Mustek DV5500 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder with 2.5-inch LCD and 4x Digital Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Good Camera, good price.
Review: After owning the Mustek DV5500 for one day, I fell in love with it. I own the Mustek DV4000 and was looking to replace it. The DV5500 can operate in lower light conditions then the DV4000, has way more options and has a built in flash for still pictures only. Only draw back is flash can't be used in camcorder mode. If you're looking for a good quality camcorder for under $200 then this is a good bet. Also functions as MP3 player:)

Rating:
Summary: wish i would have read these reviews
Review: first one i bought never worked. second one worked for 1 day. don't buy it! I've wasted more money on shipping it back and forth than anything else. Mustek sucks. They're technical support staff even seems to know the product sucks.

i repeat DO NOT BUY IT

Rating:
Summary: DV-5500 vs DV-5300
Review: I bought both the Aiptek DV-5300 and the Mustek DV-5500 from Amazon... not to have both but to evaluate them and pick the "best one"... the price was a little more for the Mustek, but only by $40 or so. The Mustek worked well and the 2.5" LCD was very, very nice. The 1.5" LCD on the Aiptek is small and is not as nice as the Mustek. Both took nice pics... video and stills. But the Mustek was MUCH bigger and MUCH heavier than the DV-5300. If size doesn't matter to you, then you might want to get the Mustek. One other note: the shutter release for the Mustek really has to be push in hard... and that made the camera move on me and caused some blurry pics... the Aiptek uses a micro-switch and is MUCH easier to depress. Hope this helped youl

Rating:
Summary: SUCKS!
Review: I bought it, IT works fine in good lighting condishons. other than that IT SUCKS! Focus sucks, after about 5 feet its gets blurry and My files Cept on geting corrupted in the camera. It frezzes alot. Dont buy it at all.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this
Review: I bought this camera and had to return it, because it was not worth a flip. I used it to record my daughter's Christmas program a few weeks ago, and I was just lucky that I brought another camera. The image was so blurry, you cannot even see anything but fuzz. If I would not have brought our digital camera, I would not have any memories taken from this event. This camera is so unreliable. I would not recommend this to anybody but maybe a child who wants to use it as a play video camera.

Rating:
Summary: going strong after one year
Review: I did some reasearch and didnt find any negative opinions before purchasing and decided to buy it.
Finally I have received the camera, followed all the instructions, charged the battery, but it never worked!!!
The camera appears to be turned on, but LCD Screen flashes just once and goes off again... nothing more happens.
Now I am in Australia, Warranty applies to USA and Canada customers only, they have no distributors in here and dont know what to do with this garbage, its gona cost me more than the camera if I want to return and claim for replacement

Rating:
Summary: A good look at a good product....
Review: I was very nervous about getting this camera after reading all of the negative reviews posted on Amazon. I have owned and used a Mustek DV4000 for quite some time and I wanted to get the next in the lineage of this product. To say that I was more than pleasantly surprised with this product would be a huge understatement.


Overall Build:
The quality of the device is very good. It feels very solid and sturdy in your hands and you are not afraid to push buttons on it. It can be tricky to select the right options with the multi-directional pad - but it is more than acceptable to use. The LCD screen is one of the best I have ever seen (and that goes for any camera currently on the market). The new CCD lense blows away the CMOS lense of previous models. BTW, the slight clicking sound you hear is the autofocus lense constantly adjusting and is normal. All newer CCD cameras do that.


Video Quality:
The video on the default out of the box setting (400x304/~30fps) is very smooth and the resolution can compare to that of most low-end Hi-8mm/VHS-C cameras available. The 640x480 resolution is smoother than it was on the DV4000 and is usable. A light for video would've been nice but they more than made up for it with the new lense which can work in far lower lighting conditions than the previous models (CCD compared to the previous CMOS). The zoom while filming could've been better (it is choppy and seems to take place in steps as opposed to a smooth zoom)


Photo Quality:
Here is easily the biggest improvement on the device. Picture quality is excellent. Again using the default settings (2048x1536 - 3.1mp with no h/w interpolation), the pictures I took were stunningly bright and clear. In fact, I have no need to use the even higher 5mp hardware assisted resolution. The shutter speed is much faster than the DV4000 and the flash is used very effectively. I took a picture in a pitch-black room (just pointed the camera and snapped a photo) and the picture came out fine. I compared two pictures - one taken with a brand new Canon Powershot SI IS and the same picture taken with the DV5500 and the picture quality wasn't that far off. I am now confident that I no longer need to carry my Olympus digital with me everywhere I bring my DV5500.


MP3/Voice/Storage:
The MP3 playback hasn't changed much from the DV4000 - it does sound a bit richer though which is nice. The voice recorder to me is just gravy as far as I'm concerned as I probably won't ever use it. As a card reader, it is fine.


Software:
The new MaxConsole software is much better than the previous DV Console provided with the DV4000. Picture/Video transfer is faster and there finally is a progress bar. The photo touch-up suite allows you to normalize lighting conditions (remove backlight/red-eye/darkness) and even restore pictures that may be slightly out of focus. Installation was easy and everything worked on the first shot.


Conslusion:
I sometimes feel that the people who post these reviews are looking for a $1000.00 camera quality in a device that I paid around $160.00 for. Yes if you are George Lucas looking for a new digial camcorder to film the next Star Wars epic, you will be disappointed with this camera. I was looking for something small and inexpensive that would allow me to take videos and pictures of family affairs and my soon to be born son and for that, this camera fits the bill perfectly. Could it be better? Sure. But for the price it is well worth the money.


Pros:
- Huge improvements over previous models
- Extra batteries are inexpensive (~$10.00 on eBay)
- Standard memory card format (SD/MMC)
- Attractive price

Cons:
- Zooming is not smooth while filming
- Could've used a light for video recording (night shot works well though)

Rating:
Summary: defective LCD screen
Review: Preordered item from Target.com. Awaited nearly a month for the item to arrive to Target from the factory. Target did an excellent job shipping it out fast. Received shipment within days. Opened box and put batteries in. LCD screen does not work! I could hear the normal beeps and tones when I turn on power and when I click the button to take pictures but the LCD shows nothing... Returned to target and still awaiting refund to my credit card. The whole construction seems very flimpsy. As I recall, it was made in China not Japan or USA. The feel of it seems more like a toy than an expensive Video Camera.

Rating:
Summary: Needs less than 1 star
Review: Purchsed the DV-5500 for daughter for Christmas and it is back in the box and on the way back to Amazon. Yuck. Camera is cheap and plastic and as if that is not bad enough the video quality is HORRID. Can't speak for the digital camera portion, she only wanted to record video. Forget shooting in your home during the day, even in the brightest of rooms video was dark. Computer software was not user-friendly and we are all computer savvy in this house! Please spend a little more money and get a quality camcorder, we opted for the Samsung Mini-DV.