Customer Reviews

JVC Everio GZ-MG335 30GB Hard Drive Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom (Includes Everio Dock)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I spent considerable amount of time researching on the camcorder. It was a tough choice with available choices ranging from MiniDV camcorders to HDD camcorders and varieties within these two categories. I finally narrowed down to HDD camcorders for two reasons. No messing with tapes so operating cost goes down, and easy transfer to PC and create your DVD within minutes. In HDD I had a choice between Panasonic SDR-H40, Sony DCR-SR45 and finally JVC GZ-MG335. Panasonic has a bigger CCD resolution (800 K Pixels) but had a annoying problem, you need to remove the battery to download videos. Sony DCR-SR45 has a smaller CCD (1/8) and touch screen LCD is a big no for me. That left me with JVC GZ-MG335 and was newest product on the market. Read through many good reviews on JVC GZ-MG330. JVC GZ-MG335 is same as 330 but with an additional dock. I am happy with the outdoor performance, pictures are DVD quality (Ultra fine setting), low light resolution is ok, but for me it does not matter. Burnt a DVD using the provided software, it was a breeze. Read quite a bit of negative reviews about the software but i did not face any issues with it. The 2.7 inch LCD is pretty neat with the laser operation. The camera is very tiny and can easily fit your pocket. The hard drive is 30 GB and can record up to 8 hrs (more than enough for a year for me). Additionally you can store your videos on Micro SD card (8 GB capacity available), so expandable as well. So far so good and I am happy with the purchase.

I had a hard time deciding between this camera (JVC Everio GZ-MG335), and similarly priced new Sony (DCR-SR45) and Panasonic models (SDR-H40). I finally went with the JVC and I'm glad that I did. A couple of the things i like about this one were it's compact size, durable feel, the laser touch controls, remote control and the dock. I went to a local best buy and played with all the cameras before finally buying on amazon. The menus are easy to navigate although admittedly it can be hard to find things sometimes...but that's always been my experience with digital camera menus. The software has been easy to use and makes transferring the videos to my computer very easy. I've owned the camera now for a week and have not regretted my purchase. I'll write another review if I end up changing my mind later.

I love this camcorder. It is lightweight, easy to use, and I especially love the HDD. If you have a Mac, make sure you buy this version with the dock. I originally purchased the GZ-MG330 only to discover that it does not have a firewire port. Only the dock can connect to a Mac via firewire. With the firewire cable, your video clips are easy to import to iMovie. I haven't had a chance to use it too much, but so far it's great. The "laser touch" feature seems to work well and I like how it turns on and off when you open the screen, rather than having to turn a switch so a particular mode.

JVC GZ-MG355 is a good value camcorder. The price paid was about $30 less at retail stores plus there was no tax charged. All I wanted was a camcorder to capture vacations and home activities with family. High definition was not needed. Video quality is very good in daylight and indoor lighting. Have not had a chance to do any night scenes. Controls are relatively simple to use. The laser touch along the side of the screen is much better than touching the screen itself like on the Sony model. I would hate dirty screens or scratched up screens. If you need an extra battery, buy a JVC battery on line and save some money. There are two complaints I have about this product. One is that it might be too small for people with big hands or fingers. The "on" button is small and may be a little awkward for big fingers. The other thing is the lens cover, which is manually operated rather than automatic so sometimes you forget to close it up. Other than that, I would say go buy this model.

great product, easy to use and handle, plenty of on-board recording time. easy to connect to computer or dvd/vhs recorder. First bought a panasonic of the same size, but the jvc was much easier to use. Very satisfied.

I purchased this to replace my 10 year old Sony Hi-8 camcorder. I compared it to the sony dc-sr65 but found the JVC to have much more features for the price namely:remote control,auxilliary light and the LCD screen was much brighter. The dock is very simple. I also like the fact that I can record into the camcorder like it was a VCR. The laser-touch feature was unusual at first but once I got used to it,I actually like it.
It is very light,compact and fits nicely into a jacket-pocket. The video quality is fair but my older Sony had a better microphone/audio pick-up
when I compared the videos side by side. Also,I miss the ability to use an external mic like on the old sony. All-in-all,a good unit for the price.

After reading many positive reviews for the JVC Everio GZ-MG330 and GZ-MG335, I purchased the 335 from Amazon since it came with the docking station for only about $10 more than the 330. I was replacing a JVC GR-DV1 MiniDV recorder and went with JVC since I had the GR-DV1 for over 10 years and was happy with its performance and reliability. Shot four video sequences with the Everio for a total of about 90 seconds. Watched the footage on a TV through an S-video cable connection, and found it to be inferior in crispness and color fidelity to what I was used to with MiniDV. Did not have a chance to shoot in ultrafine mode or with the built-in light, which I expect would have been higher quality. Next, uploaded video to a PC to get used to operation of the unit. Software was fairly easy to install in Vista (contrary to problems reported by another reviewer) and use. After uploading videos, attempted to record more video, but a "pause" symbol displayed in the LCD and the start/stop button would not work. Tried removing the battery and reverting to factory default settings, but still did not record video. Called JVC service and they suggested reformatting the hard drive. This still did not fix the problem, so they said I should re-pack it and ship it to their repair depot and I would get it back in a week to ten days. Contacted Amazon, and they would ship out a replacement camcorder the same day. Instead, I chose a refund, and will buy a different brand hard drive camcorder from Amazon. So, one star for JVC for a camcorder that did not operate properly after 30 minutes of use, but hats off to Amazon for their dedication to high-quality customer service.

I bought this product about a month ago for a Disney World trip. I'm not very good with new products, but I have to say, this was easy! The daytime videos are perfectly clear. The night recordings were just as nice as well. The only thing that I'm noticing is TONS of wind noise, even though the guard is turned on, and I'm not sure what to do about that, if anything. Other than that, no complaints. It was simple to transfer files, and burn DVDs.

This is a great little video camera for basic family home videos. It is one of the only low budget camcorders that I have found which can link up with my old super-8 camcorder to transfer over all of my old videos, over 20 hours worth. It has many options and so far has performed great.

I bought this camcorder to replace an old Panasonic MiniDV recorder. After reading the reviews I decided to give it a try. My first issue was volume, if the people in the video did not speak very loudly, you could not hear them during playback mode. This improved once the video was downloaded to the computer though. My second issue was with the orange tinge that alot of my video took on. Unless I was in direct lighting, everything came out an orange and tan color. My biggest issue was the fact that the included software did not work with Vista - the movies played ok in Microsoft Photo Gallery but I could not use the software. I contacted JVC who directed me to the software's website, and I would have to pay at least $35 for the Vista version of the software. Next problem I had was after taking only about 5 minutes of video, the battery light flashed red and the camera turned off. The battery had a full charge and died after 5 minutes!! Ok, it could have been a defective battery but at this point, I was pretty much done. Also, the docking station was a problem. When I hooked the docking station to my external DVD burner by firewire, it kept telling me to connect a USB cable! It was as if it had no clue that the firewire was connected. Then, to really make me hate this camera, the next time I turned it on a message came on saying that there was a memory failure, a broken something or other, click on "recovery". All this and I had the camcorder only 2 days!! Needless to say, I returned it. I was very disappointed in the quality of the video and the camcorder itself. I had to work way too hard to make it functional.

I didnt give this one star because I'm sure that the software would work nicely on XP, and the camera itself is very light and fits your hand comfortably. I only wish it would have worked better, I think I would have really enjoyed it.