Customer Reviews
do not buy from this dealer -17th street camera 
2007-01-03
return? ha ha!!! you must email them for permission. they don't provide the email address. i have spent untold hours trying to get them to respond. they will do everything to avoid returns. and amazon just looks the other way.
don't do it!!
Great Camera... 
2006-11-12
Awsome Camera and Camcorder! There were tons of amazing qualities that it possesed mainly the following...
*Great price (I've been begging for a camcorder for a really long time, but they were all too expensive, this was an awsome deal!)
*SOOO many features, camera, camcorder, mp3 player (although I barely use mine)and a voice recorder (although once again I barley use mine)
*Lasts a LONG time... I've had mine for a year now and made countless movies/ taken countless pictures. It still works GREAT! Although it has a few scratches, it is still super durable and amazing.
I wish I could have given it a four and a half stars... this camera is awsome, but some things could have been better...
*Some of the pictures are a little blurry, so obviously the picture quality could have been better.
*If you are filming in the dark, forget about it. The camera does not work so well in the dim light (taking pictures is okay, it does have flash, but there is no way to make it lighter when filming)
*When filming, the zoom quality could be much better. Once, I tried to film a play with it, and we were kind of far back, and it turned out quite blurry.
Although this camera does have it's faults (DO NOT buy if you a looking for a super high quality camera), it is a great camera, especially for a first time camera. All in all, the camera works great for me and my needs, but don't buy it if you have to produce great pictures/films.
High quality solid state portable video recorder! 2006-06-08
I took this camera along on a week long trip to Florida. I never lost a charge and made over 1.5 Gbs of content with this camera. The video camera is not an SLR. Please do not expect professional quality images from this camera. However if you want to shot video, this is the camera for you. Buy a 1Gb memory card and start shooting your favorite family moments. I suggest using the 640x480 mode so that your video is DVD quality.
Zoom... the video zoom was great. I shot some offroad video of my Jeep and was able to easily zoom in over 100 ft away on the Jeep while shoting.
I never installed the camera software on my Windows XP based PC. Instead I used a secure digital memory card reader and pulled the files of the card.
For $145 this video camera has replaced my Mustek DV4500. I threw this camera around, ran it's battery down and let it sit in a black Jeep in the sun for two days. After I did all this the camera was still running. The controls on the camera are not complicated like other video cameras in this genre either. All this being said, one could make the case that a cheap camera like this could easily be used by the younger generation, easily.
Pros:
1) 640x480 video recording was seamless with excellent audio streaming.
2) Long battery life (held a charge for 1.5gbs worth of pictures and video recording)
3) Video stabilization really does make video smoother.
4) Can take 1gb memory cards
5) If you can wait 1/4 of a second, the 5mp photos come out well for a camera with no real lens.
6) Best image quality of any solid state video camera in this genre.
Cons:
1) Poor flash photography
2) Images: Shutter lag is over 1/4 of a second.
3) Battery charging requires removal of battery.
UPDATE 9/7/2006:
I am still using the camera. I keep it in my Jeep during the hot Louisiana days, no problems. I really like the quick boot time of the camera; 5 seconds or less. I can instantly shot video or take a picture with the press of a button.
I bought a 5100, owned a 2100 before that - great, basic, easy,sturdy,energysaving 
2006-05-11
I bought a 5100, owned a 2100 before that - great, basic, easy,sturdy,energysaving
I've dropped it, taken it everywhere, it uses few batteries, light, small, good strap, use on any computer (need the cable). I finally trashed it, sorry.
This one is cheaper than the first one I bought, and it was a bargain.
(no i'm not with the company)
Very Compact & Light 
2006-04-28
I just started using my camera yesterday and my first impression is that this thing seems very fragile. Hope I don't drop it, as it might not survive the fall. It is extremely small, light and compact. Think of two packs of cigarettes or two packs of playing cards. It is that small. Great for travel due to the light weight and compactness. Got it for about $90 on sale; would hate to pay more than that for it. Very easy to operate, but if you have big hands, this will be too small for you. Be warned that it won't take more than a couple minutes of video without a memory card, so you'll have to put a little more money into it if you really want to do video or really much of anything. The first video I took came out pretty decent, but it was in good light. I tried some still shots inside at night and they came out very dark in spite of the flash. The flash doesn't seem adequate, so this is probably a camera best used outdoors or in the daytime. Great camera for a kid. This is a good camera for small hands and a great size for kids. If they break it or lose it, you aren't out a bundle. As another reviewer pointed out, it does only take video in the ASF format; not MPEG, as the advertising suggests. I think MPEG might be just music files. I didn't need to install the software to capture the pictures or movies on my computer (Windows XP). Another great thing is that this is a complete package. It has the camera, a carrying strap, a carrying case, USB cable, TV cables, headphones, battery, battery charger and software. It does not come with a lens cap and the cap is not available either. You can buy an optional tripod for it and with the small size, I think that could be useful in some situations to help hold and stabilize the camera. I am not sure how you store music on it; I probably won't use that feature, but it seems like it would be a nice compact music player; again you'll need a memory card to save much of anything on it. One problem I had so far. The memory card (which you have to buy separately--a standard SD card) slips in the bottom under a little rubber membrane. The first time I held the camera I accidentally popped out the card and lost the shots I was trying to take. This might be a problem and I am thinking I may have to put a piece of heavy tape over the bottom to hold the membrane and memory chip in place and prevent ejecting the memory again. Another downside that I see is the battery. You can't just pick up some spare batteries at the corner store and pop them in. You have to use the special rechargeable battery. If you don't have a spare one charged up, your camera will go dead and you'll have to wait until you can plug in the charger and recharge the battery. That's another $20 for a spare battery. My digital camera uses standard AA batteries, so I can use either rechargeables or regular batteries. If this camera used regular batteries, it would make it larger and heavier, so the small rechargeable does help on the weight and size. Don't buy this if you are a serious photographer. Buy it for occasional use, for easy portability and as a first camera to learn on. Controls are easy and straightforward. Nice camera for the money, but not for serious photographers. It does a lot for a tiny little thing; sure doesn't make me want to go back to the days of huge video cameras that you had to hold on your shoulder, due to the weight. Minaturization can go too far and this is about as small as I would ever want to go; might be easier to use if it was just a tiny bit bigger.
ok camera 2008-04-10
Pros: Price is right (cheap); Easy to use; clever tiny design; interesting features that you can personalize to your liking; sufficient storage (with addon 1GB card...spend extra and get it); battery life seems pretty good so far; no worry about power when connected to usb port on pc.
Cons: Video is not outstanding but ok; still photos come out pretty decent; for best results you need to use camera in good lighting conditions.
This camera stinks... 2008-02-28
This little hand-held portable camera was good at first, I thought that the picture and video quality was fine, but then, 2 weeks after I bought it, the screen broke, and I can't even use it as a webcam. So now, I have to manually try to delete pictures and it is very difficult to maneuver. Also, with a very small memory chip, you can take maybe 12 pictures before the memory is full. I would recommend spending that extra $20-$30 for a better camera as this is possibly one of the worst digital camcorders that I have ever seen.
Unsure now 
2008-01-07
Only worked about 3 minutes first time we tried it but we are trying some other things???????
weird 2007-07-13
This product is nice but for some reason the lens kept moving on its' own. unless you check it out carefully, i would not invest in it.
Awesome! 2007-05-04
This camcorder is amazing!!! It's so small and the quality is decent too! I would DEFINITELY recommend this to anyone! (just don't fall in the pool with it in your pocket, because then it starts acting weird and spazzing out...
