Pure Digital PSV-351 30 Minute Point-and-Shoot Camcorder

Any less-than-5-star reviews of this camcorder that were written during Summer 2006 simply miss the point of the device. The Pure Digital Point and Shoot camcorder is one of the most easy-to-use electronic devices I have ever used. With only 6 buttons (on/off, play, delete, zoom in/out, backward/forward, and stop/pause) one is able to digitally record and save events with the greatest of ease. Very little instructional material is packaged with this device because it is simply not needed. Coming complete with batteries, I was able to start recording immediately out-of-the-box. For the price and convenience currently only $130 and virtually no setup time for recording spontaneous events the Point and Shoot camcorder simply cannot be beat. There are two drawbacks to this device: memory and image quality. With only 512MB of unexpandable memory, the device only stores 30 minutes of footage. However, downloading footage to your PC or laptop is incredibly easy as the device has a built-in USB port that connects directly with no additional cabling needed. After downloading footage to computer, the memory can be cleared from the device and recording can resume. Image quality is decent but not great. If capturing life events on a budget is all that is needed, you will not regret purchasing this camcorder. Please be aware that according to a recent Wall Street Journal review, Pure Digital has licensed its technology to other firms, which are expected to release similar products with greater quality and features in the future in my opinion it is probable that such products might be introduced to the marketplace as soon as Christmas 2006. If you cannot wait, however, $130 is a small price to pay to be an early adopter of such technology.

This is a nifty little unit that functions exactly as billed. It might be considered a "fast food" version of a camcorder. The video quality is acceptable -MPEG4 resolution which is roughly equivalent to VHS. But where it shines is the simple user interface. If you want to capture a moment quickly, you can be shooting within 20 seconds. And you can email a brief 20 second clip in 90 seconds after shooting it (assuming your computer is in the same room!). The controls are simple, with nothing to set, and it's much simpler than trying to shoot video with your digital still camera. You can use Nero 6.6 or 7 to burn your videos to a DVD or a VCD. The zoom lens is digital, not optical, so there is a noticeable decrease in quality when you use it. And the little built in microphone doesn't have much range. But given the price, this gizmo can't be beat. I loved mine so much, I bought 2 more as birthday gifts for friends.

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If you need something simple to record life's daily events, this is what you have been looking for. Very easy to use, bright colors, outstanding audio. You can take the camera into an "authorized reseller" and have your full memory transferred to a DVD (for a price, of course) or you can save your videos directly to your computer. There is 512 megabytes of built in memory, so you can do the math as to how many 30 minute videos you can save. Of course, you can also burn your own DVD's then remove the saved videos from your computer.

I had some big problems trying to dump the video off the camera onto my HP laptop. The built in software created error messages, and couldn't load onto the computer. The camera would turn off in the middle of transferring the video (after I FINALLY got the software loaded). I never did get the laptop to accept the camera. I emailed the company and, as of this writing four days later, never got a response. I solved my own problem by trying the camera with my desktop PC and everything went perfectly.

The software is very easy to use and transfers are quick. When you finish, you can easily delete the video(s) off the camera.

Battery life seems to be okay. I haven't used up the orginal set, but I haven't shot that much video yet (although I spent a LOT of time trying to get the camera to play nice with my laptop).

Bottom line: if you buy the camera you will like it; if you have troubles, don't expect any help from PureDigital!

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I always felt that Pure Digital would make a permanent camcorder like the single-use camcorder that they supply to CVS and Rite-Aid, selling for $29.95. So don't buy the single-use camcorder version because you won't get the camcorder back. The single-use one has only 20 minutes recording time. Buy this camcorder for $98.00 and it will pay for itself. Considering the low price, this little camcorder is an excellent buy!

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The Pure Digital Point and Shoot digital camcorder is the easiest camera I've used since the old days of Kodak box cameras. Results are excellent and the camera is virtually foolproof. Even my wife, who is technologically challenged, has made excellent vidoes with this compact jewel. We are looking forward to using it on an Alaska cruise in September. The only drawback, so far, is the warning not to use rechargeable batteries. It seems the same AA batteries I use in my digital still camera should function just as well in this camcorder. I would also like to be able to insert a larger capacity chip for more than 30 minutes recording time.

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