: Summary: Sharp VN-EZ1, I highly recommend this internet camcorder! Review: The VN-EZ1 will never surpass its bigger brothers at Sharp, but for what it does... it is a nice unit. I wanted something that I can record, then email the video to friends and relatives. The VN-EZ1 fit my needs. I just got back from Las Vegas, and I took several shots around town. Most files were under 1.5 MB. I placed all the videos (and they look great)on my Yahoo Briefcase and emailed several to friends and relatives. Windows Media Player latest version is needed to play the .ASF format. The product is fine for internet use and I usually have it set on Super-Fine mode. The best feature is its size, (a bar of soap) sold it to me. I hate lugging a full size camcorder around Vegas. The VN-EZ1 fit in the belt pouch (included). The software and the floppy disk adapter make downloading easy. In fact, operation is so easy, I hardly used the manual at all. I recommend this little unit to those who want to put fun in your email and web pages.
Rating: Summary: Great product, but only for web video Review: This is a great product, and appears to be the only one in its class (filmless/tapeless camcorders). And, it's even smaller than it looks in the picture. It makes reasonable quality video recordings -- up to an hour long (with a 32MB SmartMedia card), or longer if you use the time lapse mode and an (included) AC adaptor. (You can upload the video files to the web; Sharp recommends POPcast, a free video hosting service.) It also has a still photo mode, although the resolution isn't so hot. Four alkaline AA batteries supposedly last for a full hour of recording time; my experience so far has been consistent with that claim, and I haven't bothered purchasing long-life (not nicad) rechargeables. You'll definitely want to buy a larger SmartMedia card than the 4MB that comes with the camera; SanDisk and other manufacturers make 32MB cards for about $60. I also recommend adding a USB SmartMedia reader for another $40 or so, although the included floppy disk SmartMedia adapter works on most PCs with internal floppy drives. And start watching for sales on alkaline AA batteries; you'll go through a lot of them with this great camera!
Rating: Summary: My Sharp mpeg-4 Review: This little unit looked so cool I bought it as soon as they were available in the USA. (You can't beat the size, it's about the size of a pack of cigarettes.) I've had it for about 1 1/2 years. It's come in handy on a few occasions. But the output is so low res, I find myself yearning for more dpi. I'm getting better at taking pictures with it, given its limits, and currently have one of its photos as my desktop screensaver. Even at that size (on a 19 in monitor), it looks OK. I just sent my mother 4-5 photos of her grandchildren and they uploaded (winzipped) in about one minute on an analog line. The shutter is a little slow, so there's more time then you may be used to after you click and before you see.... You know what they say, you can't have it all. With this you trade speed for quality and convenience for precision. And it just gives me another excuse to buy another piece of equipment.
Rating: Summary: Broke right after warranty Review: This little viewcam stopped working right after the warranty. I did like playing with it while it worked. But when I tried to get it fixed, the cost was more than what I had paid for the camera. Sharp USA refused to do anything about it.
Rating: Summary: Reading software is already built into Internet Explorer Review: This Sharp ViewCam is a revolutionary digital camera which can record motion pictures, sound (built in speaker) and still images (4x Digital Zoom Lens/270-degree rotating lens). The big-file slow-loading problems have been solved with new compression formats. What is great is that this camera doesn't need film, so no more expensive film processing bills. When you take a picture, the color image is digitally captured on a memory card - like a miniature floppy disk. You can record over 500 images on the card. You can also make movies up to 60 minutes long with sound. The beauty of this ViewCam is that you can load motion pictures and sound onto the Internet and Microsoft Internet Explorer has the reading software built in so almost anyone will be able to view your e-mail attachments. All you have to do is point the camera, push a button and you can see the shot on the camera screen (1.8-inch LCD monitor). Then you slide the video card out of the camera and load it into a special floppy disk which is included. Then all you do is open the file on your computer and edit the picture. Then upload and you have pictures on your Web site.
Rating: Summary: It's a good web cam! Review: Web cams are a dime a dozen but this one does a good job
Rating: Summary: Works With my MAC Review: Yeah, the discription says for pc users, mac users are out of luck. Well I have a MAC, so I can break the rules! All you need to do is purchase a smartmedia flash card reader compatible with MAC and you will also have to download a free windows media player for MAC, thats it! I use a multi flash reader thats compatible wih my os9.2 . Unfortunately my reader does not work under osX.2, but, there are readers that will. I can still share my files with osX.2, or drag n drop into my Virtual PC, so whatever os I use, I can still view and send my visuals over the net! MAC users, no need to worry, you have a MAC. And you know you cant stop THE MAC!
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