Aiptek Plus A-HD+ 128 MB Camcorder - Silver

The main reason to get this camera is the price. The price is what drew me to it and I think that's an important reason to get it. It is an average camera but is good for the non-die-hard filmmakers or photographers. I got to get a camera that had better video than my digital camera and this one does and it was cheaper but everything comes out pretty average. The pictures were supposed to be 8 megapixels and they didn't seem to turn out as well as my 5 megapixel camera. This camera has some serious problems with light, whether there is too much or too little. It is good for making average-quality home movies and the connections to the TV is a good feature but it works spotty. It was just a simple hook-up to the HDTV to get it to work but it took about 15 minutes of playing around with it and doing the same thing over and over to get it to actually show on the HDTV. There is a big difference in the picture depending on the settings and the camera seems to not be very adaptable to the environment when some settings are on AUTO. It does feature a voice recorder, which I really don't plan to use, a self-timer, and other basic digital camera features. For the most part, it is easy to use and get the hang of and it is very portable, if you have some decently loose or deep pockets. It is a good camera and I would recommend it to somebody who doesn't want to pay $200-$400 dollars for a good multifunction camcorder. To me, it's a decent option because I was using a regular $90 HP digital camera that had video as my camcorder and camera. It had voice recorder and self-timer also.

The Aiptek A-HD is pretty good for everyday photos and videos, however don't expect professional results from this. The lack of a optical zoom lens and true 8mp resolution will be the factors in making this just an everyday camera. Not that there's nothing wrong with that. It does take very good pictures and exceptional video in HD and D1. (DVD quality resolution)This camera also has a personal media player/recorder that you can use to record TV programs or old VHS movies and transfer them to DVD on your computer or watch them on the camera's screen. Editing videos from this camera, however can be a challenge trying to find a video editing package that can handle mp4 files. Windows Movie Maker does NOT do this. There are a few out there, you just have to find them.

Pros:

*Exceptional picture quality
*SD Expandable
*Rechargeable Battery by AC or USB
^Record videos in HD
*Personal Media Player and Recorder

Cons:

*Shape is sometimes hard to hold for videos, tripod recommended
*No optical zoom
*Sound of recorded videos is not always the best, expecially in noisy or quiet areas.

*Anything above 5MP is interpolated resolution
^Hard to find a working video editing package

I like the features that are not too complex to operate for an average computer geek. The price is modest and maybe a 3 1/2 star rating out of 5 for an above entry level camera. The pictures are 4 1/2 stars out of 5 at 8 megapixel. Handling is light and it makes for jerky movements if not careful. The camera would have been better with movie stabilizers installed. I do not like .mov format. et al Quicktime. There should have been another format like .avi or .mpg. For my purposes of general use it is great. For documentation and weddings, this may not be the camera.

5 out of 5 when it comes to price and ease of use, bought it for my wife, you just open the door and press the record button, a few more buttons makes it almost HD. Good lighting you could fool most plasma and LCD large screens.
I like the USB for power or transfer. charge from laptop, or wall, great idea. with a 16gb sd 4 hours of video! No tapes, no jams, just swap the SD card to your laptop save, delete/clean SD card ready to shoot again.
the video does seem jumpie on the laptop, but I think that is due to the video card trying to transport the large amount of data to video. When editing in pro editor and beefie computer, it goes away for export of final product.
Anything else with better quality would cost you $200-$300 more than the average @$199 price.
I am planning to put this camera on a race car, all previous tape and Hard drive type cameras get eaten up, so stay posted I may give an update in a month with video results, or watch on youtube "advanguard"
This camera is a far cry from my pro HD camera, but for the pocket, pull out and shoot your kids recital, memeories are for ever, quick and convenient.

I liked that it was new in the box, that ment it would be under warrentee.
It had defects from the start the sound would not record fully and evenly the lcd screen seemed rather dark, it has been in repair from the first day I received it; and that would be 30 days now minus the week of shipping or 37 days.
However the aiptek warrentee, was in place and they are going to repair it.
HD camera's of this caliber are not all that great but very convienant and fun, I will use it to video my bike rides. I would be more specific, but the camera has yet to be used and reviewed, after repair.