Hi guys, hope you can help here.

my parents are away on holiday next week, and my dad is looking for a decent quality camcorder to take with them, but hasn't got the biggest budget available.

I was hoping you guys could give me some recommendations I can pass on to him, as my knowledge on camcorders isn't exactly great!

I've had a look at a few such as the Panasonic NV-GS60EB-S, the JVC GRD770 and a couple of others, but reviews seem to be mixed at best.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[redsox_mark]

I like the Canon MD101, though some units seem to suffer from motor noise. (I've either been lucky with the ones I've seen or my hearing is bad...)

[Barnes]

Hi,
I took Jetinders advice and bought the JVC GR D770 from ebuyer £150. Got to say it's absolute quality for the price. A good performer in all environments. Best £150 spent in a long time.
Cheers.

[jetinder]

Barnes

Great news glad you got the GRD770 and glad you like it

I've had my GRD770 for a month and I love the camcorder

Please note
:-
On this forum although i keep on telling people to get JVC GRD770 from Ebuyer, i have no connection with JVC or Ebuyer, I dont get any favours or commission at all.

I just recommend the JVC GRD770 from Ebuyer as for the money its great camcorder and people should know there are good alternatives to Sony, Canon and Panasonic.

[senu]

Originally Posted by jetinder

Barnes
Great news glad you got the GRD770 and glad you like it
I've had my GRD770 for a month and I love the camcorder
Please note
:-
On this forum although i keep on telling people to get JVC GRD770 from Ebuyer, i have no connection with JVC or Ebuyer, I dont get any favours or commission at all.
I just recommend the JVC GRD770 from Ebuyer as for the money its great camcorder and people should know there are good alternatives to Sony, Canon and Panasonic.

Jetinder ,
Thanks for that
Im glad you love the JVC and are finding it great..( Barnes seems to be sharing that good fortune)
Anyhow nobody on here will knock the JVCs , like say the Samsungs.

I also have an older JVC( GR-DV700EK) I use as a Knockabout now ( still works) , in its heyday it was quite well rated

Ive similarly used some very well sorted Panasonics Sonys and Canons.. Even so,all of these brands have the occasional c**p models.

The problem with JVC is that they had a longer than usual run of making disappointing models and lost their market share .. and credibility .. for a little while.
They had Major recalls and a class action suit in the US but that is perhaps well in the past

It may be that they are bouncing back with your model.. but it may also explain why you seem to be " a lone voice in the wilderness".
Thier 3CCD HiDef 60Gb HDD model ( GZHD7) got a lot of us excited when it was announced but its image stabilisation issues seem to be a bit of a let down. And thier SD HDD Everios are a mixed bag for quality and ease of editing . The mid range Everios are( IMO) ; great

The Pannys 3CCDs models are not always great in lower light , Sonys penchant for overpricing and proprietary formats , and Canons motor noise pick up are often mentioned here so I suspect outright Brand loyalty is less common here

As for e-buyer , if you have had a good experience with them, by all means let it be known

To the OP I say.. take each model on its own merits...All brands make .. lemons!

[p3x289]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Hi,
I took Jetinders advice and bought the JVC GR D770 from ebuyer £150. Got to say it's absolute quality for the price. A good performer in all environments. Best £150 spent in a long time.
Cheers.

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128197

just seen this on ebuyer for £139.51 free delivery as well.

This is not listed on jvc uk website, so this must be european model.

I am seriously tempted but want to know if the charger will work in uk. could anyone confirm this ?

never bought from ebuyer but its always the first time and with that price, its worth it.

thanks

[redsox_mark]

The charger will work fine. Worst that can happen if it is indeed a European model is you may need to use an adapter plug.

[Barnes]

Hi,
Mark's correct,the charger is fine, comes complete with a 3 pin UK plug. I think it is a European model but don't let that put you off. The biggest problem I had was the initial set up , didn't read the manual correctly. My good lady set it up for me in minutes. You just have to change the menu from Japanese to English.
It is all explained in the manual.
Cheers
Steve.

[rhubarbe]

Well that's odd. I have never had a European model come with anything other than English as the default language in the setup.

And this charger issue: nowadays all these cams are made in the same, or a couple of, factories, and so are the chargers. They don't attach a plug to the charger, it will have a figure of eight socket (or rarely a cloverleaf) in the charger body and a figure of eight lead to whatever plug is correct for the region for which it was sold. If, on buying one in the UK from Europe, you find it has a Euro plug on the figure of eight lead you can either buy a travel adapter, or have a hunt round your house for a figure of eight to UK plug. These things are used on just about all small electronic items you can buy, so you must have one or two lying about.

[jetinder]

Originally Posted by p3x289

http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/128197

I am seriously tempted but want to know if the charger will work in uk. could anyone confirm this ?

never bought from ebuyer but its always the first time and with that price, its worth it.

thanks

I've had mine since July and have a had no problems, it comes with a UK plug.

Ok you need to change the first screen display from Japanies to English but to do that just follow the instruction booklet, its all done via menus on the LCD and takes 2-5 mins to do.

If you can change settings on a tv or VCR you can easily change settings on this, its simple.

I did this charged it up and off it went, no worries.

The GRD 770 it is a German, American and Indian spec model, see the following from JVC Germany
:-
http://jdl.jvc-europe.com/compare.ph...B%5D=GR-D760EX

JVC America
:-

http://camcorder.jvc.com/product.jsp...3000&pathId=26

http://camcorder.jvc.com/product.jsp...hId=26&page=11

http://camcorder.jvc.com/product.jsp...hId=26&page=10

In the UK the GRD 760 is under spec'd dunno why that is as every else in the world they sell the GRD 770.

If you dont like the camcorder you can always send it back within 7 days for full refund under the distant selling law which gives people buying stuff off the internet a 7 day cool off period.

Every where else they sell bottom of the range, low spec entry level camcorders for around £150, For £140 your quids in as your getting a top of the range camcorder for less money than a bottom of the range entry level model in the shops and you have a full 1 year warranty as well.

But the choice is yours.

[p3x289]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Hi,
I took Jetinders advice and bought the JVC GR D770 from ebuyer £150. Got to say it's absolute quality for the price. A good performer in all environments. Best £150 spent in a long time.
Cheers.

i have been keeping an eye out for jvc gr d770 and its back in stock on ebuyer. Just one question to Jetinder and Barnes, the description on ebuyer states as gr-d770US. I am just wondering if this US suffix would be cause any incompatibility issues ?

link : http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...uct_uid=128197

thanks in advance

[Barnes]

Hi,
My model is the GR-D770AH, looking at my manual it's Signal Format is PAL,
The US model is NTSC Standard.
Everything else looks the same.
Must be honest I'm not clued up on compatability issues so I am looking forward answers from our more learned contributors myself.
If it's not a problem I can recommend the 770.

[p3x289]

thanks

NTSC - this probably means tv must support ntsc if playing back recording to tv. But i should be able to transfer footage to pc or a dvd recorder. am i correct ?

[redsox_mark]

To a PC, yes. To a DVD recorder, depends on the model. Only some of them will record NTSC.

[senu]

Originally Posted by redsox_mark

To a PC, yes. To a DVD recorder, depends on the model. Only some of them will record NTSC.

Even then they tend to playback NTSC and PAL but not record both

[redsox_mark]

Most will play back NTSC, some will record NTSC (but I agree not both). I was recently looking at the Panasonic EX77 DVD/HDD recorder and that records both NTSC and PAL (you have to change a setting in the menu to record NTSC).

[jetinder]

Yesterday i saw the Sony HC27 and JVC GRD720.

I tested both camcorders low light vision.

The HC27 is grainy in low light, the JVC isnt.

So if i had to get a new camcorder i'd still get the JVC for good picture quality.