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  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: daveleone

    Updated:05-18-08

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: Reasonably priced, touch screen LCD

    Weaknesses: Cheap construction

    Overall Evaluation: This camcorder is perfect for it's price range. The body seems a little flimsy (plastic), but it has a nice feature set and a 2.5" touch-screen LCD which actually comes in handy. 20x zoom is ok, but I decided to upgrade to the HC38 which has 40x zoom. All in all, this camcorder is a good deal on the ultra-low-end.

  • Overall Rating
    5 stars 5 Star Review
    Reviewed by: flyhigh06

    Updated:05-07-08

    Duration of ownership:2 Months

    Strengths: it's touch screen with great quality

    Weaknesses: it doesn't a memory card

    Overall Evaluation: I am very satisfied with this camcorder. Its low light conditions is accurate and the color tone is perfect. Pictures are great and microphone is quiet. LCD is flawless. It's very easy to use with touch screen, and it is small and light-weighted good to hold it for a long periond of time. The only disadvantage is it doesn't take a memory card which I think it would come in handy sometimes.

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: hertztough

    Updated:04-29-08

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: Feels like it was built to last a while.The touch screen is so easy to use that even my 1.5 year old daughter can use it.

    Weaknesses: Feels a bit less polished than our earlier Sony camcorder (model DCR-HC20).

    Overall Evaluation: We purchased this camcorder to replace our circa-2004 Sony camcorder (DCR-HC20), which had developed several problems. The first thing we noticed was that since both were in the Sony HandyCam line, the accessories were fully compatible! We were able to use the high-capacity batteries we bought for our old camcorder (not cheap) with this new one. So, if you are upgrading from another Sony and have some nice accessories already, I strongly recommend that you upgrade within the Sony line.The picture is quite good for any camcorder in the $200 range, and the brand name is good as well. The camcorder feels like it was built to last a while, and that not too many shortcuts were taken in its construction. The infra-red night mode is also nice, especially because sometimes we have filmed (our sleeping baby) in the dark.One nice thing about this DCR-HC28 is that the lens cap physically comes off and hangs by a string. The old DCR-HC20 had a slider that opened and closed the lens cover without anything hanging off the side. At first, the old method may sound more refined. However, after several years, the lens slider got confused, and the camcorder started reporting that the 'lens cover was still on' even when it was not, and sometimes would refuse to record. So it was a relief to see that the DCR-HC28 had a more basic approach that wouldn't lead to any confusion.

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by:

    Updated:04-14-08

    Duration of ownership:10 Days

    Strengths: Small and easy to use. Touch screen LCD. Sony quality

    Weaknesses: None so far.

    Overall Evaluation: I have only used this a few times since I received it a little over a week ago. I pulled it out of the box and plugged it in to charge the battery. After that I turned it on and found the camcorder very easy to use. The touch screen operation is a nice touch. It eliminates a lot of buttons spread out over the exterior of the unit. I never looked at the operation manual and found the menus to be pretty much self explanatory. I did refer to the manual after this to see what some of the other settings were for. Overall this is a nice camcorder. I have not found anything to complain about/

  • Overall Rating
    5 stars 5 Star Review
    Reviewed by: pricegruba

    Updated:02-28-08

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: Compact and light weight, touch screen control, 20x optical, 800x digital zoom, image stabilization, good quality

    Weaknesses: none for the price paid

    Overall Evaluation: I bought this camcorder to replace an old Canon. I am happy about its overall build quality and performance. The video seems to be sharp and the color tones are correct. The video recorded at low light conditions seems less grainy than the old Canon. The SteadyShot Image Stabilization and NightShot Plus help a lot. The wide screen is clear and sharp. Touch control is nice. I have no complaints about the camcorder for the price paid(less than $200).

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: yanweizhuangyan

    Updated:11-09-07

    Duration of ownership:18 Days

    Strengths: Easy to use, great images even at low light, small size, low price, good sound recording

    Weaknesses: Have to use firewire to connect to PCs

    Overall Evaluation: This is the first camcorder I have ever bought. It is at a pretty reasonable price with the functions enough for a beginner. It is very easy to use and the image quality is good. The only thing is this camcorder doesn't have a USB connection. You have to buy a SONY wirefire for downloading and if you use other firewire you can't get the high quality image.

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: sibsab

    Updated:08-14-07

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: very small, fits very good in one hand, very light

    Weaknesses: none so far

    Overall Evaluation: This is our first camcorder and we are so far very satisfied (we had it only for a day, but used it a lot for filming our baby). The nightshot feature is really good. The quality of the film is very satisfactory (for this price range). We are really satisfied and can only recommend this camcorder. We didn't try yet to upload from the camcorder to PC, because we just ordered the firewire card. But I hope this will work fine. I cant say, if this is one of the best, since I don't know any other, but I would surely buy it again. It's goo quality for a good price.

  • Overall Rating
    5 stars 5 Star Review
    Reviewed by: mbetten

    Updated:07-24-07

    Duration of ownership:1 Months

    Strengths: Small size; Sony quality; DV tapes (inexpensive); Price; Touchscreen

    Weaknesses: Lack of connection options

    Overall Evaluation: An excellent easy-to-use inexpensive DV camera (purchased from Dell for $223). The touch-screen is easy and intuitive to use. Picture quality, stability, and zoom are all excellent in my opinion. Have not used the "night shot" feature yet. Overall, an excellent budget camcorder! (5 star rating is based in part on low price--there are better cameras out there but not at this price point)

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: Amit Jain

    Updated:07-09-07

    Duration of ownership:15 Days

    Strengths: small, Light-weight, Night shot, Good battery life, Good picture quality.

    Weaknesses: No sd card slot, no external mic. (for those who need it)

    Overall Evaluation: small-fits in palm well. Light-weight - can hold for longer time. Sony brand- reliability. Night shot-can capture picture in complete darkness. Good battery life. Good picture quality. For people who wants to use the camcorder for basic functions, this is the one. With no extra frills, it serves the purpose well with Sony brand and a very budget friendly cost (Approx $250 if you wait for the right time to buy) . I had another camcorder with external mic, but never used that. But I do use sd card slots which this camcorder didn't have.

  • Overall Rating
    4 stars 4 Star Review
    Reviewed by: tiolu

    Updated:06-24-07

    Duration of ownership:

    Strengths: 2.5"LCD, Image stabilizer, Flexible LCD, Sony reliability, easy to use, long battery life, comfortably priced

    Weaknesses: NO ACESSORIES, no case etc.

    Overall Evaluation: We originally bought the Sony DCR-H28 to tape my sister?s graduation. Since the ceremony was outside we needed a camcorder to have a reasonably long battery life. This camcorder was just right for the job. It does an excellent job of capturing video and the battery life lasts at least 2 hours when using the full LCD. The picture is clear and even though my hand might have shook, it was not noticeable throughout the video. Another cool feature that may not be as important is that the LCD can be rotated around the camcorder. You can turn it the other way so you can see yourself while filming. Although the Sony DCR-HC28 is relatively inexpensive, it has no accessories whatsoever. This means you must buy case, firewire cable, and many essentials for this camcorder

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Sony Handycam DCR-HC28 Mini DV Digital Camcorder
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