Mustek DV4500 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder w/1.5-inch LCD and 4x Digital Zoom

by Mustek

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002SPK46
• Item model number: DV4500
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,463 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2006

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Features include:

• MPEG 4 technology for high quality video recording
• 7-in-1 Multi-functional Camera (Digital Camcorder, Digital Still Camera, Digital Voice Recorder, Video Camera, PC Cam, Card Reader)
• 3.1 Mega CMOS Sensor
• Built-in Flash
• Built-in 32 MB Internal memory for Storage (card not included)
• Seamless 4X digital zooming when recording
• Fantastic audio function (Voice Recorder/Video Sound Track)
• Pocket-sized design with Support for MMC/SD memory card
• MPEG4 technology can reduce file size and enhance video recording time
• Real time video recording
• 640 x 480 (VGA) video setting provides you better resolution than VCD (352 x 288 PAL ; 352 x 240 NTSC)

Software Included

• VideoStudio SE
• Photo Express SE
• Cool 360
• Acrobat Reader
• Camera Driver
• Video Capture Driver

What's in the box:

• DV 4500
• Installation CD
• AP CD
• USB cable
• AV cable
• 1.5V AA Alkaline Battery x 2
• Strap
• Quick Guide
• Manual
• Camera Bag
• Earphone
• Tripod

Product Description

MPEG 4 TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH QUALITY VIDEO RECORDING 7-IN-1 MULTI-

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a Digital Camcorder, March 13, 2005

By 

Reuben Gathright "rgathright" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mustek DV4500 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder w/1.5-inch LCD and 4x Digital Zoom (Electronics)

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.

Update on picture quality: The individual picture quality of this camera is comparable to a 2MP digital camera. If you are buying this camera to take wedding pictures or sentimental vacation photos, please purchase an Olympus 4040Z or similar mid size camera. However if you want to take candid photos of friends at the ballgame or in the park, this camera is perfect because the photos will be slightly out of focus yet still be better than those you can take with say, a celphone.

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very satisfied, November 20, 2004

By 

J. Sexton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mustek DV4500 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder w/1.5-inch LCD and 4x Digital Zoom (Electronics)

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...

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars i suggest a DV4000, August 17, 2005

By 

Bryan K. C. W. (Kauai, Hawaii, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mustek DV4500 MPEG-4 7-in-1 Multifunctional Digital Camcorder w/1.5-inch LCD and 4x Digital Zoom (Electronics)

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).