JVC GR-DVL805U Review

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JVC GR-DVL805U
1.5 stars
Average rating for this product is: 1.5 out of 5

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wardhealer.'s Review of JVC GR-DVL805U

4th Jan 2001

Overall Rating

1.5 stars
  • Value for money
    1.5 stars
Good Points

Great picture quality.


Bad Points

NO EXTERNAL MICROPHONE CAPABILITY.
NO SVHS INPUT.


General Comments

If it wasn't for the lack of an external mic jack, this would be one of the best 1 chip digital camcorders on the market, However without this capability, the camcorder ends up being useless.
The whole purpose of spending double the cost of a good Hi-8 or S-VHS unit is to get the best possible picture quality. Digital video makes possible near-broadcast quality videos. JVC defeats the entire purpose of this by not alowwing external sound on any of their single CCD digital camcorders. Anyone who has ever used a camcorder knows that the built in mics are useless for anything other than the most basic home videos. JVC...in their attempt to save a lousey $5 in manufacturing costs has ended up turning an otherwise great pruct line into a collection of useless junk.
The other omission was it's lack of an SVHS input. If they had included the SVHS input jack and an external mic jack, they would have increased the cost by less than $20 and would have ended up with the best digital camcorders on the market.
NOTE: I bought this unit because their website indicated that the camcorder had these features. When I got it, I discovered that the unit did not have them. I contacted JVC and they apologized for the error and corrected their website within 2 hours. The mail order company I bought it from was far less charitable. The charged a 15% restocking fee and I had to ship it back at my own expense.
Do yourself a favor...make sure that the unit you buy has all the features you need for good professional videos.
I ended up buying a Sony. Even their least expensive models and even their Digital8 models have ALL the features...external mic, earphones, analog and S video in and out...as well as top video quality on their DV models (not quite as good video on the digital8.

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Members' Comments onwardhealer.'s Review

  • Jack. on 12th Jun 2001

    Even Sony has stopped including microphone inputs on some of their camcorders in order to save five louzy bucks. How stupid can they get !!

  • sap. on 18th Jun 2003

    I beleive you are mistaken the s-video input is up by the light on the righthand side of the camera.... and you can also hook up a mic in this same area... check it out

    :) SAP