JVC
If you are in the market to purchase one of the new smaller camcorders, the JVC Hybrid is certainly an excellent choice. Retailing for around $600, this is an excellent way to get a top quality camcorder with a digital camera all in one.

The camcorder has had excellent reviews. It routinely performs at a very high standard, both with photo quality and voice quality. It comes with a built in 4 gig microdrive memory card. It also comes with a slot made for a flash card, however the card does not come with the unit and is purchased separately. The JVC Everio hybrid has a built in 10x zoom feature and is very stable for its size. This is in part, because JVC camcorders are designed with stabilization in mind. JVC camcorders have digital image stabilization built right in. The video editing software is also very simple to use and creates a product that is crystal clear when viewed on the television.

The biggest consumer complaint on this digital unit is that because the unit is so small, there is no good place to rest your fingers, most importantly the thumb. The LCD screen is centered right in the back of the unit in the only place that is feasible to put your thumb. This does make the unit a little unpractical to use, as no one wants to damage the LCD screen with finger sweat.

As far as the accompanying digital camera, the reviews have certainly been mixed. The JVC hybrid was promoted with a 5-megapixel class digital camera. I suppose the word class allows for some playroom and that seems to be the case with the JVC hybrid. According to many reviews, the digital camera was acceptable, but not even in the same class as many 4-megapixel digital cameras. Point here is, I wouldn’t recommend buying the unit if the digital camera is the biggest reason for the purchase. The JVC hybrid offers incredible video footage and is worth the money for that reason. The digital camera should be seen as an additional bonus to the purchase only.