Customer Reviews
A risk 
2007-10-09
If you plan to buy this camcorder then please know before hand that you are taking a risk. You might get a broken one or not. That is the risk you are taking. When I first purchased this camcorder 3 years ago, I only used it for 1 week and already it broke. The screen was all distorted and was making weird noises. I took it back to bestbuy and they exchanged it for a new one. I have now had this one for 3 years and have had no problems. I love this camcorder. At this point I would not buy a new camcorder because I love this one too much. I have read all of the buyers comments on amazon and yes it is true that this camcorder is cheaply made and is does break but like I said, you are taking a risk if you buy it. It might be broken or it might work fine for 3 years or more like mine. But remember, mine broke too after using it for 1 week but my exchange one has worked for 3 years and counting. So, I guess I wouldnt recommend this camcorder because who wants to buy a camcorder and have to take a risk and wonder if it will be broken when they receive it.
another black screen of death! 
2007-04-30
Yes, I am another victim of The black screen of death. I used my camcorder only 1 1/2years and my screen went black but I am also able to view recorded tapes. Samsung will only offer a refurbished camcorder for $150.00 cost to me. NO THANKS!!
BSOD Strikes Again 2007-04-08
Yeah, this is a "me too" review. Got the SCD23 as a gift in December of '03. Liked it while it worked, but in April of '07 it was struck by the Black Screen of Death described by other posters. It'll play previously recorded tapes, but in camera (record or standby mode), the image is either totally black or horizontal white streaks (when a bright light is in the scene). I'll be contacting Samsung on Monday, and we'll see how they stand by their product. An internet search on this problem shows that a) it is by no means isolated and b) Samsung has a very poor reputation for providing reasonable customer service in these instances. I'm hoping to be the exception! :)
Korean Made products 2007-03-05
Among Asian countries they don't rely too much in co-Asian manufactured goods because of poor quality ( except Japanese made) Sony, Canon & Panasonic still has the best quality among electronics.I don't know why samsung,hyundai, Daewoo etc. made it in the US Market that while in fact in Asia, these products are all a piece of Junk.
I too have been a victim of this LEMON 2006-12-18
You don't have to take my word for it - just do a quick internet search and you will find hundreds of people who had what is now known as BSOD (Black Screen of Death), a failure that occurs after a while and leaves you with a completely dark image in camera mode. Do yourself a favor, don't buy this unless you need it as paperweight.
Mine is good for about 30 hrs. 2006-12-13
Samsung introduces the SC-D23 with its 2.5 in LCD and enhanced night recording capability. The user will be able to shoot in low light luminance with the enhanced LSS feature.PRODUCT FEATURES:Lens: Optical 10x, Digital 400x;CCD: 680K pixels;Built-in DSC (Memory-Stick Slot);Image Stabilizer: DIS;TFT LCD: 2.5";Color Slow Shutter;0 Lux Night Pix, Power Nite Pix;PC Link: USB, IEEE1394 In/Out;MPEG 4 Video Clip Recording;Color OSD, Beep sound;Easy-Q, Easy-Navigator;Built In Light.
Stopped working after only filming about 15 hours. 2006-12-03
I got this camera in December 2003. I have used it occasionally and filmed about 15 hours worth of footage. (15 1 hour tapes). So last month I'm filming and it stops recording picture, just sound. Image on view finder is garbled. A few days later it worked again for about 20 minutes, now it doesn't work again. Seems like the same problem everyone else here had.
I had problems with my Samsung HDTV as well, and it still leaves much to be desired.
I will avoid buying Samsung products from now on.
Average at best 
2006-11-12
I bought this camcorder several years ago, from one of the large well-known electronic store chains in the US. I have used this camcorder for several projects during that time, but I do not use it very frequently. To be honest, I have probably only used it for a total of 15-20 hours of actual filming. It does an adequate job recording...if you have good light. However, problems always seem to arise when I try to use the player aspect of the camera: rewind, fastforward and playing the videos that I have recorded. Most of the time, the rewind button does not even work. Since my camera is out of warranty, I am definitely NOT going to have it fixed. I could buy a newer better camera for what it would cost to fix it. Instead, I have to resort to using a power screwdriver to rewind the tapes manually, to take them back to the beginning. This is a risky process though, as you have to make sure you hold in the plastic tab built into the tape, so that you don't snap the magnetic tape itself. When this problem first arised, I thought that it would go away, but it hasn't. It happens probably half of the time that I use the camera, and works fine the rest of the time. I recommend that you buy a more solid camera that takes better video in darker light. Often, the images that people want to capture are in darker settings...weddings, birthday parties, and other spontaneous occasions. Who wants to make sure that the lighting is always right. That is the job of the camera, to adjust to the lighting and still capture good quality video. And as for cost, some of you talk about getting this camera for a couple hundred US...well, I don't know if the BB large chain company ripped me off or what, but I spent between four and five hundred. That is not cheap to me. For that kind of money, I expect good quality.
Samsung now saying they will fix the CCD problem 
2006-10-26
Our SCD23 just broke with the same problem as countless others, the CCD gave out. This has happened to loads of camcorders from different manufacturers, and most are taking responsibility and fixing/replacing. According to a reviewer here, Samsung was still refusing to do so as recently as September. My wife talked to them today, and they said to ship everything back and they would do a fix/replace on our cam (14 days estimated turnaround). I will update here if and when it happens, or if it doesn't.
So if you have a Samsung with a blank LCD when you try to record, but it will still playback and work otherwise, call them and see what they say.
**UPDATE 1/12: 2 months of customer "service" back and forth ensued. First it was replacement with a comparable model to the original price or a full refund (350-ish originally, had the receipt). Then it was replacement with a comparable model in features, so a 200-ish camera. Then it was pro rated refund (220 dollars). We accepted the refund, which came in December after many pestering calls by us. At least we did get paid, but it was not exactly stellar service. We went with Sony for a replacement.
E A S Y F I X ... !!! ...Works great untill it stoped working 2006-10-22
While in record mode, standby... point camera at bright sun or bight light bulb at close distance ... It may take five minutes but my camera started working again... !!! Alleluia!! Seems I have to do this every time I use the camera, but I am happy that this works even though it is less than desirable...Samsung SCD23 seems has a common problem... I have used it infrequently for 3 yrs and It has worked fine until now. All of a sudden and for no reason at all, the LCD went blank and will not record any image. This is due to a faulty CCD??? Still plays tapes and records video... My childrens "hot Wheels" camcorder lasted better than this one!!!! My new baby is starting to walk and I...
