Customer Reviews

Vupoint DV-DA1-VP 5MP Multifunction Digital Video Camera

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

 

 

first thing first. this SUPPORTS SD cards GREATER than 1 gig.

for some reason the manual say that's the largest card it support.

I tried a 2 and 4 gig card and they worked fine.

I never had a camcorder before or any other devices like this so I can't really compare but I have a Cannon SD550 digital camera that takes video too

PROS:

- good feature sets for the price.. voice recorder, mp3 player, video player. webcam function

- good sound on mp3 playback

- nice small size for all that it can do.

- video recording is pretty decent quality for the file size

- can encode movies from a/v input with pretty good quality

- can output a/v to tv

- battery type are pretty common and can be had off ebay for $11

- standard mini usb cable connection to PC

- unit is detected as standard "mass storage" device so no driver is needed.

- can be charged via USB so no need for bulky AC adaptor.

- dvd resolution recording is a good filesize and good picture quality.

at 720x480 it can record up to 2:45 hours on a 4 gig card.

- has games in it.. if that's your thing.

BAD:

- Mp3 player function is not design well. some stupid details left out..

1) you can't fast forward or rewind while in the middle of the a song playing

2) while playing a mp3 song and you skip to the next song, it doesn't automatically play, you have to manually press play button for the song to play.

- wish there's optical zoom but due to the way/form of the design I can understand it.

- plastic casing.. metal casing would have been nicer but probably add to cost.

- joystick is kinda hard to use to small and sentsitive. when trying to push it in you end up pushing it either U,D,L or R.

- To use the voice recorder function u have to have the LCD screen and lens fliped out.. stupid. since this will make the unit awkard. why can't they let you record with the screen closed in it's compact form?

- one touch quick record button would have been great.

- Picture quality is not nearly as good as my Canon SD550 but that's not a good comparision base.

- with picture mode you can't talk really close macro shots.

Features I didn't try so I can't comment on yet:

- how long the battery last, didn't mind as I got an extra higher capcacity battery off ebay for only $11 shipped.

- webcam function.

- Theres a movie mode. and a AVI folder it makes on the memory card. I tried putting mp4 files of the simpsons, family guy int the folder and the unit didn't play it... I think u have to install their software to reencode those video to a format it can understand..

- video record quality is noticeably inferior to the video recording of my Canon SD550. BUT the file size alot smaller. (one minute of 640x480 video on the Canon SD550 takes about 130megs, while one minute on this thing is only 34 megs!) Quality is not that much worst but file size is alot smaller. the compromise is actually good so this is really a postitive thing.

- physical placement/position of the lens, you tend to accidently have your finger over the lense till you get use to it.

CONCLUSION:

- the unit have some usability issues software wise and I hope future firmware updates will address it.

- for the price and all the features of it, it's a pretty good buy.

- picture quality is not as good as standalone camera but still decent quality. if u want high quality pcitures go with a digital camera instead.

- good quality video recording at fair filesize.

- standard parts and accessories, PC connectors and batteries

- don't need to install the divers or anything from the CD.

Don't spend the money, even if it seems like a great bargain. It doesn't work. The video's are bad. The pics are always blurry. Trying to change the settings is very difficult because the "mouse" type button... like the nipple on the old IBM thinkpads... is very glitchy. Doesn't always do what you want it to. Never have I had a product that actually made it to the market and sold on shelves that performed so awefully.

The other pros and cons are right on. It works for me, but the controls are finicky. I'm not sure about "jack of all trades", but it is a good fit for my particular needs:

Compact, fixed focus and afforadable.

That said, there is a new generation of the gum stick sized mini-DVRs that are said to offer VGA resolution and take "compact" to a new level.

Progress is rapid in this field - so expect pricing to adjust accordingly.

This is a worthless excuse for a camcorder. It really doesn't work correctly. Image quality is absurdly bad. The controls are painful to use. Bargain basement junk at higher than bargain basement prices.

This thing arrived without a memory card so would only record about 6 seconds of video. Finding the right SD card proved to be problematic and the company customer service rep said it would only accept 1GB card, which in video is precious little. I did find a site that said this exact model would accept up to 16GB, so who knows.

Usser manual offers no clue as to compatibility of SD cards.

The major reason they seem to be dumping these things is probably the thumb button they call a joystick. It should be called a sorrow stick. I can't get it to work even using a pencil eraser; it's just too small.

I have tried off and on all day (with breaks for frustration) to simply set the time. I cannot get the little joy (?) stick to move the cursor to the date.

The keys don't seem to work the way the manual says they should.

The camera screens offer various quality of video witout any clue there or in the manual what the quality means.

Have to say DO NOT BUY no matter what the price.

I returned this item because the main button controller, a joystick type button, did not work, I barely got it to work right a few times, after trying repeatedly. Also, when (trying) to change settings in the menu, it crashed (it errored and had to be turned back on). I don't know if all units are like this, maybe just mine was defective/broken, but it seems like it was a bad design at any rate.