Aiptek MPVR 8MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder with 4x Digital Zoom

but luckily I was wrong. I bought the MPVR at Target for $128.77 (the lowest price I found). There were only 2 left, so I took that as a good sign. After the initial charge, which took less than the four hours stated in the manual, I was ready to play. I took a few pictures inside my house in low-light conditions, both at 1 and 3 megapixel resolution. I also shot a short video just so I could test it. The following morning I shot another video outside (it was a beautiful day with plenty of sun), and I took pictures in all the available resolutions: VGA, 1, 3, and 6MP. Here's what I think:

For under $150 you get a digital still camera, digital camcorder, MP3 player, voice recorder, and TV-DVD recorder. It's an amazing deal.

-The camera:

While it does tout the camera as being able to take pictures at 6MP resolution, the actual sensor is for 3MP. I was a little thrown off by this, but if you research, you'll find that more megapixels doesn't necessarily mean better quality, and this little camera is a perfect example. The way it achieves the 6MP resolution is by taking them at 3MP and adding in the extra pixels by the use of an algorithm (similar to what happens when you enlarge a picture using any photo-editing software) before the JPEG encoding, so the results are good. The images are crisp and vibrant. The get a little fuzzy when you take them at full zoom (4x optical), but that's nothing a good tripod can't fix. I currently have the resolution set at VGA because it's the perfect size for email attachments.

-The camcorder:

The first video I shot was indoors, at night-time, without engaging the night mode, and in low light. The image was good but a little fuzzy. The one I shot outdoors was beautiful. The colors were brilliant, and there was very little noise. Also the microphone is really good, and you can adjust the volume settings. You can also zoom in and out while recording video. There are two settings for video: VGA, and the lower-quality less-space consuming QVGA. All video is encoded in MPEG4 so it easily plays on your computer.

-MP3 player:

When you connect the camera to your computer, you'll find an MP3 folder. Just drag and drop your songs there and you're set. The speaker on the camera is pretty good, but it distorts a little if you have it on too loud. The included ear-buds are pretty good, although I'm sure it would sound much better with high-end Bose. You can't fast-forward or rewind a song, but how often do you really do that?

-Voice recorder and TV-DVD recorder:

I haven't used either of these functions yet, but from the sound I heard in the videos, I can probably say the voice recorder is good too. For TV-DVD recording, the camera comes with AV cables so it's just a matter of connecting the camera and hitting record. A 2GB SD card will hold about 2 hours of video.

The MPVR is amazing. It blew me away. And the size is fantastic. It comes with a 2.4" swivel screen, slim rechargeable battery and charger, AV-out/USB combo cable, AV-in cable, and wrist strap. It comes with an internal 16MB flash memory, and a SD/MMC slot accepting cards of up to 2GB. The only draw back that I could find is that the lens is not covered and it does not include a cap. So just be careful not to scratch it. When I first bought the camera I wasn't sure if I was going to keep it, but now that I've fallen in love with it I bought a small compact camera case (BestBuy has good, cheap ones) and a 256MB Kingston SD card. At the manufacturer's website, www.aiptek.com, you'll find extra accessories such as an AC adapter for the camera, extra batteries, tripods, and a wireless remote.

This camera does seem too good to be true, but I can assure you, you won't be disappointed.

This is a great buy. I was hopefull when I bought this, and I was not let down. In addition to the MPVR Aipteck camcorder, I also bought a 2GB memory card and the A/C adapter off of the Aiptek website. It takes great movies in the bright sunlight. It also does a good job of taking movies in lower light situations indoors. In addition, this camcorder takes high quality still pictures (which breaks the stereotype that multi-functional units short change you on one or the other features)and does a great job doing so. My test for the video quality was set on VGA quality, during the day. I played them back on a 55 inch TV and the picture was great, every bit as good if not better than a VHS tape. The manual is very detailed. It is necessary to follow the manual to the letter when installing the software. The software is fair, but I prefer to edit my pictures with Microsoft picture it. I can't say enough good things about this item. The price, options, and quality are unbeatable. When you want to transfer movies off of the camera onto your computer you have to switch the camera to disk mode, it is a easy process but not spelled out in the manual. Hooking the camcorder up to the TV is easy also, hook up the video and sound cable to the A/V in and the other side into the camcorder change the input setting on your TV and your in business. The only drawback is the digital zoom it has 4x zoom but I would never take it past 2x due to the drop in quality.

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I purchased this a few months ago to suplement my photography bag. I already own a Nikon D70 DSLR, so I purchased the MPVR as a take-along digital cam for situations where I didn't want to lug around the D70, and also as a digital camcorder for quick videos.

Compared on any one feature, the MPVR falls short to any other dedicated device. But taken as a whole, and for the price, it's a useful gadget.

I have used over a dozen digital cameras and SLRs for over 15 years. The MPVR is impressive for the money. I paid about $130 for it, and I think it's worth that but no more.

The digital camera is acceptable good only under the best conditions and that's about it. White balance and colors are pretty good, though the color range is somewhat muted easily fixed with photo software. This is a fixed-focus camera, with two settings, Macro and Everything Else. With adequate lighting and if your subject is posed or otherwise unmoving, it does a pretty good job. Shutter lag is significant and there isn't any control of shutter speed/aperture anyway so don't expect to use this in situations with fast-moving objects. You can manually control the white balance, it has some effects such as B&W or 'Sepia', and some photo frames that will really only be useful for children, but they are there. There are no true 'photographic' customizations to be made. Photos can suffer from some strange digital artifacts at 6MP, simply because of the software trying to simulate 6MP from a 3MP sensor.

The photo quality is better than anything you'll find on a cell-phone, but it just barely compares to low-end digital cameras. For comparison, photos are about on par with an old 1.3MP Olympus camera from 2001. If you're primary goal is photography, I'd suggest getting a lower-end digital camera from Canon, Nikon, HP, etc. You'll get a lot more photographic power for your money.

As a camcorder, the MPVR is much more impressive. It does a good job at capturing any sort of scene, provided the lighting is adequate. Again, no focus control nor true zoom (the digital zoom is nearly worthless) means that your options are somewhat limited but it does a great job at capturing an everyday, well-lit scene. Audio quality is surprisingly good too. Direct playback using the supplied cables to a TV looks surprisingly good, and the videos are pretty decent even on a higher resolution PC monitor. But again, even the lowest-end dedicated camcorder will do a much better job at video than the MPVR.

It can also do line-in recordings, and it does a fine job. The quality is quite good and it's very easy to do. The included remote almost turns the MPVR into a digital VCR. Pretty cool. The files created, however, are massive and I've had some trouble converting them to other formats for use on my PC. 38 minutes of TV = 968MB of space, so the encoding is not very efficient.

I have not used the MP3 player, but it certainly has one.

The voice recorder works as a voice recorder not much to say here.

I have very few complaints about the software, but one major one is that the MPVR does not tell you how many shots (or minutes of record time) are remaining given the SD card. Very annoying, as there's no way to really tell (other than guessing based on experience) how much space your photos & videos are taking up.

To summarize, the MPVR is a good product, you just have to keep its price/features in perspective. It's ok at pictures, good at video, and has a few other neat 'convergence' features thrown in the mix. As a quick-and-dirty camera/camcorder, it's fine. But it cannot compare with dedicated devices. On the other hand, you'd need to spend 4 or 5 times the cost of the MPVR to get a collection of other devices to do the same work (camera, camcorder, mp3 player, voice recorder, etc).

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I got this camera because it was cheap, and all I needed it to do was record simple things better then

my Digital photo camera. Well.... The movies on my Photo camera are actually better.... so are the photos.

For mac, you need to also download a converter software to allow you to play the movies. The other

functions are just plug and play. (love Mac sometimes) The software is called Flip4Mac WMV Studio. $49

Makes it so all .asf files can be played on Quicktime, and can be imported into iMovie.

My 2001 Dimage-X Shoots video. At night, in my room with just the normal room light, I can see

everything, but it all has a yellow tint to it.

The Aiptek is almost totally black. It Does, however, have a night Shoot setting. This makes the

room clear, and in color, far better then the Dimage-X Photo camera. HOWEVER..... As soon as

something moves in the frame, it's all blurry. It looks like it's using a very long exposure, to get the

night effect. Still objects, and a still camera make things look nice and bright, but move a little

and it gets so blurry, you would swear you were filming ghosts.

There is a 5 second delay from turning the camera ON, to being able to take photos or film.

There is a 2 second delay when it tries to adjust for light conditions (going from sun to shade).

Video seems to be pretty good in my room, in the morning, with the sun shinny through the windows.

The controls are beautiful. Everything is super user friendly and intuitive. The Video button and

photo button are next to each other, and it's as simple as pressing one or the other for shots. No

fumbling through menus to switch over (my photo camera has this problem).

Mic is not very sensitive for the sounds that matter. There is a lot of hiss, and any camera noise

(like rattling or the strap blowing against it) will be over powering to the sound of what you are

trying to record. Actually... strike that.... the mic is garbage. I can walk up to the camera, and

say something in a normal tone of voice, and it sounds like I'm talking through a pillow, but

you will still hear hissss like you got the sensitivity up too high.

All in all, it's not bad for a kick-around camera, but I think that there are better still cameras that do video

for the same price (and are Mac Friendly).

Samsung Digimax i5 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

$185.50 works with Power Mac G3

SD/MMC card slot (up to 1 GB guaranteed) better low light sensitivity then the Aiptek

MPEG-4 VGA 30 frames per second Movie Clip VGA: 640 x 480 pixels AVI (MPEG4) formats. Not

the ASF format in the Aiptek that has to be converted.

But, even with the i5, you need 2 FREE softwares. One: DivX. You can get this on the Quicktime webpage. Two: Xvid for Mac OSX. You get this at xvidmovies.com/mac/ This will allow you to play all the movies you record on this camera in Quicktime, and bring them into iMovie. They will still be AVIs with a Xvid Codac but you will be able to see them. You will have to Export them as Quicktime to give them to your friends. but it's FREE, not $40.

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I was skeptical of an all-in-one camera at this price, but my purchase allayed all those concerns. As with most relatively low-priced things that claim to 'do it all' I expected a compromise among features and performance.... not so with this little gem.

The still picture quality is great (the only thing that I found to mess up stills is shaking while taking the pic). No, the video isn't like a high-end camcorder, but for the price the video is great, and doesn't seem sensitive to shaking. The flash performance with stills is impressive, taking good pics even in a pitch-black totally dark room.

It's as simple as dirt to use after a few uses, you can put away the instructions for good.

Although software is provided, you don't need to install any programs Just use Windows Explorer to transfer pics and movies to your pc just like moving files between folders.

There's nothing to switch when going from still to video mode.

The exposure can be adjusted for various lighting conditions, which I almost never need to do.

This is in addition to being an MP3 player, voice recorder, and micro-VCR to record directly from TV (haven't tried that yet).

Performance, simplicity, inexpensive, compact, and lightweight..... what else is there?

I wish I could score it a 4.5 I can't give it a 5 because:

No lens cap included (gasp!), and the lens is right out there so it's easy to smear.

Zoomed images get fuzzy beyond 1.5 to 2X or so, but that's typical with digital zoom.

Battery doesn't fit snugly in the charger, so it's easy to jar loose.