Electronics : JVC GZ-MG330H Slim HDD/microSD Hybrid Camcorder With Konica Minolta Lens (35x Optical Zoom)

Rating: - Neat piece of kit
I bought this item specifically because of it's size - and also i hadn't bought a gadget in a while!!! My last purchase was a Canon DSLR and I love it - however it is bigger than my old compact. So as we were going on holiday and I am the one that has to carry the cameras (you know what it's like guys!), I wanted a smaller camcorder than our old bulky JVC DV camcorder.

I toyed with a the idea of a small DV camcorder, but the simplicity of the GZ-MG330H and my experience with JVC to date made the decision easy. Although this is around £100 more expensive than the DV equivalent, it is lighter and quicker to use. This is the equivalent of a point and shoot digital camera, with no settings for white balance, no fill light, no special features. But it's great...

We have just taken it on a weeks holiday and are really pleased with the results. It adjusts to bright sun and shade quickly, and the mic is pretty good too. Wind cut was useful as we were holidaying in England.

Being Hard Disk based means that you cannot overwrite footage. You can be viewing something and then need to quickly switch to record without having to find the end of the recorded footage, so you don't "tape" over it... This is also great as it meant I could let my little boy play without too much concern.

Transferring files to our home PC is simple - the included software is easy to use and each take is transferred as a small digital movie file.

If I had one complaint it would be the file format - if it could save as standard MPEG, MOV or AVI you could transfer to any PC anywhere..

If had two complaints it would be that JVC don't make it clear that the remote and dock are not compatible.

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Rating: - Does everything I need and does it well!
We all know how complicated modern gadgets can be and really how many of us have time to learn all the stuff we are expect to before handling a product? I dunno about you but I just want to pick something up and use it without undue fuss. With this tiny little JVC I was able to do just that and have yet to refer to the manual, even though it's been several years since I owned an old Hi8 machine.

All is very obvious with the camera. The supplied software then provides all you need to get the movies from the camera to your computer via USB 2 and then edit and output. Overall design is good with everything seemingly in the right place. Quality of build is very decent for the price.

You can slip it in a coat pocket or if you're travelling then slip it in your bum-bag. Then when you've walked around all day pour yourself a nice glass of the local red wine, plug in the USB cable and download/edit. Easy as pie.

Simple operation, good quality video, good design. bargain!