I picked this up a few days ago as it was on sale everywhere, which was nice considering I'd been debating between this and a Sony Webbie for awhile now. The Webbie lost due to price, and the 20-whatever minute recording limit.
Out of the box, extremely easy to use. Anyone that can't figure this out WITHOUT the manual has no business touching electronics, I'm sorry. The manual is pictures, no words - if that gives you some idea how simple it is to use. It charged up in about 30 minutes, took some play around videos that night in the living room (no overhead lighting - lamp/tv/fish tank is all the light it has) and it did fine, so I can't quite get with the bad low lighting shooting comments. There is no light so night-time shooting is probably out, obviously. The zoom is fantastic, I went max zoom on some of my 1" fish from across the room, no blurriness at all.
The playback is great, I love that you can flip the screen around and fold it back in during watching, with an convenient rewind button right next to it. It is extremely light and small - can easily be carried in a pocket. Fits the hand well, with both the record and zoom buttons in convenient finger positions. The tilted lens profile is much easier on the wrist for extended shooting.
Now, the real test was Thanksgiving. Shot around the house some, but took it outside when after dinner we toss around the pigskin. This thing shot great video, could zoom in on people as they were making the catch (we were running slant routes, giving it some on-the-move action opportunities). I got great footage of someone getting a football to the side of the face from 20 yards out, which is already an instant family classic. Took it into direct sunlight, and with sunlight behind me - could still easily see the LCD. Only twice during the hour+ of filming did it lose focus for a second or two on someone running while I zoomed in - but fixed quickly. And unless some of you are secretly M Night Shyamalan I think people would manage this with a much more expensive camcorder.
No internal storage is a bummer, but if you want that you should be buying the C14 anyways. Buy a memory card, theyre cheap. No lens cover is questionable but not necessary. As said before - no light so don't expect to make the next Cloverfield.
All in all - for $150 you will be hard pressed to find a sleeker and better performing camera. Aside from David's axe-to-grind nonsensical reviews (which he spammed onto several sites the same night) most of the reviews were helpful and made me lean towards this, and I'm glad I did. Yea, Id recommend it to a friend..2 family members are buying one before the sale is up after seeing this thing in action.