Pure Digital's Point & Shoot Video Camcorder reviewed

We have a friend who will try to put a positive spin on something by describing it as "good for what it is," and that seems like an apt way to describe Pure Digital's non-disposable version of their disposable Point & Shoot Video Camcorder, which sounds like it delivers on its promise of mediocre footage for super-cheap prices. Both CNET's Gadget Blog and the St. Paul Pioneer Press took the PDP&SVC through its paces, and come to basically the same conclusion: you get what you pay for. Obviously $100 isn't going to buy you great quality optics, so the only thing cheapskates budget-conscious consumers really have to gripe about is the lack of any expansion options, because sometimes 30 minutes just isn't enough time to capture priceless family moments in full, grainy, VGA glory.

Read- Gadget Blog
Read- St. Paul Pioneer Press

[EleonGonzales @ May 17th 2006 3:06PM]

Why not just get the exact thing at cvs and soder your own usb connector? It would save you $70 for the same grainy VGA clips.

Anyone buy one of these and have the drivers for it?

[Alex Hubbs @ May 17th 2006 4:15PM]

Haha! The conclusion was very well put!

[PEZ @ May 17th 2006 4:55PM]

IF it were 50, then thats another story. But for $100, you can get a decent 2MP camera with video and sound with expandibility - AND 30FPS.

[slackbp @ May 17th 2006 5:02PM]

I saw a review of this on the DigitalLifeTV site (http://dl.tv/blogs/digitallifetv/archive/2006/05/04/11085.aspx) and video quality is better than you might expect. Certainly it's not the equal of a more expensive camera, but for taking video "snapshots" it's quite good.

[Business Cards @ May 17th 2006 5:25PM]

Is the video better than video from a digital camera?

-Brandon Hopkins

[mitch @ May 18th 2006 1:43AM]

my question is if it possible to maybe crack this thing open, switch out the flash memory for something higher capacity? maybe you could take this $100 camcorder and give it a capacity with like an hour or so of video?

wouldn't it be a matter of opening it up and switching the flash memory out? possibly?

from what Ive read, this version has better video quality and also the digital zoom (in regards to opting for this version over the disposable and hacking that one)

[GotAnMP3 @ May 25th 2006 12:39AM]

This camcorder is intended to compete with low-cost hybrid cams (such as ones made by Aiptek), not $350+ DV cams. Chances are, the video clip mode on a standard digital camera isn't going to give you the same level of quality - go ahead and try it for yourself. If you want the quality of a DV cam in a form factor that'll fit in your pocket, Samsung makes an excellent MPEG4 solid-state camcorder with optical and digital zoom. Just be prepared to pay a lot more than $100 for it.

[badger @ Jun 10th 2006 10:27PM]

I just purchased one of these to bring to parties. I tell my friends it's "drunk-simple" with the most basic functions placed intuitively. It fits comfortably in my pocket too, which is rare for camcorders in this price range. For the cost, it's great. It's well built and 'just works.' I'm not sure the .avi files it creates are properly formed; when I play them in VLC there is no sound. They play perfectly in quicktime and windows media player. If you're on the fence about getting one of these, I recommend that you do.

[katiefizz @ Jan 9th 2007 11:00AM]

I bought one of these for my nine year old. She told me she wanted a camcorder for Christmas, and I just laughed. However Costco had these for around 90 dollars. It's simple, easy for a kid, not super fragile and she and her friends love it. She can share movies on-line, it comes with access to a site and it can be kept private. I'd make that purchase again.

[Brett K @ Jan 31st 2007 11:15PM]

FYI Wall Street Journal states that the guts of this device should soon be available from other companies with larger memory configs and possibly better optics.