Customer Reviews
So far, so great 
2008-06-20
I"ve had this camera for a few weeks now, and so far I really love it. It does exactly what I wanted a camera to do: it takes very very nice video AND still photos (in other words, it's a true "hybrid" camera).
It has a great 10X optical zoom (I turned off the digital zoom immediately).
I love the shape -- it's much easier for me to hold than my old mini-DV camera.
It is amazingly easy to use. The display is nice and big, which means obviously it's easy to see what you're shooting, and, also, that the menus are nice and large (good for my presbyopia). The menus themselves are startlingly easy, and I say this as somebody who's gone through video cameras starting in, hm, around 1990). I LOVE the dual-button, that is, the round "record" button is divided in half: push the left side, with a still camera icon, you take a still photo; push the right side, with a movie camera icon, you take a video. SO SO SO much easier than my digital still cameras, where, if you want to make a video you have to go into the menu to switch it to video (as I said, this is a TRUE hybrid camera).
And the still photos are just as good as those I've taken with any of my still photo digital cameras (I've had a Panasonic with 10x optical, the Kodak with the two lenses, and several others). Oh yes, I LOVE that in this tiny camera you get a 10X optical lens.
AND as for editing: there is a very nice, easy-to-use, basic editing function within the camera. With a little learning you can crop your videos inside the camera, without mucking around with a video editor.
OKAY now here are some negatives:
Editing with a video editor is very difficult, and there are a whole bunch of forums that I'm on now that are discussing this. Most people have trouble with this, because the format that this camera generates does not edit easily. So people are experimenting with various video editors, and if you're on a PC, Sony Vegas seems to be (I think) the only true video editing software than easily edits these files. BUT I still can't see the videos well in my preview window in Sony Vegas, because it seems that this type of mp4 file takes up a tremendous amount of space and processor power.
However (1) with some tinkering, people seem to be able to do some editing, and (2) you might not care about this, because you CAN do basic editing inside the camera. However, if you buy this camera, don't expect to be able to put your video into your computer very easily and start editing, as you might be used to with DV tape.
Now another negative might be that the image stabilization function isn't that great. However, I've only read that in other reviews. The truth is that I don't have a great basis for comparison, because (1) I'm just not as attuned as I might be to what is possible re: image stabilization in a camera like that, vs. what this camera offers. What I mean is: are there cameras that do what the HD1000 does with better image stabilization? and are they really as small, as compact, and as easy to use? I just don't know, and (2) I am not great at holding the camera steady (or any camera, not just this one), so maybe I would be needing more image stabilization than any little consumer camera like this would reasonably provide (?).
THEREFORE I haven't let these issues compromise my 5-star rating of this camera. One thing I find, reading reviews of cameras like this, is that people seem to expect almost professional-level equipment for their money, but I don't. For a camera I paid six hundred something dollars for, I am very very satisfied; more than satisfied. I've had a lot of cameras, and this is the first video camera that's light enough to throw in my bag and take with me EVERYWHERE (my JVC is small enough but is heavier), and I get FANTASTIC (consumer-level) videos and stills from one camera, and then I go home and stick the memory card in my laptop and voila, there are my pictures. And it's great!
(Oh I forgot to say -- about that --- if you select a format to shoot in that is SMALL, for example, forget about HD, forget about big files, and just, say set it on the tiniest, "web" resolution, you can shoot video and put it, for example, on You Tube or a blog or e-mail it or whatever immediately without any fuss whatsoever -- so that speaks to the flexibility of this camera -- there's a whole list (maybe 8, I can't remember) resolutions/formats that you can choose, for your purposes)
So -- highly recommended
Very nice camcorder 
2008-06-18
I did some testing with this camcorder the day I recieved it just to verify or deny some of the complaints I had read.
Low light does produce a lot of noise...the same as most digital camcorders. The auto focus does seem a bit challenged, especially when recording a moving object. I focused on my cieling fan...the autofocus would zoom in and out repeatedly, being in focus about a third of time.
I can't think of too many things to complain about this camcorder other than the focus issue, which hasn't affected any of my videos...other than the video of the cieling fan. The video it produces is amazing and it fits in my pocket. Definately worth the purchase.
Cannot edit the MP4's 
2008-06-16
The good :
There was a lot to like about this camera. The video was stunning when played back from the docked unit over an hdmi cable to my 37" LCD - In fact unbelievable a full 16:9 crystal clear picture. It was very easy to use, as soon as you flipped open the screen it was ready to record. I wasn't even that disappointed in the low light recording .. did some recording at the park as the sun was going down at dusk and it still looked great.
The bad :
What in the world is in those MP4 that it produces on full HD ???? I couldn't even play them much less edit them on my computer ( Intel core duo with 3GB Ram and a Radeon X1950 Pro video card - not a shabby system ) anyways .. quicktime couldn't handle them, Pinnacle studio 10 couldn't handle them, Ulead ( which comes with the camcorder ) couldn't handle them - basically the videos were worthless on my computer unless I dropped the quality way down.
The ugly :
Why bother even putting a camera on this camcorder. The pictures are absolutely horrible at the 4MP's. I have a casio exilim that is about 4 years old that takes 200% better pictures.
Conclusion :
Well I was very excited to get this camera - it feels great in your hand however good luck ever getting your videos to dvd. Since I must shoot in lower quality anyway and I wasn't happy with the still shots - I'm going to try the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 9MP Flash Memory Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Black) which isn't HD but has a 9MP camera on board. I still like the HD1000 overall - I just wish the files would have been more manageable. I will be shipping it back to Amazon tomorrow.
The only issue I have 2008-06-15
The only issue I have with this camcorder is that it is extremely volatile when you zoom close with 10x for either photo or videos. It was really bad. Has anyone else had this problem??
Sweetest Camera ever! 2008-06-10
This is the most handy, easiest to use, and clearest pictured camera I have ever seen. Well worth the money and it works seamlessly with my Macbook.
great little workhorse 2008-07-06
The HD image is excellent, controls are intuitive, starts up fast, and is really portable (though doesn't really fit in your pocket).
An 8G card gets you an hour on the lowest HD setting so I would recommend getting a 16G.
The zoom is great and overall it's a pleasure to use. If you ar ea Mac user iPhoto will start up and import the videos/photos without any configuration. Easy.
Love this little thing 2008-07-05
I purchased this to take on a vacation to the Ukraine with me. I really loved having this camcorder with me. It takes great pictures and video so you don't have to carry around a camcorder and a camera. It is very to use and easy to carry around.
I wish it came with a lanyard for the lens cap.
I did not do any low light shooting but I do wish it had the night vision feature.
My Gateway laptop has Vista and I still have not been able to make a DVD from my videos yet so that really stinks. I like the DVD maker software that came with it but if it would have made a DVD it was going to take about 24 hours. I don't know if I need a new DVD maker program or if there is a problem with my laptop. Even when I used Windows to create the DVD is had encoding problems.
The camera is great, just get a good DVD creator software.
Excellent portability, pretty good video 2008-06-30
I've been wanting to get a small digital camcorder which used flash-based storage and was capable of HD resolutions. While I'm on my third digital still camera, this was my first camcorder and I'd put myself in the gadget-happy consumer category but by no means a pro or even prosumer.
I read a bunch of reviews and did other research online and ultimately purchased a Canon VIXIA HF100. The HF100 is an oustanding camera in terms of feature set and video quality. But I ended up returning the HF100 after about a week or so. I realized that I'm more of a point-n-shoot type consumer and while the HF100 was a great camera, given it's size (i.e. non-pocketable) I was less likely to actually carry it around and use it often.
So after some more research I bought the Xacti HD1000 and I've been very pleased thus far after a couple weeks. The video quality is very good, albeit not as good as the HF100, but I actually carry the HD1000 around and end up using it far more than I would have w/ the Canon. The HD1000 fits in my pants pocket (albeit a bit bulky) or comfortably in a jacket pocket.
The camera is easy to use generally and has a "simple" mode which makes it virtually idiot-proof. It takes still photos at up to 8MP, the specs say 4MP but you can set it to 8MP in the menus and the actual output files are 3264x2448 resolution. The 10x optical zoom is great though image stablization for video is mediocre (seems to work better for still shots). The F1.8 lens does a very respectible job capturing in low light situations. But optically the camera has a pretty narrow field of view even on the base zoom (1.0x) setting. I'd recommend the wide-angle adapter lens Sanyo sells if you plan to shoot a lot close up, though this makes the camera a bit more bulky.
So overall I'm very happy with the Xacti HD1000. Bottom line... if you want the absolute best video or feature set in the <$1000 class and you don't mind lugging your camera around in a case, check out the Canon and other models. If you want a very good camera, that's easy for the average consumer to use and you can actually fit in a pocket, I highly recommend the HD1000.
5-Star Camera 2008-06-26
For the price and size of this camera, it is PHENOMENAL! Quality is EXCELLENT! But if you're looking at this camera, take a look at the HD1010 (I think it is) coming out in July; it offers slow motion @ 300fps.
Sanyo Xacti HD1000 vs CG9 - Bottom Line 2008-06-21
I'll try to add some details to this review later, but I wanted to provide everyone with my evaluation after agonizing over these 2 cameras (and others).
Now remember, I've been a Sony video enthusiast since the mid-80's, but nothing compares to these 2 Sanyo cameras in the consumer video category in my opinion.
The main reason is that you have to be crazy to record anything but MP4 directly to flash memory / media cards today. It's just TOO easy to download and play your video on your computer or Youtube, etc. (as easy as downloading and using photos from your digital camera). This is NOT the case with other video cameras and their recording formats.
I originally purchased the CG9 because it was so small I knew I would carry it everywhere. After some questionable indoor videos with the CG9 I purchased the HD1000 - even though I didn't really need high definition.
Before the pros jump all over me, I will admit that both of these cameras have shortcomings. For example, there's no question that Sanyo's image stabilization can't compare to the optical stabilization of the Sony. And yes, when the HD1000 records at true HD (1920) you need to get a special version of Quicktime (v7.16, H.264 component only) and you need a kick-a__ computer if you want to edit those big files. Get over it. So for most home videos record at 720 HD, or even at 640 the quality from this camera is outstanding.
Also, it should be obvious that the HD1000 ($650) will come with features that are superior to the CG9 ($250), including a better lense, higher resolution, etc.. These differences should be expected when you pay an extra $400.
Here's what you really need to consider when deciding between these 2 cameras (and any other video camera on the market right now):
MP4 file format straight from the camera is a must. If you agree, then read on:
CG9:
The CG9 takes GREAT video, and is DECIDEDLY more "pocketable". I mean this baby will fit in your pocket just like a cell phone, and you'll carry it wherever you go. The HD1000 is still small, but the extra 3/4" thickness and bigger lense makes it surprisingly less "pocketable".
The quality of low light indoor video, as well as image stabilization is questionable.
HD1000:
The HD1000 takes GREATER video, and is MUCH easier to operate and hold steady - that extra size fits in your hand better and the controls are much easier to use without jerking the camera. Don't underestimate this just because you think maybe you have a bigger or smaller hand. I was as surprised as anyone how much easier it was to hold steady.
The HD1000 takes much better video in low light (e.g. birthday party with indoor lighting at night), and the image stabilization is surprisingly better than the CG9.
The bottom line is they're both great - but even though I really hate to give up the small pocket format I'll be returning my CG9 on Monday morning and looking forward to hundreds of instant shoot and play MP4 videos from my HD1000!
