Aiptek DV4500 4MP MPEG4 Pocket Digital Camcorder

This little digital camera, video/audio recorder, MP3 player is a compact, lightweight piece of equipment to take on trips or any type of traveling. It's value makes it expendable should you lose it;it get stolen or damaged in transit. I was amazed at the quality of the voice recording I took while on a tour bus in Jamaica of the tour guide telling a joke. The only thing I miss on this Aiptek model is the extra video recording light that was on an earlier version.

I bought this for two reasons 1) I didn't have a large budget 2) I wanted a camcorder that was palm-sized and ultra-portable. I was surpised at how tiny it is (VERY ultra-portable) and the controls are simple and easy to learn--perfect for beginners like me! I took it on a trip to Miami and it worked great, though as others have found, it doesn't record very well in low light situations, and the digital zoom is grainy, but hey--you get what you pay for! I first used AA batteries while waiting for my Ni-MH's to power up, and they actualy lasted a long time before I switched to rechargables. I was very happy with my purchase, and would have given this 5 stars, had it survived the trip back to Maui; I had this in my purse stashed under the seat on the plane and I may have kicked my bag around a bit. My Pentax digital camera that was next to it in the bag came through without a problem, while the Aiptek was DOA. So, if you're rough with your stuff, it would be a better idea to spend the bucks for a better, more durable camera. If you're gentle with it and don't have a big budget, this is a great little camera for it's little price.

But you can take some pretty darn good pictures, and very good video.
Definatly NOT in the evening or night time... it needs light- lots of it.
I found it very usefull and fun.

IT NEEDS A MEMORY CARD! it only hold like TWO songs without the memory card, and just a few pics. Just buy a cheap card and you can fit alot more of the various medias you can store.

I really have no complaints for this except that maybe i wish it worked at night.

I purchased this for my 10 yr old son. I was surprised at how, well, cheap it appeared. We took it out of the box and turned it on and it would not work at first, then it worked for about 10 minutes, then it never worked again and we had to return it. Amazon was great during the return process and refunded our money quickly. We ended up buying the DGX 5.1 MP from a local store i it's place. It has worked well for my son and is holding up to the rigors of youth. Not a professional photography instrument, but a pretty decent unit for him.

I purchased 3 of these for christmas presents for the 3 teenagers in my home. The cameras were very well received. The kids LOVED them and recorded and took photos of everything under the sun! They had a B-L-A-S-T with these! However, before a year was up, the door that holds the batteries in the camera broke on every single one of them (I purchased 3 -- that's over $300 down the tubes), even on the "mild child". Too bad the construction wasn't better :o/