Yamaha Home Theater
- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 18 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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17 out of 17 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"not bad, but needs improvement"
Pros: nice stills, good video, nice oled, great that it records onto SD
Cons: stabilization? What stabilization?, although clear, screen rather small, pistol grip could be a little easier to hold
Summary: Ok, I got all excited about this unit. It is sooo close to being everything I was looking for. I thought it was great that it was HD. Some may argue it isn't true HD, it only gets to 720p, etc. I'm just happy it has improved video quality over typical DV formats and uses the very convenient SD format.
The problem is that, even though it does have a pistol grip, and the buttons are well placed, it is still a bit to easily hold solid--mainly because the screen is right up against the housing, and it is prett smal, so it is hard to truly hold it as a pistol grip without the thumb getting in the way of the screen a bit.
The biggest problem is that it is small, and even though it supposedly has image stabilization, the video is still very shaky. Sanyo seriously needs to find a way to fix this. Its too bad too, because the video is very nice, but it is shaky. Sure you can put it on a tripod, but defeats the purpose of having a small portable device.
With a little better design for holding the camera and better stabilization, this would be almost the perfect duo video/still camera.
Finally--I don't know if it is just me or not, but I'm not finding many of the video reviews for products much use. Two in particular from Lori really don't tell us much. One for the Sanyo HD1, and one for the Sony DSC-N1 still camera basically provided no real useful information. She describes what they look like, but really has no useful comments on their functionality. We can look at pictures and find out just about as much. If CNET is going to go through the trouble of providing video reviews, (which I really like btw) I'd would like to see a little more details as to summarized pros and cons
Z
- 3 replies to this review
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Had the camera 14 days. Love it. It will need a firmware upgrade. It is NOT suitable for point and shoot. You need to be competent with videography. Not gifted. Just competent. Sony handycams you don't need to be because the Auto settings are genius. Not the case here..
Plan to buy a small bag to hold the soft case - then put it decent jacket with large pocket. Always take it out with you. -
Yeah, I really agree about Lori's video reviews. They're like listening to an annoying relative describing a Christmas present they don't appreciate.
First Look Video Reviews are a great idea - because we feel anxious to see and touch. This enthusiasm on our part is not honoured, it's almost betrayed actually, by having a person touch and test who is shallow, at least on camera in 60 secs or whatever it is.. -
Isn't that kind of a first question for anyone looking at one of these? Cnet, maybe include it in the review. I swear I've read the specs but I couldn't find/translate anything that said X hours on a 2 Gig card. Any help?
Where to buy
Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1:
$279.95 - $999.95
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$999.95 | Yes |
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$279.95 | Yes |
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