JVC GR-D850 Mini DV Camcorder

This camcorder is being offered today on WOOT.COM for just $129.99 + $5 shipping.
This is probably one of the best bargains for a camcorder right now. When you see people spending about this much and MORE on those ridiculous Flip Camorders that have virtually NO features.. this is a HUGE value.
Great Features:
The small size factor--It is a very nice palm sized camera. Its not bulky and very easy to carry.
Mini DV Tape- I know that alotta higher end cameras are using Hard Drives and or Flash Drives but Mini DV Tape has come a long way since its beginnings and is now very capable of high resolution video quality. The key is to not tape over it dozens of times. Record and then load it onto your computer for archive or burn to a DVD.
35X Optical Zoom-- This is a HUGE amount of zoom. When you consider most of your still image cameras only offer 4-8X optical zoom this will get you very close to your subject without decreasing the video quality by incorporating digital zoom. This camera still has 800X Digital zoom. This much digital zoom should only be used when you absolutely have to! If you are so far away that you cant make out your subject. This video will be very poor quality and only useful in identifying larger subjects.
Built in microphone--This will enable you to record the audio during video taping.
Built in speaker--This will allow you to hear the playback audio of your recordings.
Built in LED Lighting--This will allow you to record in almost no light or very low light. This feature is usually only offered on camcorders twice this price.
Large crisp LCD display screen--This screen has great resolution and all the essential buttons are right next to it enabling you to change modes and option on the fly while recording.
Wide Screen & Standard Mode Shooting-- You can do both and switch between them on the fly.
Full Auto Mode-- This feature is found on most camcorders but its still worth mentioning as it will do everything for you .. just hit record and off you go!
Snapshot Mode--There is a button on top of the camera that allows you to take a quick snapshot and it will be stored on the SD card.
Long Battery Life--You can get about 2 Hours of shooting with this battery that will charge via the AC adapter (included).
Firewire--You can connect this camera to your PC via the firewire cable. This is the fastest way to load your videos on the computer. Dont have Firewire on your PC? Dont worry you can get a Firewire to USB converter for about $5 at any computer store or online.
This product comes with a 90 Day WOOT Warranty but you can purchase an additional 1 year warranty for just $20 from Square Trade on the WOOT website.

Why buy refurbished?
What most people dont understand is that refurbed doesnt mean "Used"
99% of the time it means that when it was originally manufactured it may have had some defect and this was caught before it was shipped. The defect was corrected by the manufacturer and the entire unit went through very thorough testing before it was sold as refurbished. Much more testing that the "New" units that are only spot checked for quality purposes.

This pass year JVC threw caution to the wind and decided to go for it. Hardly anyone was paying attention to their camcorders anymore, so in one fell swoop, JVC went and poured all of it's technological knowledge into a small but rugged camcorder called the JVC GR-D850 Mini DV Camcorder, and dumped it on the market for slightly more than $200. The result was not quite what JVC had in mind. The good news was that consumers had a kick-ass model camcorder for a cheap price at their fingertips. The bad news was that hardly anyone even noticed it was there. The result is that the price has been dropping and the kick-assness has remained high.

Like many camcorders and guys you meet in bars, the JVC GR-D850 Mini DV Camcorders can never last as long as you'd like them to. The battery max here is 115 minutes. However, JVC gives you a little readout on the screen to tell you how much time is left. This is cool. Cool too is the stick control on LCD which allows you to simply "press the four "compass points" on the circular control to navigate menu items and manual feature settings during recording and playback." No more jumping through buttons and menus to find everything you need. My favorite cool part is the powerful 35x optical zoom which is unheard of in most cameras costing three or four times more than this JVC.

This little JVC GR-D850 MiniDV Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom is just a great little camera. Sure, it can't do all the in camera editing and effects like some others, but it more than has you covered during the holidays and on vacations. Plus with a 2.7" LCD Screen, it's easy as pie to use. Not that I ever found pie to be very easy to make, but it is very easy to eat especially with whipped cream. However, I would avoid putting whipped cream on the JVC GR-D850 MiniDV Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom. It will only get sticky.