Customer Reviews

Veho VCC003MUVI Micro DV Camcorder

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Length:: 3:25 Mins

This thing is great. I tried the Oregon Scientific ACT3K and the picture quality of the Muvi is far better.

The Veho folks aren't doing us or themselves any favors by shipping it with such a sub-standard memory card though. At first I was slightly disappointed until I put in a 4Gb class 2 MicroSDHC card I had lying around. What an improvement. I've got a couple 8Gb class 6 cards on the way so I should be all set.

Some things to note:

1. Files are limited to 30 minutes at which time it will start a new file.

2. For some reason all files are dated 12/31/2000 12:00 AM

3. Files are huge. The 3:25 min. video I submitted was edited in Movie Maker and saved as a WMV at 2mbps and is 52Mb. The original raw 5 minute AVI file at 64kbps was 175 mb.

4. The audio is awful but not really an issue for me.

The edited video in WMV was as close as I could get to the original. There was only a slight loss in quality.

I've bought 3 or 4 cameras of this type for use at work. I've bought 2 different helmet cameras that worked kind of okay, but this one knocks it out of the park. The case is built like a tank, it's very easy to use. The voice activated function is great. I'm using an 8gb chip in mine, so I can't talk about the quality problems I've heard about when using the 2gig chip that ships. I've used it the past couple days testing it by using the clip mount to clip it under my rear view mirror facing forward and I can tell you there are no police dashboard cameras that can beat the video. The camera focuses perfectly through the windshield and the angle of view is wide enough to capture a perfect scene. Low light is great, used it at a shooting range yesterday and once I figured out the proper placement the videos were great even in reduced lighting. If you need a tiny camera with great quality this is the one. My one complaint was when I installed the driver disk I began getting com errors and had to do a lot of googling before I could shut them off. I plugged the camera in another computer without installing the drivers and it worked fine. I suppose you will need the drivers if you are going to use this as a web camera, but thats a waste of a great piece of equipment. Audio is a weak point and wind noise will wipe the audio. If your going to use this as a cruiser cam not sure how you would get external audio, but it will pick up the video well. I highly recommend it. [...]

Purchased one of these and promptly rigged it up on the tiedown mount of an RV8 aircraft and flew it thru barrel rolls and high speed (200mph+) passes at airport. Camera did a very good job, only a slight pause for some unexplainable, reason (very slight). Handled the lighting variables in good shape. Excellent for the cost, and this is coming from a retired USAF Motion Picture Cameraman who has done several kinds of these applications on higher speed aircraft.

Will not record while plugged into power.
Full and freshly charged battery only good for one hour of recording.
If battery dies in middle of clip, that clip is unplayable. Clips are 30 minutes long.
Has slow rolling shutter. Tilt camera movements create unwatchable footage.
Audio is very poor.
The monetary switch for record/stop makes it difficult to know if camera is recording. The flashing green light isn't easy to see in bright sunlight from an angle.
No internal clock to properly date video file headers.

I've been running this on bicycle seat post pointed backward at traffic. AAA batteries, and continuous loop recording would make it better.

I work in the LEO field and have used this product with great success. Many negative ratings were given on Amazon due to the camera turning off after 10 seconds "right out of the box". To my dismay...mine did the same thing but...its not a defect or flaw. The camera goes into stand-by mode and all you do is hit the record button to bring it back to life. Hit it a second time and it starts recording. No flaws whatsoever.

One downfall I found is the lack of USB 2.0. All the transfers to and from the device use the slow 1.0 speed so videos over 10 minutes take forever to transer to/from the camera. Per the grapevine, the new devices will have the USB 2.0 transfer rate.

The only other complaint, which probably corresponds with the transer usage of USB 1.0, is the slow capture rate of the webcam feature. You can use this as a webtype camera to video tape and it saves the movie on your computer to save the memory on the SD card. This is a great idea for wired recording using your computer but the video was something like a video from a 7-11. It seemed to be recording at 3 frames per second or something crazy like that. I was contemplating using this setup to record my traffic stops instead of strapping the camera to my uniform but after seeing how slow and choppy it was I changed my mind.

All and all, I highly recommend this camera to anyone using needing a small recording device that has great video and sound quality for its size and has a type of profession that needs something this small. Its fun for the kids too...when I got it I strapped it to my cat's collar to see where she went during the day...I haven't laughed that hard in a while. :D

1st, Battery life poor but other than that it was a pretty good camera. 2nd, My unit died at 7 months. Unit has a 1 year warranty but no one will honor it! Seller ('PORTABLE GUY') directed me to the manufacturer (VEHO)who directed me back to the seller who said that manufacturer had to warranty it. (catch 22) Veho has not responded to any follow-up emails. Amazon granted me an 'exception' and refunded my money, (good decision by Amazon!). If you choose to buy this beware of ~ZERO~ customer service from either Portable Guy or Veho.

Veho VCC003MUVI Micro DV Camcorder

Length:: 0:22 Mins

It was an interesting, impressive gadget for aprox. 3 days. Then it simply krapped out. Wouldn't turn on, the computer wouldn't recognise it through USB. Nothing. Simply dead.

I do a lot of walking, typically 3 to 6 miles every day from my home to my work, or to nearby businesses. Like most pedestrians, I've had my share of close calls with inattentive and careless drivers. After recently being hit by a car (fortunately, I wasn't too badly hurt), I started looking for a small videocamera that I could wear to record what happened during my walks. The Veho MUVI seemed ideal, and I've now had a couple of days to use it. So here are my impressions:

(1) The MUVI is both smaller and heavier than I expected. It came with a rotating clip to hook to the front of my shirt, and a lanyard to wear around my neck. It looks and feels quite sturdy. I wouldn't want to bounce it off a sidewalk, but it definitely feels tough enough to endure normal handling, or being dropped a short distance. It does get warm to the touch while recording.

(2) Despite what the product photos on Amazon show, the camera must be mounted or carried vertically, not horizontally, with the lens on top for proper orientation. The video quality (640 x 480 pixels) is excellent given the lens size, and the Muvi quickly adapts between outdoors and indoors lighting changes, and gives very good results with both.

(3) As many others have pointed out, the 2 GB card that comes with the MUVI is simply inadequate. Buy yourself an 8 GB microSDHC class 6 card. The MUVI requires about 2.6 GB per hour of recording, so the 8 GB card will provide sufficient capacity for about 3 hours of video, which should be more than enough given the battery life of the MUVI.

(4) Despite what the instructions say, you cannot record while the MUVI is being recharged. On the other hand, with two MUVIs, four 8 GB SDHC cards, and a USB auto charger, you could record an entire 12-hour road trip by charging one MUVI while recording with the other.

(5) My Macbook mounts the MUVI exactly like a USB thumb drive whenever it is plugged in. Videos can be easily dragged and copied, or dragged and deleted. The MUVI does not support high-speed USB data transfer, so I recommend that you get a high-speed SDHC card reader if you want to copy off movies quickly.

(6) Audio quality is adequate but not very impressive. The voices of the people I talk to actually sound clearer than my own, and are understandable as long as you don't have a lot of background noise. You could probably understand a conversation recorded in a quiet room, in my opinion, but I wouldn't gamble on it in a large crowd.

(7) Best of all, the MUVI doesn't look like a videocamera. I've had lots of people look right at it and not realize what it was. I'm guessing they dismissed it and assumed it was an MP3 player or some sort of Bluetooth earpiece. It is ideal for discreet recordings, especially if you find yourself dealing with government authorities and want a video record of your interactions with them. (First make sure to review the wiretapping laws for wherever you live.)

So what would I like to see for a future version of the MUVI? Full HD quality recordings, longer battery life, better audio, and true optical stabilization would be a nice wish list, although fitting any of them into the MUVI's form factor would require a lot of engineering effort. Nevertheless, the MUVI is still an amazing little videocamera for its size and cost, and I'm looking forward to using it extensively in the coming months.

It is just amazing what this little gadget can do. I am in the technology industry, specifically security and surveillance, and have tested many of these kinds of devices. This unit provides a high quality image and still manages not to bust the budget. I found it easy to use and was very impressed with the amount of data stored on-board. Definitely would recommend this device for undercover or law enforcement purposes.

The camera does an adequate job for it's size. Don't expect the video to rival a small camcorder or digital camera. The instructions aren't real good, but there are only two operating modes, so it can be figured out easily. The camera is built very sturdily, but the mounting bracket is cheap thin plastic and will not survive much use... mine broke, with no abuse, after a week of daily use. My suggestions is to tape the bracket to the camera as soon as you get it. Another review, here, shows that someone lost their camera outside when the bracket came apart. I've used it more than a few dozen times daily since I got it... mounted in my car window. It does an adequate job and I use it as a dash-cam. NEVER, have I gotten more than 1.5 hours on a completely charged battery, so don't be deceived by the claims of 3 hours. I substituted the 2 gb SD card with an 8 gb SD 6 card. It works equally well with either card, but the larger card allows me to get 4 hours of video on the card without the daily hassle of downloading the video. Downloading the video from the camera thru the USB cable is very slow and is not worth the trouble... get yourself a SD micro adapter to plug it directly into SD slot on your computer. I got my camera for $59. It appears to be rising in cost. I just got a clone of this camera for $12 from China. It is identical, but has some additional brackets, but does not have the AC wall charger or the SD card that comes with this unit. The camera really isn't worth more than $39 with the given accessories. It's fun, it's small, and it does an okay job with video.