JVC Everio GZ-MG130E

Author's product rating:   

Ease of use	Excellent
Recording quality	Good
Picture quality	Good
Sound quality	Good
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	Handy camcorder,easy operation
Disadvantages:	Dvd transfer -  - bit disjointed

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Introduction:
We had been holidaying in Dubai when we realised that it would be a great idea if you could take some videos too. Our camera did offer us the possibility to take small video clips but if we were to use that we would have soon run out of memory.
This took us out to the streets of Dubai to purchase a Camcorder. Since we already had a miniDV camcorder at home we thought of going for a DVD Camcorder initially. After we hit the shops MY HUBBY CHANGED HIS MIND AND DECLARED THAT it would be a better idea to get a HDD camcorder as the sales assistant kept reminding him that with a dvd camcorder he would have to change the side after 30 minutes and use a new one for every 60 minutes of recording.
So now with a changed strategy we started looking at all the various models available and the best deal we could get.
Here let me write a little bit about the Advantages of a Hard disk camcorder over any other Camcorder.
1. The main advantage is that you have hours of unlimited recording available at the click of a button, and there is no added worry of buying or carrying the necessary recording media. YOU WILL NOT RUN OUT FOR A GOOD DEAL OF TIME!!
2. When playing back it is easy to find the part you need as you don’t have to forward and rewind realms, just select the clip you need from the file folder.
3. Also there is no need to worry that you might accidentally erase or over record past clippings as when you click the button to record it will automatically save the new recording on new space, just like you computer would do.

What we bought and Why???

Now after a lot off hunting we decided on a Jvc HDD camcorder. JVC, mainly because it was a good deal cheaper then other top brands with similar specs.
And this particular model primarily because of the specs and value for money.

Specifications:
Storage and memory-
This camcorder has a 30GB Hard Disk Drive that offers MPEG2 High quality Video Recording and the length of recording possible depends on the type of recording done. It offers 7hrs of ultrafine recording ; 10.5hrs of Fine recording ;14 hrs of normal recording and 37 hrs of Economy recording, which is very impressive.
It has the provision for additional storage media in that you can use an SD Memory card, especially useful for those photos that you wish to click.

Image and Zoom-
It has a 1/6 inch, 680K pixel CCD. So definitely don’t expect the photographs to be top end, this is just an emergency camera. For finer photographs must look elsewhere.
It has a 34x Optical zoom which is impressive and a maximum of 800x digital zoom.

Screen-
It has a 112k-pixel 2.7inch widescreen. It is a 16:9 image on an LCD monitor. Most other LCD screens for similar models are only 2.5 inch so the increase size is something I’ve found to be worthwhile.

Size and Weight-
This baby weighs only about 365gms including the battery andesily fits in your hand while shooting. It even goes into my coat pocket, so I just love it. ( no it wouldn’t fit in your shirt pocket and unlikely to fit in a trouser pocket—depends on how big ur pocket is!!)

Though this model does not come with its own dock it is compatible with the dock to enable sharing and DVD burning.

All the other intricate specifications are available with the product description..

What it included:-
In the box the following accessories were included:
Ac\Power Adapter-made in Japan
Battery pack—made in China
Remote control unit
USB cable
CD-Rom.
Carry bag.

How it feels when using??

As my old one was a mini Dv Camcorder my first impression on turning it on was that, that was the only thing u have to do—Turn it on! No tapes to insert. Its just click and go.Its very easy to use and all the buttons and knobs are aesthetically placed and labelled. I’m not very tech savvy so I really feel that it is easy to use. I even figured out how to take photos without consulting the instruction booklet which for me is no mean feat. I’m one of those people who read the instruction booklet last and not first—only refer to it when u’r stuck is my motto(not a very good one I know).
There is also a built in flash light ,so very useful in shooting in those not too very bright situations—I must say that it makes a marked difference to the video.
So we can take video and click photos. What else? Well we can delete unwanted video clips from the camcorder itself, don’t have to wait till we get home, or we can protect some files if we don’t want them to get deleted even.
There is something called event registration so we can record different events under different event titles which we can choose from a menu.
We can also divide a file into two and save the divided bit as a new file and delete the remaining if needed.
Playlists—This is an interesting option that I came across for the first time here. This enables us to organise our videos in order of preference. I can select various files and put them into a playlist. A maximum of 99 playlists each with a maximum of 99 scenes can be created.
Camera is compatible with Digital Print Order Format(DPOF), whereby you can set twhich images to be printed and the number of copies required and can be used with a DPOF compatible printer.
The video files can be copied into a DVD by DVD burner (CU-VD10 / CU-VD20)
This DVD burner is not supplied along with this model; or they can be used along with a DVD recorder.
I mainly use it with my PC. There is a very useful CD-Rom with all necessary software for DVD burning and Editing and movie making enclosed.—They are called Power Director, Power Cinema and so forth. The recordings can be played back on the computer or recorded onto DVD’s
One disadvantage that I noticed with this was that unlike my Mini Dv where the scenes just flowed onto the next when u recorded them onto Video, here once I put them onto the DVD there is no smooth transition between the clips. I am not sure if its because of my lack of editing capabilities but I assume that I should just be more smoother without any intervention as such.

Price: We payed about £285 for it and I felt it was a reasonable price until I saw certain listing in ebay where it could be available for much less.

CONCLUSION:
All in all I am happy with my purchase but I have a nagging feeling that if I cant sort the DVD recordings to move smoothly from one file to the next I am going to be mightily upset. It’s a great one to hold and handle and looks real cool.Has a nice compact bag too.

Reference:

Instruction Manual
http://www.jvc.com/presentations/everio_g/spec.html