This camcorder takes decent quality video using solid state memory. This allows the camcorder to resist G-forces that normal cameras would balk at! I use 512Mb memory cards to record the video. I can usually out live the battery life before the card gets full. I bought this camcorder recently and enjoy the ability to get two angles on my movies, using the DV4000 and DV4500 at the same time. Camera is very lightweight and can be mounted with simple tie wraps to any position. The "beep record" function lets me know it is recording without having to open the view finder.

The problems with camera are: 1) poor loud audio handling, cuts out. 2) Poor lens quality which affects picture taking.
I do not work for Mustek. I have used their DV4000+ camcorder to take my racing videos [...] for over a year now and love it.

For $147 what could I really expect? I ordered this camera/camcorder 6 in 1 item and returned it the next day. I needed something small for traveling and it fits the bill for that. The battery life is not very good however, but the driving factor for returning it was very very very poor image quality.

I dont ask much out of this thing, but for being 4mp it acts like a 1mp camera just blown up to a high pixel grid. It underexposes inside and overexposes outside. The video quality is decent actually, despite the smaller size, or despite the lower frame rate on the 640x480. I was going to keep it and deal with the poor digital still quality, but on my last tests, upon playback, i noticed the images bent and jumped... this was it and so it was returned. For the money i paid for this i can easily buy just a regular camera with a full 3.2mp and optical zoom with a major brand name... so thats what i am doing. live and learn, not a bad thing for a child or a teen perhaps, but not good for backpacking in India and taking just a half decent shot of some beautiful architechture etc...

Dear Reuben Gathright "rgathright",

Your review gave more insight into the product DV4500. My requirement is to buy a digicam with decent camcorder options.

I saw this device and gone through product specs and got quite interested, then decided to buy.

After seeing your review, I come across the statement- "poor lens capability which affects picture taking". I want more info on this, since that is the deciding factor for me to buy.

Please provide info on that. Say, a. does the lens affects both video and digital picture quality?

b. I basically want to capture pictures from photos, close-by people, close-by sceneries. I want those pictures (still images) to be of good resolution and more clarity (visibility).

Please reply me. You can also suggest me any other good models which satiusfies my basic requirement
[...]
Thanks & Regards,
Kalyan

This little camera is pretty good depending on how you want to use it. If your a teenager who just wants to goof off (like me) then it's great for the price. I use it for things like skating videos and short movies where the quality level does not need to be excellent and the transportability of this small camera is great. However, if you are more serious about your work then this is not for you. For a few hundred more dollars you could get a palm sized minidv camcorder that is much higher quality from any company like sony, panasonic or jvc that also take still shots. Also note that this camera's 32 mb onboard memory can barely fit any video time. I would suggest a 512 sd card that you could get from companies like viking for about 35 dollars.

Here are some of the marketing ploys for this camera:

Digital Camcorder: decent, i already told you about it, okay if footage doesnt need super high quality

Digital Still Camera: not so good, it is a 4.1 megapixel camera but there is a very slow shutter speed. I have gotten very clear pictures off of this camera but usually when the camera is resting on a sturdy surface. If you are holding it in your hand as you take the picture it is nearly impossible to get it still enough for the picture to not be slightly blurred. This was an irritation to me.

Digital Voice Recorder: decent, dont expect to record sounds from a distance or for the quality to be any better than the camera functions.

Video Camera: ... uh, i still havent figured out what mustek's difference between a digital camcorder and a video camera is.

PC cam: works, decent, ive never really seen a crystal clear webcam before, so this one is not really better or worse than the ones ive seen.

Mass Media Card Reader: works. if you wanted you could use this camera simply to plug into a usb drive (with the included wire) and move files on and off of your SD card.

Mp3 player: it works, but not that well. To use it you must create a specific file on your sd card or onboard memory and place all of your mp3s on it. This is easy but since the camera has a single small speaker, you can only listen to fairly quite mono sound.

4x seamless digital zoom when recording: it's a lie, if you try to zoom while your recording it will get jumpy and jolt around. You can zoom it up to for times before you film but at the expense of quality.

Built in flash: not great, this was one of the reasons i bought this over the dv4000, but im dissapointed. From a distance, the flash simply doesnt work, from up close it tends to white out the image (the flash is to bright) and after a couple of drops, your cameras timer might get thrown off by a second or so (happened to mine) where it will be out of sync with the flash. This means that it will flash and then take the picture a second after wich is meaningless. Also, this is not a light. I was hoping that i would be able to use it as a light for short nighttime video clips but no such luck.

1.5 Inch LCD display: it is what it is, but just to let you know, 1.5 inches is really really small. Although it doesnt seem like it, the 1 inch difference between this and most miniDV camcorder's 2.5 inch screen is huge. People (such as my parents) who dont have great eyesight will get irritated with this very quickly.



Comparison DV4500 to DV4000
(my good friend has a 4000, i have a 4500, im not just making this stuff up.)
If this camera sounds good to you and you want to buy it, i would strongly suggest getting the DV4000 instead. Here's why:

Size: the 4000 is a bit smaller. the 4500 is pretty small, but you can tell the difference when your carrying it in your front pocket.

Batteries: The 4500 eats through AA batteries very quickly. The 4000 comes with a rechargeable, removable, internal battery that works well. If you like the idea of AA because you can always carry extras around in case it dies (like me), you can get extra internal battery for the 4000 off of amazon for about 15 dollars (which i didnt know till after)

Casing: the 4500 casing is made of PLASTIC, the 4000 is METAL. this is the biggest reason why the 4000 is better. It is simply a lot more solid. While its not like the 4500 will just fall apart in your hand, the 4000 can take much more punishment without being affected.

Flash: the flash (one reason why i got the 4500) is nearly worthless.

Lens cap: this isnt really a big deal, but the 4000 came with a small rubber cap to cover the lens and the 4500 did not. Nothing has happened to my camera without a lens cap but i still wanted one.

Other than these the two cameras are pretty much the same which is why i believe the DV4000 is a better buy (and its usually about 10 dollars cheaper).

This 7 in 1 camera with it's really great design and advertised features, quality and performance I am yet to see out of this product. I tried fooling myself into accepting the quality. Everyone who has seen it loves it and I'm sure there are some of you that could live with and love it. My experience with it is as follows. The video recording is no better than an average digital still camera with video capability. The mic isn't bad on the audio recording. The still pictures are only slightly better than a cheap net cam. The flash is totally out of range or control, say 5 to 6 feet no closer or farther. The mp3 player is terrible. The voice record function is the only acceptable function. Far from a 4.1 megapixel advertised quality. MPEG-4 format out of this camera sucks. Overall, this is a decent quality camera for a kid to goof with and a waste of 100 bucks in my book. Put it towards a decent mini DV camera.

I am in the Advertising-Marketing field. I've had this camcorder for about 1 year. I own 3 digital cameras and 3 camcorders; all with varying degrees of resolution quality. I bought the Mustek DV4500 as an EVENT RECORDER. People should understand that this is not high end camcorder.

I carry the DV4500 in a soft eyeglass case with 2 extra rechargeable AA batteries. I also use a 1gb SanDisk Ultra SD card which allows over 3 hours of movies (never ran out of battery power). I have taped a 1-1/2 hour church service using a small tripod. The sound is amazingly clear. Yes, the photos aren't like my 5mp digital camera, but you can't have everything bundled into such a small inexpensive package. If people will remember this captures the moment on a SD card instead of tape. It's so easy to download since the standard memory seems to be SD cards.

Christmas eve, my minister gave a rendition of a shepherd (in low light). The next day I gave him a cd rom with his whole performance on it. He was grateful someone had recorded that part of the service. Was the resolution "Oscar Winning" quality? No, the event was recorded decently and the sound was stunning and clear.

I always carry this camcorder in my purse and am ready to record action or sound. Most people who see this camera and movies, especially the size and capabilities, purchase one. It's so portable: MP3s, camcorder and still photos all in one small package.

I read "Winchester"'s review and kept coming back because of it, debating and debating, until I finally just bit the bullet and bought it sight unseen. I am so glad I did.

Although I've never heard of Mustek before, I think it's absolutely unbelievable that you could get a little device that's smaller than my digital camera that records MP3s, takes pictures and also ok-quality videos for a little over 100 bucks. Plug it into your usb port, and slide the files right over to your desktop, it's that simple! I've taken videos of Toastmasters meetings, trips, Mother's day with my family, and even uploaded videos to youtube taken with this thing - it's so convenient and simple with the memory cards! And completely portable; bring extra AA batteries with you, because it's easy to get the video bug with this little thing.

I, like Winchester in the reviews section, have several video cameras, all of various price ranges and quality ranges. They are, in comparison, much more difficult to operate, though. This little camera is best for capturing the moment, and I carry it in my purse in the little drawstring pouch it came in. It even came with a little tripod, which is so cute! I've used this thing more than any video camera I have, because it's simple, easy to use, and I carry it everywhere. The buttons are intuitive, it's press, record, and playback, like a no-brainer. When you're done, you can go back and watch the video you've just taken on the little screen, or take a look at anything else you've got on the memory card.

I am so happy with this purchase, I can't tell you. I find myself looking for things to take videos of, and keep spare batteries and memory cards in my purse, just in case the batteries get tired, or I run out of space on a card. I think it has already paid for itself, and it seems to be weathering the wear and tear of being knocked around in my purse pretty well.

Kudos and thanks to Winchester for writing the review that encouraged me to buy this little camera. If you're looking for high quality, this isn't it; but if you're looking for convenience and the ability to record and have videos to playback of little wonderful memorable events in your life, this is a great little camera for that. It's also a great little camera for people who do videoblogging; you'd be able to answer people on youtube very quickly with this little camera, because downloading the files from the camera is so quick and simple.

I have two videocameras that I paid over $1,000 each for, and I don't use either one of them like I use this little thing.