Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder with 8 GB Video Storage and 2x Digital Zoom (Black) Immediately

So I bought this little camera when it was on special for 129.99, for the price:performance it is actually great 5 out of 5 stars but I had to take off one star for a few annoying issues.
Lets start with why I got this and the good points, I am comparing this to the Panasonic DV camera it is replacing. I didnt want to spend $600 on a full upgrade to a Canon HF100 which I still think is a little overpriced. This camera is smaller than a pack of cards, nice rubberized exterior, great build quality, small but good quality LCD display. Bonus was the included silicon skin, built in 8gb flash, and mini HDMI cable. I upgraded the firmware to the newest version from creative labs web site.
The video is an improvement over my DV camera for sure overall, in terms of definition and raw image quality. I was worried about low light shooting but in fact my concerns we undue, the quality was fine, again, better than the DV camera.
I was actually surprised how good the overall video was when played directly from the unit via HDMI to a plasma TV.
Now the downsides - sound is poor, mono, non directional, picks up person talking holding the camera way louder than the subject 6 ft in front of the camera.
The other major issue I had is the lack of any stabilization, on my DV camera I had 12x optical zoom and IS, zoom I can do without but without the IS you have to get used to holding the camera very still, which can be done but you have to put a little more thought in when holding the camera.
Finally one other issue for me was the non standard AVI container file which is not playable on a variety of 3rd party units such as the Playstation 3 which is a biggie for me since I stream media all the time over my home network. My DV camera MPG/MP4 files play fine. Also, I have pinnicle 10 which doesn't play/edit this file without upgrading. I don't understand why MP4 wasn't used - universal and easy to edit.
Overall though for 129.99 great buy with the above negative points when compared to a single CCD DV camera. Would probably not get for $200 though. I suspect flash camera HD price points will be coming down over the next year or so.
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