Saw this in lastest Maplin newsletter.
(£142.50 with Topcash, or £135.85 with voucher & Topcash)

Could not believe it was FULL high definition; so went to look at it.
Should state I already own an £800 High-Definition Sony camcorder; so I know what I'm comparing this to before we get anyone saying "must be rubbish...my friend bought something similar etc etc"

Inspecting it in the shop I have to say I was amazed that it appeared quite decent albeit cheapish (but hey - it is £150 !?! - so costs have to be trimmed somewhere, namely no SD card so don't get upset, but it takes up to 8gb and potentially up to 32Gb). But no savings on the 3" LCD screen which is better, crisper, sharper and with more saturated colours than my £800 Sony ! (So a well-worth-while trade-off !)

I had a £7 voucher just sent to me for purchases over £100, so at £143 decided to buy and check it out, and return if no good (as I was sure I would be doing).

The staff could not tell me who the manufacturer is and it's not mentioned anywhere in the instruction book (which worried me a bit) - but checking up it is DXG Technology (http://www.dxgtech.com/product_jpg/DVH596.jpg)


Initial impressions are good - it has 5x optical zoom and a further 4x digital zoom... but get this .... My test video is indeed 1920x1080p FULL HIGH DEFINITION (again better spec'd than my £800 Sony high-definition camcorder) !!

It even has a built in LED video light and separate flash for still photos. The only drawback found so far is minor - when taking stills on full zoom the camera focuses pin-sharp. When I take the photo it comes out slightly out-of-focus. When I used the self-timer (yes - it even comes with a self-timer !!) the photo is sharp indicating I had camera shake despite holding as steady as I could - so the camera is very sensitive.

Over the next 2 weeks I'm going to test this little baby and return if serious fault found, but in case they all disappear in the meantime at this price thought I would post this as so far I'm REALLY tempted to keep this !

Anyone want an £800 Sony high-definition camcorder?


Technical Specification

Specifications
Image Sensor 5.0 Megapixel Sensor
Active Pixels 5.0 Megapixel
Storage Media Internal Built-in 32 Flash Memory
External SD Card (Up to SDHC 8GB Class 6)
Sensor Sensitivity Auto
Colour Effects Colour / B&W / Sepia
Lens 5X Optical Zoom Lens
WIDE:F/3.2, f=6.26mm
TELE: F/6.8, f=30.75mm
Focus Range Normal 45cm - inf
Macro 5 - 45cm
Still Image Image File Format JPEG
Image Resolution 3M, 5M, 8M (Firmware Interpolation)
Movie Clips Movie File Format H.264 (MOV)
Movie Resolution QVGA (30fps), WVGA(60fps), 720P (60fps), 1080P (30fps)
EIS Function WVGA (60fps), 720p (60fps)
Zoom Movie 5X Optical Zoom, 2X Digital Zoom (1080P), 4X Digital Zoom (others)
Camera 5X Optical Zoom, 4X Digital Zoom
Still Image Playback Digital Zoom Max. 8X
TFT Monitor 3.0" TFT (960 x 240 pixels)
White Balance Auto/Sunny/Cloudy/Tungsten/Fluorescent
Self-Timer 5 sec / 10 sec / Off
PC Interface USB 2.0 (High Speed)
TV Out Format NTSC / PAL / Component Output
Auto Power Off Off / 1 min / 5 min Options
Power Supply Li-ion Battery
Dimensions 57(w) x 70(h) x 129(d) mm