Review on 🎥 Sanyo Xacti HD700: 7MP High Definition 720p Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Red) - Discontinued Model - Shop Now for Limited Availability! by Mark Kolipano

15 minute usage testOK. I will not go into technical details at this point. This is my preview, about an hour after opening the box. I set up the camcorder straight out of the box, connected it to the computer and recorded no more than 5 minutes, if that. I didn't even open the manual. The camcorder connected instantly and seamlessly to a Dell XPS running Windows Vista Premium. There is no need to download the included software. I had a video on Facebook in another 5 minutes including the time it took me to record a short video and upload the time (on Facebook). The low-light performance of this camera is surprisingly good. I was very surprised as I wasn't expecting much. My first shot was a nighttime snowstorm with a street lamp 100 feet away. The camcorder performed admirably in standard household lighting, reproducing fairly accurate colors (could be a bit brighter) with a level of sharpness I wasn't expecting. The 640x480 quality (TV quality setting) was incredible for Facebook. HD setting (720) not yet tried. The camera is small but feels good in the hand (not too big). It feels like a camera with decent build quality, not quite like Sony but close. For the price, I find the build quality to be appropriate, if not better. I should mention that I bought this camcorder to replace a Sony Mini DV camcorder ($600). I found I didn't use Sony because it was inconvenient. After that I didn't film my second child much (about 19 months break). I bought this device for convenience, to increase the likelihood of actually using the camera. In this regard, I propose the following. I always wanted to make a video. Why? No ribbons! From the moment I take the camera out of the dock, I'm recording in less than 7 seconds, including the time it takes to load the camcorder. That alone is worth the €300 I paid. What might be even better (for some, at least) is that when you want to watch a video, you just dock your camcorder, turn it on, and you're done. The camcorder is integrated into Windows as an additional drive. Simply drag and drop files for INSTANT VIEW. No tedious imports (e.g. from Nini-DV tapes) have to be carried out. From the moment I decided to watch the video on my computer to the moment I watched the video it took about 1 minute. Tape doesn't fit. Haven't tried a digital camera yet. After longer use I will give an additional rating. It's time for me to make a video. ---- 48 Hour Update -------- After further use, I suggest the following observations: - The room lights just make a lot of noise on the video. The camera performs much better outdoors (which is obvious). Sometimes the lens dazzles. This is not a Carl Zeis lens. The camera is fine. Better quality than iPhone camera and less than Canon Digital Elph. TVSHQ quality (640x480) actually seems to be as good if not better than HD quality under the same conditions (overcast). The strength of this device is the easy import of videos (mp4) to download them or to create a movie. Conclusion. Ease of use is the HD 700's forte, but that ease of use comes at a price. You will no doubt lose quality. If you switch from Sony to mini DV, you will clearly see the difference. But again, if you find you're not recording video due to tapes, batteries, etc., or you just store the tapes and don't do anything with them, this is most likely the device to go for.