JVC Everio GZ-MG21 Flash Media Camcorder

Ive had the JVC camcorder over a month and up to now havent found anything i dont like about it.the picture quality is excellent, ease of use is excellent, even my small grandson doesnt have a problem using it.A close friend of ours saw it picked it up, never seeing this model before and wasnt told by any one how to use it, and took some lovely footage with out a single instruction.The menu is also easy to use, and is no problem finding your way around the extras this camcorder has to offer.The camcorder also is able to tell you how much charge is in the battery and expected video usage in minutes.Which is very handy,10 minutes video usage isnt any good when you need 20 minutes,so a charge is required, better then going out and the battery dieing on you.
Its light and compact and fits easily into the palm of you hand, with the controls easy to reach.with so much memory 20GB I use it on best quality, and never have to worry if im going to run out. it comes with a memory card slot also so incase you need it, but ive never had to use it.
The software on first inspection seems to be a nightmare, but given patience and some thought is realy is quite easy to use. it comes in two parts. I use one part to view/edit the footage, and then decide on wether it is a DVD quality, web streaming using real player/windows media, and select the one i require. The second part burns the footage, and has a handy "add to DVD disc" function. so even a month later its possible to add your new footage to the DVD. No longer stuck with 10 minutes of footage on one DVD and 10 minutes on another DVD. Edit the DVD using cyberlink software and add them all together (with chapters) on one DVD disc.without any reduction in DVD size or quality, some software does the same but you lose 50% of the DVD, ie 2GB not the usual 4GB but cyberlink allows you to add 4GB of video as normal.
Ive heard complains that it doesnt fuction to well in low light, but up to now i havent experienced this, ive videoed indoors, but not partially low light, and havent had a problem.It does come with an external light for dark situations but i havent used that at the moment, maybe in the winter months it may come in handy.
One down side, its only 0.3 mega pixel when using still photography, which as most will know is email quality. not the usual 3-7 mega pixel that digial still cameras have, but thats not a problem with me as i only use the JVC for video and my Olympus 4 mega camera for stills.
So all in all id say ease of use 100%, quality of video 100%, compact 100%, software 100%. still photography doesnt get a % as i dont use the JVC for stills.
One other thing i will mention, the memory card camcorder i had, the screen would "white out" in sunny conditions, and make it impossible to know what you were actually pointing the camcorder at, but the JVC doesnt.ive used it in Lanzarote on a bright summers day 28C and its never "white out" on me, ive always seen what i was videoing.

God camcorder, small and compact great for my florida holiday.
excellent zoom - could get really close up with it
20GB hard drive big enough to get most of what i wanted
On the down side the battery only had 1 hour life so i bought a spare - 4 hours long, but this made it a bit heavy however this is a must in Disney Land
Overall I would strongly recomend

I decided to buy it as id been to a local electrical store and i was advised to buy this particular camcorder. Buying from here saved me £90 and the item was as good as new! Battery life is great and the design is small and compact. Clips are saved individually so that no rewinding and fast forwarding needs to be done. Clips can be easily transferred onto the computer so that a dvd can be made! Great price and great product!

I had researched this particular model of camcorder so I knew what the current market prices were. I knew what to expect from the model and had a ceiling price in mind and was fortunate to get it within my target range.
I like the camcorder because it is small, has a hard drive and wasn't overloaded with features that I would not need. It was my entry into video recording and I'm very pleased with it.
There is nothing I have yet found to dislike in it.

What an amazing camcorder! The Video resolution is clear and fantastic and it is so small i can fit it into my pocket This camera is fantastic and has only 1 flaw its battery is only just over an hour so i would reccomend getting the 4 hour battery otherwise this camcorder's FANTASTIC!

it is brilliant just as discibed.camcorder was light weight and compact,as good quility pictures,and as lots of recording time.didnt dislike anything about it

THIS REALLY IS THE MOST FANTASTIC CAMCORDER! IT IS SO SIMPLE TO USE AND AS I BOUGHT IT TO CAPTURE THE LOVELY LITTLE THINGS MY CHILDREN DO I NEEDED SOMETHING THAT WAS AIM AND RECORD AND THIS CAMCORDER IS THAT EASY TO USE!
ALSO THERE IS NO CASSETTES FOR ME TOO LOSE I LITERALLY PLUG IT IN AND DOWNLOAD-EASY!

Bought this camera on the spur of the moment as I was travelling to New York with a Brass Band for the St.Patricks Day parade and I was tasked with recording the event.
What a great little camera... Did "exactly what it said on the tin"
Small and compact it fits in the palm of your hand and neatly into your jacket pocket.
Video quality was excellent and a quick flick of a switch allows you to take still pics.
It was a doddle to use,the controls were simple and like a Nokia phone you know you like them because you don't need the manual to operate them, everything is there in front of you and straightforward to use.
Great zoom on it and recorded great long shots from the Empire State.
Having had the usual Camcorders over the years with various discs, tapes etc,
the built in 20GB HDD was a Godsend.... no more loading of tapes or mini discs.
As anyone who had experience of the old formats will understand the wait for the tape or mini disc to start up and record seemed to take forever,
With the JVC it was very quick,
Over the course of our trip we took hours of recording and it never filled the HDD.
Because there is no tapes or discs spinning there is less of a load on the battery thus you can get a huge amount of recording done before the battery starts to weaken.
A quick charge will restore it to its former glory.
I loved the fact that you had a standby facility so the moment you opened the screen door it would start up and be ready to record.
The usual leads and software discs made downloading to a PC no problem.
The movie maker software seems quite good but will take some practise to perfect.
Cant really say anything bad about this camcorder,for the money its a great little compact item, easy to carry and give great results with ease of use.
The 20 HDD is more than adequate for most trips.

I like this camera as it is small and light weight. It has an excellent optical zoom.
The only negative is when you go to edit it. It has its own .MOD file which needs to be transcoded before most editing apps will allow it to be read

i got the jvc everio as a birthday present and i am pleased i did its so simple to use,and with no tapes or discs to buy its saves on all the hassle of finding the right tapes or discs the camcorder is so easy to use, easy menus, the only problem i have is that i use windows vista, and the soft ware wont work with vista,i can recommend the everio to anyone who wants a camcorder that is easy to use and does not want to buy tapes or discs

Out of the box this camera is real easy to work . Like most video camera's it is real bad at night and in the dark , But its relay for well lit or outdoor use . Zoom is unreal ---fantastic ....Battery not the best you need to carry spare charged battery but are cheap ....the SD is really for direct record as if you put it in to the camera and need to copy vidio to it you cant . the only copy is for still photos and these are real low res pics even set to fine . But im getting great use for vidio and can have in on pc in mins to edit ....that what i wanted and this is what its good for ....

Video looks worse than typical MiniDV quality. Night shots are very very grainy. Image stabilization is a bad joke. Hard drive is convenient but files are named in a bizarre hexadecimal format.

For the price I paid for this product - GREAT! It has 32x zoom, clear LCD monitor, LED light, USB connection to transfer videos on to computers, laptops, watch on TV. Create high quality dvd's. Up to 25 hours of recording on economy mode, 9 hours on normal mode, 7 hours on fine mode, and 4.5 hours on ultra fine mode. 20GB Hard Disk Drive and SD card slot to save pictures and videos on. This camera is great for £120!