Offered to me for free by Amazon Vine, this is the first such product I have ever owned. Years ago, I took many home movies on film with 8mm silent, Super-8 silent, and Super-8 sound being the types I used, and then later I went to a JVC GR-SZ9 Super VHS camcorder. However, several years ago, I lost interest in video tape and I stopped taking home movies.
Fast forward to now: we have a granddaughter of whom we’d like to have some videos; I had been investigating various camcorders but had not yet made a decision.
Amazon Vine, with this Creative Labs Vado HD 3rd Generation Pocket Video Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black) – NEWEST MODEL, made it for me.
I received the unit yesterday and, per the instructions, I charged the battery. Now the instruction say to insert the battery into the camcorder and attach the camcorder to a USB port on your computer. I wanted to see if there was an alternate method of charging the battery – and there is! You need only attach the camcorder (with the battery inserted) to a Creative Labs Battery Charger for Vado and Vado HD Camcorders or similar and plug the adapter into a wall socket. This is quite advantageous.
Amazon offers a spare battery [Creative Labs Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery for Vado HD Camcorder] and external chargers, one for the home and one for the car [Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder 6 Feet USB Extention Cable, Car Charger, Travel Charger], thereby offering the option of having two batteries – using one while keeping the other one charged. That will be quite a convenience and you’ll never run out of power. Amazon also offers several carrying cases for this unit (one is even waterproof). The prices for these accessories, as well as several other accessories offered by Amazon, are quite reasonable.
I want to emphasize the fact that the battery is easily removable and replaceable. This is a rare thing in this age of built-in non-replaceable (except by the factory at a very high price) batteries and, for me, is a distinct advantage.
I was a bit worried that the camcorder might not work with my computer; it is configured to work with either Windows (XP SP2, Vista, or 7) as well as Mac – but I use the Ubuntu Linux operating system on my computer.
I need not have worried. The camcorder works perfectly in conjunction with my computer and it will obviously work well with yours, regardless of your operating system. And transferring a video or picture file from the unit to your computer is a snap!
Thus far I have had only enough time to try the cam minimally. I have tried all three video settings – HD+ and HD (both are configured to produce MP4 files with AAC+ sound and the video in both is 1280 x 720) and VGA, which also produces MP4/AAC+ files with the video is formatted at 640 x 480 (ideal for e-mailing and for posting to YouTube, etc.). I did send via e-mail a VGA video [33 seconds, 8.9 MB] to my son (who lives across the country in California) and he said the video was fine – though there was some “snow” in the picture (I had sent him a video of our latest snowstorm! … 
… just to bring back to him some “fond memories” – he always hated shoveling snow!).
The picture quality in all three settings is excellent. (My son was actually quite amazed at the quality of the video I had sent him – and remember that this was taken at VGA, the lowest quality setting.) I believe that any purchaser will be surprised and VERY pleased with the results this camcorder supplies. I am!
Sound recording, being somewhat more problematic, is good if care is taken; an external microphone, which this unit can accommodate, would greatly improve the sound quality but at a price, of course – both the cost of the microphone as well as the cost in portability and ease of use.
I think that, for most people, the built-in microphone will suffice.
It is very easy to convert MP4 files to the Audio_TS and Video_TS files used on DVDs and I plan to make DVDs from the videos I take with this camcorder.
I also tried taking a still picture. It turned out quite nicely though not as good as that which can be obtained with a dedicated digital camera.
Nonetheless, taking into consideration its size (tiny), weight (next-to-nothing), ease of use (REALLY easy!), and the relative high quality of the videos and pictures it produces, this camcorder is a definite winner.
Frankly, as I’m sure you are aware and as I indicated, it is not going to replace an elaborate dedicated video camcorder or a dedicated digital camera (especially a DSLR or Micro Four-Thirds model) for certain applications but, with its portability and ease of use and the fact that you can take it everywhere you go, this unit will be available to you when you might not be carrying one of those more elaborate cameras. Plus it “boots up” VERY fast (and can be set to turn on even faster, if you wish) so you will never miss a shot. The videos and pictures it produces are far better than anything that I have seen produced by a cell-phone. It even features a standard tripod mount!
Is there anything I would like to see changed? Yes – I wish Creative would introduce a model which had NO internal memory and used an SD or similar card. The user of such a product would essentially have “unlimited” room to take video (imagine using a 32 GB card!) and would not have to transfer files to a computer or external hard drive (and delete them from an internal memory) nearly as often.
But that is really a minor point. Given this camcorder’s wonderful attributes (including its obvious superb construction quality – which includes its lens and LCD screen), I can give it NO LESS than five stars – as well as my highest recommendation possible.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: April 12, 2010
Last night, using my ASUS Eee PC 1000 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 40 GB Solid State Drive, 20 GB Eee Storage, Linux, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony (no longer available) in conjunction with my Western Digital WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAR3200ABK-NESN (Black) (on which I store my videos), I projected a three-minute video of our granddaughter (taken in a supermarket) onto a 110? (diagonal) screen, using my PT-AE4000U LCD XGA 16:9 1600 Lumens HDmi Svid 16.1LBS Hdtv Projector. (On Friday I had received a VGA cable which allowed me to connect my computer to the projector.) I ran the sound from the computer into my Yamaha RX-Z9 – AV receiver – 7.1 channel. The projected picture was absolutely clear and sharp with almost perfect exposure (the first 5 or 10 seconds were too ‘red,’ as I described in a comment, but the color quickly settled down) and the sound was excellent.
I took the video using the middle video setting (720p). I had converted the MP4 file the camcorder produces to an AVI file but this would make no difference to the quality of the projected image. (One of these days I suppose I should try the higher 720p HD setting.)
Both my wife and I were really astounded – that is the only word I can use – at the quality of the image and sound we were seeing on our screen.
We both HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this product. I’m quite certain that anyone who buys one will be REALLY pleased.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: July 14, 2010
Having owned this Creative Labs Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder 3rd Generation,120 Minutes (Black) – NEWEST MODEL and the Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL and using them side-by-side, overall I now prefer this Creative one. It is just as easy to use as the Kodak, its images, at 720p, appear to be as good as Kodak’s 1080p images, at least on our 110? screen, and the Creative’s battery lasts much longer. Even though the Kodak can hold, with a 16GB SD card, much more video than the Creative, its battery runs out before you can take even a fraction of what the card can hold.
Neither camcorder is perfect and I could be happy with either. I think most people would feel the same. But, having had and extensively using both, overall I prefer the Creative.
As always, it’s your call. Thank you for reading this and I hope it has been of some help to you.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: August 26, 2010
We just returned home from a four and one-half week vacation in which we drove across the country and back, taking two different routes. We had with us both this camcorder as well as our Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL.
I had charged both of my batteries – I had bought a spare – and, during that time, I needed only to swap batteries once (and did not charge them until we got home). We took about four hours of video (transferring them to a netbook computer every day).
Frankly, we never used the Kodak at all; I am very disappointed with its battery life. This Creative one, on the other hand, offers excellent battery life and, if it’s not quite as convenient to use as the Kodak nor can it hold as much video as can the 16 GiB card I have in the Kodak, the battery life is really the most important factor for me, at least on an extended trip.
The videos that both camcorders produce is amazing – but this one also takes fantastic video in very low-light settings, something the Kodak is unable to do nearly as well.
Though the Kodak model has much to recommend it (especially for use at the shore or in inclement weather), I find that I personally favor this Creative model and I recommend it to all. Thank you again for reading this.
Rating: 5 / 5
Offered to me for free by Amazon Vine, this is the first such product I have ever owned. Years ago, I took many home movies on film with 8mm silent, Super-8 silent, and Super-8 sound being the types I used, and then later I went to a JVC GR-SZ9 Super VHS camcorder. However, several years ago, I lost interest in video tape and I stopped taking home movies.
Fast forward to now: we have a granddaughter of whom we’d like to have some videos; I had been investigating various camcorders but had not yet made a decision.
Amazon Vine, with this Creative Labs Vado HD 3rd Generation Pocket Video Camcorder, 120 Minutes (Black) – NEWEST MODEL, made it for me.
I received the unit yesterday and, per the instructions, I charged the battery. Now the instruction say to insert the battery into the camcorder and attach the camcorder to a USB port on your computer. I wanted to see if there was an alternate method of charging the battery – and there is! You need only attach the camcorder (with the battery inserted) to a Creative Labs Battery Charger for Vado and Vado HD Camcorders or similar and plug the adapter into a wall socket. This is quite advantageous.
Amazon offers a spare battery [Creative Labs Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery for Vado HD Camcorder] and external chargers, one for the home and one for the car [Creative Labs Vado HD 720p Pocket Video Camcorder 6 Feet USB Extention Cable, Car Charger, Travel Charger], thereby offering the option of having two batteries – using one while keeping the other one charged. That will be quite a convenience and you’ll never run out of power. Amazon also offers several carrying cases for this unit (one is even waterproof). The prices for these accessories, as well as several other accessories offered by Amazon, are quite reasonable.
I want to emphasize the fact that the battery is easily removable and replaceable. This is a rare thing in this age of built-in non-replaceable (except by the factory at a very high price) batteries and, for me, is a distinct advantage.
I was a bit worried that the camcorder might not work with my computer; it is configured to work with either Windows (XP SP2, Vista, or 7) as well as Mac – but I use the Ubuntu Linux operating system on my computer.
I need not have worried. The camcorder works perfectly in conjunction with my computer and it will obviously work well with yours, regardless of your operating system. And transferring a video or picture file from the unit to your computer is a snap!
Thus far I have had only enough time to try the cam minimally. I have tried all three video settings – HD+ and HD (both are configured to produce MP4 files with AAC+ sound and the video in both is 1280 x 720) and VGA, which also produces MP4/AAC+ files with the video is formatted at 640 x 480 (ideal for e-mailing and for posting to YouTube, etc.). I did send via e-mail a VGA video [33 seconds, 8.9 MB] to my son (who lives across the country in California) and he said the video was fine – though there was some “snow” in the picture (I had sent him a video of our latest snowstorm! …
… just to bring back to him some “fond memories” – he always hated shoveling snow!).
The picture quality in all three settings is excellent. (My son was actually quite amazed at the quality of the video I had sent him – and remember that this was taken at VGA, the lowest quality setting.) I believe that any purchaser will be surprised and VERY pleased with the results this camcorder supplies. I am!
Sound recording, being somewhat more problematic, is good if care is taken; an external microphone, which this unit can accommodate, would greatly improve the sound quality but at a price, of course – both the cost of the microphone as well as the cost in portability and ease of use.
I think that, for most people, the built-in microphone will suffice.
It is very easy to convert MP4 files to the Audio_TS and Video_TS files used on DVDs and I plan to make DVDs from the videos I take with this camcorder.
I also tried taking a still picture. It turned out quite nicely though not as good as that which can be obtained with a dedicated digital camera.
Nonetheless, taking into consideration its size (tiny), weight (next-to-nothing), ease of use (REALLY easy!), and the relative high quality of the videos and pictures it produces, this camcorder is a definite winner.
Frankly, as I’m sure you are aware and as I indicated, it is not going to replace an elaborate dedicated video camcorder or a dedicated digital camera (especially a DSLR or Micro Four-Thirds model) for certain applications but, with its portability and ease of use and the fact that you can take it everywhere you go, this unit will be available to you when you might not be carrying one of those more elaborate cameras. Plus it “boots up” VERY fast (and can be set to turn on even faster, if you wish) so you will never miss a shot. The videos and pictures it produces are far better than anything that I have seen produced by a cell-phone. It even features a standard tripod mount!
Is there anything I would like to see changed? Yes – I wish Creative would introduce a model which had NO internal memory and used an SD or similar card. The user of such a product would essentially have “unlimited” room to take video (imagine using a 32 GB card!) and would not have to transfer files to a computer or external hard drive (and delete them from an internal memory) nearly as often.
But that is really a minor point. Given this camcorder’s wonderful attributes (including its obvious superb construction quality – which includes its lens and LCD screen), I can give it NO LESS than five stars – as well as my highest recommendation possible.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: April 12, 2010
Last night, using my ASUS Eee PC 1000 10-Inch Netbook (1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 40 GB Solid State Drive, 20 GB Eee Storage, Linux, 6 Cell Battery) Fine Ebony (no longer available) in conjunction with my Western Digital WD Elements 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAR3200ABK-NESN (Black) (on which I store my videos), I projected a three-minute video of our granddaughter (taken in a supermarket) onto a 110? (diagonal) screen, using my PT-AE4000U LCD XGA 16:9 1600 Lumens HDmi Svid 16.1LBS Hdtv Projector. (On Friday I had received a VGA cable which allowed me to connect my computer to the projector.) I ran the sound from the computer into my Yamaha RX-Z9 – AV receiver – 7.1 channel. The projected picture was absolutely clear and sharp with almost perfect exposure (the first 5 or 10 seconds were too ‘red,’ as I described in a comment, but the color quickly settled down) and the sound was excellent.
I took the video using the middle video setting (720p). I had converted the MP4 file the camcorder produces to an AVI file but this would make no difference to the quality of the projected image. (One of these days I suppose I should try the higher 720p HD setting.)
Both my wife and I were really astounded – that is the only word I can use – at the quality of the image and sound we were seeing on our screen.
We both HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this product. I’m quite certain that anyone who buys one will be REALLY pleased.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: July 14, 2010
Having owned this Creative Labs Vado HD Pocket Video Camcorder 3rd Generation,120 Minutes (Black) – NEWEST MODEL and the Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL and using them side-by-side, overall I now prefer this Creative one. It is just as easy to use as the Kodak, its images, at 720p, appear to be as good as Kodak’s 1080p images, at least on our 110? screen, and the Creative’s battery lasts much longer. Even though the Kodak can hold, with a 16GB SD card, much more video than the Creative, its battery runs out before you can take even a fraction of what the card can hold.
Neither camcorder is perfect and I could be happy with either. I think most people would feel the same. But, having had and extensively using both, overall I prefer the Creative.
As always, it’s your call. Thank you for reading this and I hope it has been of some help to you.
==================================================================================================================================
Update: August 26, 2010
We just returned home from a four and one-half week vacation in which we drove across the country and back, taking two different routes. We had with us both this camcorder as well as our Kodak PlaySport (Zx3) HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera (Black) NEWEST MODEL.
I had charged both of my batteries – I had bought a spare – and, during that time, I needed only to swap batteries once (and did not charge them until we got home). We took about four hours of video (transferring them to a netbook computer every day).
Frankly, we never used the Kodak at all; I am very disappointed with its battery life. This Creative one, on the other hand, offers excellent battery life and, if it’s not quite as convenient to use as the Kodak nor can it hold as much video as can the 16 GiB card I have in the Kodak, the battery life is really the most important factor for me, at least on an extended trip.
The videos that both camcorders produce is amazing – but this one also takes fantastic video in very low-light settings, something the Kodak is unable to do nearly as well.
Though the Kodak model has much to recommend it (especially for use at the shore or in inclement weather), I find that I personally favor this Creative model and I recommend it to all. Thank you again for reading this.
Rating: 5 / 5