Sony DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam

Sony DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam

DCR-DVD403 DVD Handycam Review, by Richard Baguley June 23, 2005

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• Reviewed by: donut44

  Strengths: Great Video lookTouch ScreenEasy to useEasy to hold

  Weaknesses: Must use LCD screen as eye thing is hard to look through

  Overall: I wanted to wait awhile before I commented, so that I could use all the features and see how the recorder handles. After two months, I have to say that I am completely pleased with this camcorder. This camcorder takes an absolutely excellent video and the quality is unreal. As for the photos, I think they are terrific. We continually heard how not to expect good pictures from a camcorder. Well, I have seen way too many digital cameras that just plain stink. This blows them away.1The price is fabulous, especially using this site to find the best deal, we paid a little over 700 with everything included. 1The mini-dvd is easy to handle and easy to use. If you use an -RW you can edit right on the camcorder. Otherwise, just transfer to your computer and put on a large DVD for consolidation or just finalize and use the mini. Don't know where people are buying their mini, but they don't cost as much as people make out. Buy 10 for $25 and I am sure that will go down. You can record up to 60 on the least quality and I haven't found too much problem with that, except when it is not light out you will want a better quality, thus cutting your time down. If you want something else besides a mini-dvd, then buy another camera. You will be hard pressed to find too many cameras that do everything. Mini-dvds and hard drives are the camcorders of the future, so you can buy your tapes and everything, but be careful, you are out of date. 1The battery to me seems to last a long time as we have yet to have any problem with it. We don't record entire ball games or anything, but then again, if you are and you think any camcorders basic battery is going to last, you may be in for a surprise. This battery lasts at least 2 hours as long as you arent continually using it to watch what you just did.1The sound is real good, but maybe too good and not directed enough at the source. You pick up everything and I mean everything. Not really a problem, just be careful of wind and not zooming fluidily, as you can pick up the sounds of both. 1The touch screen rocks and works really good. The zoon is nice but a little too touchy. Probably my fault and I need to learn to be more gentle, I don't know. I found the software hard to load on the computer and a little confusing, but that is why I married someone smarter than me, as she figure it out right away.1There are a lot of features and they do take time to understand, but the touch screen helps out and it is a fun camera. All in all, I am overjoyed with this purchase, and I hate to spend money, so that says a lot.1

• Reviewed by: microsomen

  Strengths: DVD recording,movie quality,easy handling,battery

  Weaknesses: still pictures are only mediocre, my 2 years old 4 Mpixel camera makes better pictures (it has nothing to do with pixels, it is the quality of the colors and the contrast),Software !!!!

  Overall: It is my first camera and therefore I have no comparison. Having said that I'm fine with this camera. Some people say, that the mpeg2 format has low quality, but for my purposes (family movies) it is totally sufficient and so much easier to handle (sizewise) then DV tapes. I bought the NT-SC model and unfortunately you can not connect the camera to a PAL TV. So you have to upload the megs files to computer and display it via the s-video out or finalize the DVD and put it in your DVD player. The software is simply a joke. transferring the movies to your computer via usb is fine, but everythink else.... You have to consider to invest additional money into an authoring software (even more money if you like to preserve Dolby surround 5.1, since the cheaper solution only support Dolby stereo).

• Reviewed by: iwantnothingwithoutapowercord

  Strengths: ease of use, video quality, touch screen, amazing sound quality, wide screen, clear still pictures

  Weaknesses: battery life, recording length, hefty price tag

  Overall: just bought this for the baby delivery room...very very nice camera, the sound is very clear, picture quality is excellent and i think my newborn can use it already.what's killing me is that for all that money, the battery and the dvd only last an hour. better have spares and dont mind changing discs every hour...i havent had a chance to read the owner's manual, so i dont know how to transfer movies to my pc yet, but i finalized the cd, put it in the dvd player and there it was, my wife cursing at me and my baby cryin in the background. i hope it lasts till her prom night cuz with this camcorder i doubt i'll ever need another one

• Reviewed by: saintmas

  Strengths: Many useful features for the less sophistated or more experience user.

  Weaknesses: Tends to have vital flaws with lousy warranty to back up expected services, especially given the high price!

  Overall: I researched handycams in advance of my purchase and felt confident that "this was the one." While I felt positive about the functions it offered, I was more disappointed in the manufacturer's inability to provide a decent warranty. I purchased my handcam in advance of my first European vacation and the item mal-functioned after 20 minutes of use: the right side of the screen blacked out. The seller replaced it with a new item promptly, and the second handycam promptly mal-fuctioned again: the lens cover failed to close. Sony refused to replace. BAD NEWS for the purchaser who only used the item for 20 minutes. BE CAREFUL. The warranty only provides that Sony will repair the item at its costs, but who wants a new and expensive handycam "repaired" when it clearly was defective. I am happy with the item when it works. Just cross your fingers.

• Reviewed by: mskelly01

  Strengths: Small, compact, easy to use, great video & stills, good battery life, stills & video on same media (DVD)

  Weaknesses: Price - hasn't come down because this is the best out, Wind noise if recording outside in any type of wind, media only holds 20-30 min & a few stills, shutter speed on stills is very slow

  Overall: This is a wonderful choice for anyone looking to combine their camcorder & digital camera. The price is formidable because this is the best camera on the market bar none. If you get one DVD-RW, you can use it over and over for as many stills as you need (delete/copy to computer) and save quite a bit of money over using the DVD-R for stills. Battery charges pretty quick, but recommend a second battery if you are going to use the video camera with LCD screen out for a long vacation. Shop around for the batteries and external chargers, some websites charge way too much, others are reasonable. I was worried about the finalizing time, but it is not too bad for a full DVD. If you are trying to take stills of children who move all the time, the shutter speed on this camera is slow and you miss the good smile because it takes too long to snap, but this is true of most digital cameras. I was disappointed that the video files are VOB instead of MPEG, but they tell me it can be used with another software tool I have yet to get.