Does this have a line input?

Is it sad I just now made it this far:

http://www.woot.com/adventure/28

by typing 1-28 at the end of that url?

I thought the adventure only had like 6 items when I tried it lol

Just bought 1. I hope its good.

I found a pretty good full HD sample of the video quality. It's outside in the mid level lighting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9bYWpEWmNA

dliidlii wrote:Video quality is what most people would consider the most important aspect OF a HD VIDEO DEVICE, REGARDLESS OF PRICE.

Then if video quality is the most important aspect, regardless of price, then buy a 4k camera.

Refurbished??? What do I think about that? I don't know WHAT to think. Is there a warranty...Have any of you had problems with refurbished electronics?

opdos wrote:Refurbished??? What do I think about that? I don't know WHAT to think. Is there a warranty...Have any of you had problems with refurbished electronics?

There's nothing wrong with refurbished products. Refurbs are products that are returned to the manufacturer and can longer be sold as new. Most of the time, they are not due to defects, but customers just didn't want the product anymore. It is possible to receive refurbish items with cosmetic damages (scratches and such). If the product in question was defective, the manufacturer repairs the unit before sending it back to be sold as refurbished.

I buy my laptops refurb, and I have never had a problem. I also have a refurb phone without issues.

There is a 90 day warranty, and you can also purchase an extended one-year warranty, but I've always thought that those are more or less for peace of mind.

Can this be used to stream video to the computer like a webcam?

I bought one of these at Costco 20 days before Christmas last year, nifty little unit. Bought a 16gb flash card to use, worked great.
Then I played back the recordings on my 1080p LCD TV... Boxed camera back up and returned to Costco... The HD quality is not very good, espaecially when you compare it to the more expensive models out there... My advice is to pass on this one.
Now the Roomba that I bought with the same money on the return?? Toally worth the cash!!

HSN has a brand new Samsung today - same price -plus easy pay -see below for specs:

Samsung SMX-F40 65X intelli Zoom Flash Camcorder with 4GB SD Card and Software Features:

52X optical zoom and 65X intelli Zoom - gets you up to 65 times closer
Advanced power management - provides more than 4 hours of battery life
Extra-large 1/6" CCD sensor - provides higher-quality images when compared to smaller sensors
Time-lapse recording feature - captures frames at preset intervals and arranges them in sequential order to create a video that condenses an extended time period into a fraction of the time
2MP digital photos - take still pictures as well as video
USB charging - connect the camcorder to any PC via the included USB cable to recharge the battery while uploading your footage to your computer
Plug and Play PC software: intelli-Studio 2.0 - just plug your camcorder into any PC to view, edit or upload your memories to the web; software comes built into the SMX-F40
Transcend 4GB SDHC memory card - save your precious memories onto this high-capacity memory card; features a fast data-transfer speed

HELP to all you smart tech people! Going to Europe. May need to film in low light at dawn and dusk and definitely inside, but not after dark. Will this work for that?

Will be watching on a 1080p TV we have....will it be ok on this? I don't understand the 1080p 1080i stuff.

Also I have a Windows based computer and can find my way around pretty good. My last camcorder was onto a cassette so what do you do, transfer to your computer then to a DVD or CD for storage? Sorry to be dense

We also have a blue ray player....does it work in that?

I don't have to have the ABSOLUTE BEST quality like a pro photographer, but I do want what a "normal" person would consider great video. Will I get pretty great video with this for the average person with kind of hight standards?

If not, what camera do you recommend if I don't want to spend over $500

I bought this camera last minute to shoot a wedding, and later compared to a Canon and a Sanyo.

This camera has fantastic image quality, and by far the most effective anti-shake I've seen on a consumer camera. It was my next choice after the Canon, and was a very close call.

The cons of this camera are that it cannot take a larger battery size (battery life is ~ok~, not great), it does not have many options for expansion (mics/lenses/etc), rather poor low-light performance (but this seems to be standard for them all), and there aren't many choices for resolution/frame-rates.

It is also worth noting that IT DOES NOT SUPPORT 1920X1080 at 30p as the advertising indicates!! This was the deal breaker for me.
It does 1920X1080 at 60i, and some of the lower resolutions offer 30p or 60i.

I'm still tempted to buy this as a second camera again, it's very good at what it does do.

opdos wrote:HELP to all you smart tech people! Going to Europe. May need to film in low light at dawn and dusk and definitely inside, but not after dark. Will this work for that?

Will be watching on a 1080p TV we have....will it be ok on this? I don't understand the 1080p 1080i stuff.

Also I have a Windows based computer and can find my way around pretty good. My last camcorder was onto a cassette so what do you do, transfer to your computer then to a DVD or CD for storage? Sorry to be dense

We also have a blue ray player....does it work in that?

I don't have to have the ABSOLUTE BEST quality like a pro photographer, but I do want what a "normal" person would consider great video. Will I get pretty great video with this for the average person with kind of hight standards?

If not, what camera do you recommend if I don't want to spend over $500

Definite NO on this camera for dawn/dusk/low-light. My sister got married at dusk, and the video was unwatchable. You need strong lighting, then it has a fantastic picture.
You won't find a good low-light camera at your price level. Personally, I ended up going for the Canon HF-100. It at least has a small light for close-up shots at night.

vctate wrote:HSN has a brand new Samsung today - same price -plus easy pay -see below for specs:

Samsung SMX-F40 65X intelli Zoom Flash Camcorder with 4GB SD Card and Software Features:....

These are not really comparable cameras. The reviews on Amazon are not as positive for the unit featured on HSN as the one featured on Woot. Plus, the price for a new SMX-F40 on Amazon is $160 vs $295 for the HMX-H100, so the Woot deal is superior, IMO.

I too bought this camera on clearance at Costco for just under 300. For the price it is worth it 1080i 720p is fine for me. For those looking for a low light camera plan on spending well over 500 dollars. I was using a sanyo xacti cg9 before this camera but sold it. This is by far a better camera. When using it to record I usually make 5 min clips at the max so I cannot confirm on the 1.5 gig cap. Battery life for me has not been an issue.

The time lapse is really neat you can record a 24 hour day, of course you need to have it plugged in to the wall. I considered returning it to Costco and buying here but with a 3 year warranty through amex the extra hundred is worth it.

IMO for 200 dollars this camera is a great deal, you could pay this for a mino flip but it wont have the features of this camera.

http://imgur.com/hao8a.jpg

bmxjimp wrote:This camcorder claims to be Full HD, but it does not support 1080p. Still looks nice for the price.

720P is HD. It is HD of the most basic resolution but it is HD.

ducatti20 wrote:I bought one of these at Costco 20 days before Christmas last year, nifty little unit. Bought a 16gb flash card to use, worked great.
Then I played back the recordings on my 1080p LCD TV... Boxed camera back up and returned to Costco... The HD quality is not very good, espaecially when you compare it to the more expensive models out there... My advice is to pass on this one.
Now the Roomba that I bought with the same money on the return?? Toally worth the cash!!

How long of a clip can you record?
Can I record and hour-long children's play and cut it later?

DAMN WOOT CHARGE ME TAX ON THIS WHICH IS WRONG .

Clip showing indoor and outdoor video quality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiVMQz7_9Zg

After watching this I decided to go for it and buy one.

For people who have this or similar HD digital camcorders - how do you store the files? At about a GB per minute they must add up. Do you have libraries of hard drives, data DVDs, SD cards, ?

How do you usually play them back? Via Blu-ray player, PC, etc.? Any issues with good smooth playback when using a PC? Do you burn them to Blu-ray DVDs and if so, with what SW?

Thanks.

As far as low light recording goes, the most common situation for me would be indoors on Christmas evening with a Christmas tree lit up and only a few lamps in the room, so the Christmas lights would stand out.

How good might the video quality be in this situation? The existing (non-HD) digital camcorder I have, an old Sharp, is pretty grainy.

WFD999 wrote:As far as low light recording goes, the most common situation for me would be indoors on Christmas evening with a Christmas tree lit up and only a few lamps in the room, so the Christmas lights would stand out.

How good might the video quality be in this situation? The existing (non-HD) digital camcorder I have, an old Sharp, is pretty grainy.

Plan on spending at least 800 for a low light hd camcorder, look for one that has a huge lens ie more light in. the new nikon slrs also do hd video again look for a big lens

Mattroid wrote:So does this not have any internal memory at all or am I just missing that part? If it only records to SD, it seems that that could be in part the reason quality can be so iffy.

No internal memory. You can use SD cards up to 32GB in size. The use of SD cards has no bearing on the quality of a camera - they are simply a storage medium. The auto focus is apparently slow and not very good for action scenes. Read the reviews on Amazon. Generally, most like it for under $400. Seems like a good deal for $200.

dbayer wrote:From Samsung.com : 1920x1080i / 1280x720P / 720x480P

Link to specifications at Samsung's website

E: Spare Battery for $47, cheaper than Amazon's $54

I don't think that is the right battery. The battery for the HMX-H100 can be found on the Samsung website here, and is even cheaper at $37:

http://www.samsungaccessory.com/product/product_detail.aspx?productID=2206&categoryID=610

tasqman wrote:I have this model and I'm very happy with the video quality. Transferring to the computer is a snap. I was told to use the class 6 SD cards for the best results. I paid about $130 more at Costco 8 months ago. If I didn't already have one I would buy this one.

Something I learned recently; when buying the sd or sdhc cards, check your computer first! Some computers can only read sd cards. Some can read both.

pollock56th wrote:Plan on spending at least 800 for a low light hd camcorder, look for one that has a huge lens ie more light in. the new nikon slrs also do hd video again look for a big lens

That doesn't actually answer my question. Does anyone who owns this camera know how it might perform under these conditions, which I would call "lower light" not so much "low light" since there are some sources of light - a few lamps, a Christmas tree?

WFD999 wrote:For people who have this or similar HD digital camcorders - how do you store the files? At about a GB per minute they must add up. Do you have libraries of hard drives, data DVDs, SD cards, ?

How do you usually play them back? Via Blu-ray player, PC, etc.? Any issues with good smooth playback when using a PC? Do you burn them to Blu-ray DVDs and if so, with what SW?

Thanks.

Yes....I hope someone answers this as I have the same questions. And I hope it doesn't use a GB per minute! Says you can only record 1.8G clips so that wouldn't even be 2 minutes of footage. And when people say it doesn't "support" 1080p, does that mean it can't play back on a blu-ray or regular DVD player or on my computer?

hollywoodphony wrote:Then if video quality is the most important aspect, regardless of price, then buy a 4k camera.

A higher price does not necessarily mean better quality. A good 5mp digital camera may produce better images than some 12mp models because of lens,sensors and other features. A standard definition video camera may also give better video results than a HD model. The HD model has the POTENTIAL for better quality but may not produce it if other factors are not equal for the task.

One part of the description says records in 1080 at 60i or 30p. Then you scroll down it says it's ONLY interlace at 1080.

Which is right?

opdos wrote:Yes....I hope someone answers this as I have the same questions. And I hope it doesn't use a GB per minute! Says you can only record 1.8G clips so that wouldn't even be 2 minutes of footage. And when people say it doesn't "support" 1080p, does that mean it can't play back on a blu-ray or regular DVD player or on my computer?

According to the manual, 1.8 GB would be a little less than 15 minutes at the highest resolution settings.

WFD999 wrote:That doesn't actually answer my question. Does anyone who owns this camera know how it might perform under these conditions, which I would call "lower light" not so much "low light" since there are some sources of light - a few lamps, a Christmas tree?

Here are 2 pretty good "low light" examples on youtube. [Search youtube using the string "samsung hmx-h100 low light" and I'm sure you'll find more]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qstO0wtqqME
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEHzqWUQCys

dliidlii wrote:Playing video back on on small screens true, on screens above 42" a lot of people claim to be able to see the difference between Blu-Ray (1080P) and 1080i.

Only if their equipment gets lemon juice in the eye or they are fooling themselves or just good at recognizing the pulldown artifacts. (which is much more difficult at 1080 than it was at 480 for DVD) Bluray is 1080p24, HDTV is 1080i60, most TVs in this class are 1080p60. Technically, there is more data in a good CBS broadcast than in a good Bluray disc. So whichever is converted the best to your TV's actual display format would look the best, maybe neither.

dliidlii wrote:A higher price does not necessarily mean better quality. A good 5mp digital camera may produce better images than some 12mp models because of lens,sensors and other features. A standard definition video camera may also give better video results than a HD model. The HD model has the POTENTIAL for better quality but may not produce it if other factors are not equal for the task.

So, why don't you find an HD model that is actually worse than any SD model for us. Let us know which the 2 are, and we all promise to purchase accordingly. And since the other guy was talking about 4K, see if you can find one of those that is worse than either an HD or SD model, even a pro HD model used by networks costing $150K or more.

Theories are wonderful, but reality is better.

Best buy has a similar one (Model: SMX-F40BN/XAA | SKU: 9747235) for 199.99 free shipping

... It looks slightly different... Samsung - Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black

maxinater wrote:Although I cannot say for sure as I don't own this, I think that since it accepts SDHC (SD cards with a capacity 4gb +), it should accept all bigger cards. In the past, I have never had trouble putting huge cards in devices. I recently put a 16gb card in my still camera, and the counter just read 999, but it still recorded the pictures correctly. Sometimes, the only disadvantage of larger capacity cards is it will confuse the remaining film/pictures counter.

That isn't a glitch. (at least, I've never seen a camera glitch because of this) Most cameras only have 3 digits to show the remaining space, so 999 just means you can take more than that. Take enough pictures and it will drop below 999.

amsoles wrote:Best buy has a similar one (Model: SMX-F40BN/XAA | SKU: 9747235) for 199.99 free shipping

Someone else posted this camera as an alternative from HSN at the same price. However, Amazon has it for $160, if that's the camera you want. Personally, I think the Woot camera on offer is a better unit and a better deal for the price. In for one.

WFD999 wrote:For people who have this or similar HD digital camcorders - how do you store the files? At about a GB per minute they must add up. Do you have libraries of hard drives, data DVDs, SD cards, ?

How do you usually play them back? Via Blu-ray player, PC, etc.? Any issues with good smooth playback when using a PC? Do you burn them to Blu-ray DVDs and if so, with what SW?

Thanks.

Well, I don't actually have an HD camcorder yet. But I do have various other similar things.

Yes, I have hard drives to store pics and video. Yes, I play them back directly from my computer, which can easily be attached to my main TV. Yes, I will occasionally burn to DVD for use virtually anywhere or to give copies away. Yes, sometimes it is easiest to just bring an SD card along, many TVs or BD players have a slot to just plug these in. I also use my iPod to play at other houses, although it doesn't do HD.

I think it actually says 7.5 or more minutes per GB, which is close to 2 hours on a 16GB card. That's not horrible.