JVC Everio GZ-MG37 user reviews

Pros Light weight and massive storage capacity

Cons Bad video quality and stills are worse.

Summary I actually brought this camcorder without reading any reviews because there was none. I was interested in the idea of hard drives for storage instead of having to use tapes or DVD discs, it is also lightweight and compact but at the end of the day it is the video that your most interested in and this was a big let down for me. At the hightest quality setting the video was very poor and pixely, in low light conditions it is even worse and the stills are worse again. I brought this camcorder back to the shop thinking that it was a fault but they tried another one and it was the same. The shop assistant checked the camcorder out and he took some video footage and he could not believe how bad it was. I got my money back and I will buy a DVD based camcorder in a few weeks time after doing my research.

Pros Small size, great video, easy to use, easy to convert to DVD

Cons Short battery life. Now camera will not respond to controls on start-up. Screen is only grainy static and distortions. Will not turn-off unless battery is pulled.

Summary Purchased camera in 11/05. Took hours and hours of video without problem. In June, I had first experience with problem. On start-up, the view screen is only grainy distortions. It looks like a TV with bad reception. The camera controls will not work and the camera will not turn off. The battery must be pulled to turn off the camera.

The June episode lasted part of one day and I was able to tape without problem immediately after the problem went away. (Don’t know why it came or went away) I taped problem-free for hours after the problem went away.

The next experience, in August, with the problem came and went with one pull on the battery. Afterward, I was able to tape trouble-free. A week later, the problem reappeared and will not go away.

I tried to reset to default setting but the problem continues. Called JVC and was told to send it in to the repair shop.

The JVC FAQ lists a problem of “camera not responding to controls”. The suggested solution did not resolve my problem.

Is this the start of another class action? I also had a Sony digital camera for which I an eligible in a class action to my recover costs of CCD repair and replacement.

I will update as this develops.

Great camera when it works!

Pros Very light, easy to use controls, lots of shooting time with a 30 g HD, great software, fast transfers, the list goes on

Cons small battery, must read the manual to figure out the best settings weak stills, not filmed in mpeg must be edited

Summary this is a great camcorder, its light, easy to shoot and takes great videos. the screen is nice and wide and the light in the front is enough to shoot in the dead of night, talk about home blair witch project. seperate sd slot just for stills to save HD size. zoom is great, 800x. sound also captures great in dolby stereo from far away. cyberlink is so easy to use, i can upload, edit, convert, produce, and burn in about an hour. then if your making copies then save the project and open it in powerproduce and go straight to burning. the dvds then play in any dvd player. a note of caution you should have a fast dvd burner or else it will take a while. the only downside the stills are weak and the setting require tweaking. so get rid of that old mini dv and the high prices of the mini dvd discs and buy the everio today

Pros Zoom, Storage Capacity, Ease of Use

Cons Terrible Video Quality

Summary What is the point of having all the bells and whistles when the videos are all grainy and distorted. JVC needs to get the basics right and then add the extra features. My unit is going back to the store today.