Customer Reviews
Broke in 2 weeks 
2008-05-03
I got the camera for vacation and It is very easy to use and the photos and video came out very well. I didnt have a problem so much with the sound. Out of nowhere the middle joystick button broke. It moves up down, right left fine but it wont push in anymore and click like it used to. I can still use it but I have to ave very light pressure on the joystock or else it will think im clicking down allthe time. PITA. Thats the only bad flaw that I have with it. The zoom in and out flickers somtimes and you cant hold the camera still at all if its zoomed in but what do you expect for under 150 bucks.
Fun, easy to use, cheap and good video quality 
2008-04-29
I own an expensive Sony HD camera that takes great video and decent sound. But I hardly ever used it. After taking trips to Hong Kong and Costa Rica wit the Sony, and coming back with almost no footage, because the camera was too bulky and expensive to want to carry around, I decided I needed to look into something better suited for my needs. The Aiptek is something I use all the time. I purchased this camera so I could take quick videos of my son, or anything else I wanted to post to YouTube or Vimeo. I did some research by going to Vimeo and searching for Aiptek A-HD. I found some great clips that showed me exactly what the camera can do in HD.
The Good
Picture quality is very good. It doesn't beat my Sony, but it will beat just about any camera you could have purchased for under $2k 5 years ago.
The camera couldn't be much simpler. Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (White) is obviously the easiest camera to use, but the Aiptek is not going to stump anyone.
Fast upload. Unlike the long time my Sony took to bring video in from DV, the Aiptek is super fast at transferring those movies onto my machine.
Good use of space. I have a 4 gig card in mine, and it looks like I can get a little over 2 hours at full 720. Cards are so cheap now that I think I should have just got an 8 gig that should cover 4 hours.
Small and light. I take this camera everywhere. I hardly ever shot video with my Sony, but this thing I use all the time.
All cables included. This was a nice surprise for such a cheap camera, especially in a time of 1 game controller in $400 game system. The box included USB to mini USB, power cord, and even cords to hook up to the TV for normal and HD TV. No HDMI.
The Bad
Sound quality. The microphone is not great, and it's set to the rear. It feels like Aiptek set this up so that the person shooting the video could narrate the shot. But the lack of a external mic jack does limit the use of this camera.
No optical zoom. The camera does have a 2X digital zoom, but that's not ideal. The slightly more expensive Aiptek GO-HD High Definition 720p Camcorder with 3x Optical Zoom has 3X optical zoom if yo
Construction. With a low price comes low quality material. When I got my camera in the box, the "camera" button had already fallen off. Not wanting to deal with returning the camera through Amazon, I just superglued the thing back on and it's worked fine since. The camera feels sturdy enough when you hold it, but it does feel a little cheap in the buttons.
No stabilization. Since this is a cheap camera it does not come with any built in stabilization, so your shots can come out a little shaky if you're not steady handed.
As a digital camera the Aiptek works about as well as most inexpensive point and shoot models. The pictures are acceptable, and the built in flash does a good job exposing details.
Like most people will say, this is a great camera for the money. If you're someone who wants to take serious videos and need things like stabilization and external mic jacks, this isn't for you. But if you're someone who would like a good camera to shoot everyday events so you can post them online or save them to disk, this is a camera you should be happy with for a couple of years.
It does fit the need for travel as well. It's small enough to throw in my cargo pant pocket, and cheap enough that if lost or damaged, it wouldn't ruin my vacation.
I do think it's likely that I'll outgrow this camera as I want to do more video. I'm waiting to see the Sony HDR-TG1 4MP High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Super Steady Shot Zoom (4GB Memory Stick Included), which is about 6 times the price, but looks to be amazing. Maybe a Christmas present for myself.
This camera would also be great for teens to start shooting footage beyond their camera phones. I'll likely just hand mine over to my son when I upgrade.
When you transfer files to your computer they come in Quicktime, which works great for me since I'm on a Mac. This is perfect for iMovie.
Great 2008-04-26
this product works very well. I like the style and the HD quailty is amazing. I still need to use it more, and I will on my vacation to the Bahamas in June.
Nice for the price 2008-04-24
I bought the Aiptek A-HD 720P 5MP CMOS High Definition Camcorder about a month ago, and unfortunately, haven't used it quite as much as I'd envisioned. Still, the few times that I have used it, the open, point, and shoot simplicity, the image quality, and the ease of exporting to my Macbook Pro have certainly been well worth the price.
For under $150, this is a fairly impressive little camera. It works pretty well in fairly low light conditions, the audio quality is quite good, and the picture quality, while probably leaving a bit to be desired if the unit cost several hundred more, is quite good, particularly when rendered in native resolution. Manipulating and exporting the resulting video and still image files is straightforward, and the file sizes it produces can be very reasonable once converted for web delivery.
With the limited opportunity I've had to use it, I can't really comment on overall battery longevity, but I can relate that after fully charging the unit via the USB interface to my Macbook, it sat around for a couple of weeks before the next use, at which point it performed as advertised, and I probably had it on for well over 45 minutes total shooting and reviewing video items, without the battery indicating it was about to give up the ghost. Looking at the numbers, however, lead me to believe that with a 4GB card in the slot, you'd probably run out of battery before you ran out of storage space for whatever you are shooting.
Overall, very light weight and easy to control, with excellent preview via the screen.
The only negatives to report are a slight shutter delay from the time you press the button until the camera actually captures a still image - almost a full second or so. Kind of limits the unit for 'action stills' applications. Also, in a 'busy' close up environment, the autofocus has an annoying tendency to base focus on all sorts of things except what you're shooting, but this only occurs at ranges of 3 feet or less.
Generally, I'd say that I'm satisfied with the product!
Fun! 2008-04-24
Yeah, the audio isn't so great, but for the price it can't be beat for the "fun" factor.
Where the camera suffers the most (besides not having an optical zoom) is at action shots - I've taken this camera out snowboarding a few times - there's a noticeable "wavy" effect on the video when panning fast or if there are many moving objects. But honestly, not that much of a deal breaker for what it is.
With an 8gb SD card, you can get over 4 hours of HD footage (FYI - the battery only lasts around 1 hour)
Still shots with the camera are really nice.
Editing the footage with iMovie '08 is a breeze.
Great Camcorder for YouTube video! 
2008-04-23
The A-HD performs 720P high definition video quality to provide a whole new high quality DV experience. One-touch recording allows you to capture stunning HD (1280 x 720 - 16:9 aspect ratio) video clips at 30 frames per second with advanced H.264 technology. Connect the camera to your TV/VCR/DVD player to record video clips, pictures, and audio recordings, and playback directly on the built-in 2.4" color LCD. Record Video from DVD's, TV, VHS, or from Any Device that has RCA outputs for entertainment on the go! Equipped with 5 mega pixel CMOS sensor, the still image resolution of the A-HD is enhanced to 8 mega pixels. Auto-Focus helps you get the best pictures every time! 2x real time digital zoom allows you to Zoom In/Out while recording video! Review and playback you HD video clips and hi-res pictures in real time. LCD swivels 270? for unlimited video and photo taking. Enhance image quality while capturing photos in darker environments with your A-HD. Conveniently charge your new A-HD via the USB cable when connected to your PC or use the AC Charger cable included. No need to remove battery from camera. Connect your A-HD to your HDTV Component input ports to display your high definition video clips and still pictures, sharing them with friends and family. The A-HD allows you to use up to 8GB of SD card storage to record longer video before having to upload to your PC.
Amazing Little Camcorder 2008-04-21
I haven't had any of the problems some people claim to have with this camera. It's excellent for the price and the video quality is great.
Video, yes... Audio, no 
2008-04-19
I like this camcorder. Great price, Great value, excellent video quality (when you are in decent lighting). But the audio is just no good. There is no external mic option. I have taken many videos with subjects speaking at normal volume literally 3 feet in front of the camera and the sound is muffled and needs to be turned way up to hear. But the person holding the camera, is heard very well. Its almost as if the mic is pointing in the wrong direction. (Well its pointing straight up, so it definitely is not in the right direction). I like this product conceptually, but being that it is useless for picking up audio ... I'm unsure of how useful it is as an 'everyday' camcorder.
And I'm really unhappy that the video format is .MOV - I'm very computer saavy and what others have said is right: there is NO software that edits MOV files on a PC. Just about all of them need to convert the file back up to to a AVI or a MPG (needless to say, that conversion is not simple or quick).
This is the note on the company's support FAQ: "Aiptek uses the newer H.264 high-end technology for its HD Camcorders and major software editing companies are working diligently to develop an overall compatibility solution to support this newer technology. We're currently working with a few software editing companies to help speed up the process." I've had the camera for 6 months .... I haven't seen the answer yet.
One great and unique feature on this camera is - A/V INput. Yes, it actually can record audio and video FROM an A/V source. So you can connect this to your TV, or VCR or DVD player and record the output onto your camera. Why would you want to? For one you can watch your recordings portably and use the device as a portable media player (is not made to play MP3's though - I dont know why not). But best yet, is that the quality it records at is DVD quality and you can take that file put it on your computer and burn yourself a DVD copy of whatever you'd like.
Good Camera - But No Editing Options for Windows 2008-04-06
The camera is exactly what I wanted. Its small - takes great video and the audio is not nearly as bad after the update AIPTEK made to it. The low light and sometimes fuzzy audio (on multiple conversations at once) is expected from a $100 camera - but for me I expected it and can live with it without a problem.
The only thing on this camera that you need to be forewarned about is there are zero (as far as I have found) paid/free video editing options for this camera. I have done trials on numerous paid video editing software packages and none have worked.
Pinnacle Studio 11 says they can handle it, but that is not the case so far for me. It will import the video and the first 2 or 3 frames play and than the video goes away. This has been the case on the last 7 or 8 clips I have tried to edit in the software.
Its my understanding (and I have not confirmed yet) that it works just fine on any of the Mac video editing programs (Final Cut Express, etc...) I am purchasing a Mac in the next couple of weeks and will be able to confirm this.
Outside of that small hangup for Windows, the camera is great.
Solid Value 2008-04-05
This camera is quite good. You need a memory card though. I was a bit mislead by the add. I thought it already could do two hours, but it can do about 2 minutes without the card. It's light weight and perfect for a young person to have fun. It takes nice pictures too.
