CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 09/23/2002
- Updated on: 10/15/2002
- Released on: 02/15/2002
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| Playback controls are located behind the fold-out LCD. | The camera gets demerits for its bottom-loading tape design. |
We were disappointed, however, to find the cassette hatch on the underside of the camera, a location that makes it impossible to change tapes when the PC120BT is mounted on a tripod. Aside from its prominently advertised Bluetooth functionality, this camcorder has an almost exhausting list of features. Key points include a 10X Carl Zeiss zoom lens with a manual focus ring; a 2.5-inch, high-resolution color LCD monitor; a hotshoe for attaching an optional video light or a microphone; digital image stabilization; multiple digital effects and scene modes; and analog-to-digital conversion so that you can archive your old home movies onto durable MiniDV cassettes.
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| A manual focus ring on the lens and a high-res LCD rank high on the camcorder's feature list. | |
The camera doesn't offer fully manual exposure, but you can adjust the automatic setting easily. Because the PC120BT has an impressively large (for a camcorder) 1.5-megapixel CCD, removable Memory Stick media, and a pop-up flash, it can double as an entry-level digital still camera, too.
 You can save still images and MPEG video on Memory Stick flash media. |
 Included accessories. |
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 A Bluetooth transceiver and modem come with the camcorder. |
Easily the worst-considered feature implementation on the camcorder is the text-input interface for when you're using the e-mail function: The LCD presents you with an onscreen mock-up of a cell phone's dial pad, which means that you have to slowly scroll through the buttons and hit some of them multiple times just to spell out a short message. Cumbersome text entry aside, the Bluetooth features work as advertised. Once you've done the initial setup, you just plug the Bluetooth transceiver into any phone jack or a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone for Internet access right on the camcorder's LCD.
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 Input/output ports. |
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We found nothing to gripe about when it came to our full-color test footage. Colors were vivid and edges were crisp under natural daylight, where any camera tends to give its best performance. The results were almost as good in the dimmer light of typical overhead fixtures when we shot indoors.
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 Indoor images tend to look washed out. |
And the PC120BT 's 1.5-megapixel CCD does make a difference in still-image quality. While a good 1-megapixel digital still camera will provide superior picture quality with a lot less image noise and fewer artifacts, the results we got from this camcorder were good enough for e-mailing and even making small prints.
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 Still capture quality suffices for e-mailing and small prints. |
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