Coby CAM3000 1.44-Inch TFT LCD Mini Digital Camcorder/Camera

5 comments

1. 

   Matthew Brodeur on December 2, 2009 at 9:33 pm

   I picked this up after hearing Dick DeBartolo and Leo Laporte review it on the Daily Giz Wiz podcast. It was on a 1-day sale for 20 bucks. Can’t beat that! But even at the regular price it’s a steal. Surprisingly good video quality for the price – IF you’re outdoors. It has a tiny little light on it, but that’s useless other than to use up the batteries. But I took some videos of my kids at Halloween outdoors and they came out really great. Just right for uploading to YouTube and sharing with the in-laws in FL.
   
   And for this price I’m not afraid of letting the kids have a go with it. They watch these inane YouTube videos and play around pretending they’re making their own. Well, do it for real now!
   
   I love that it can be expanded with a regular SD card too.
   
   Eventually I’d like to get a nice HD handheld camcorder, but this is a nice starter.

2. 

   Denise A. Brasher on December 3, 2009 at 12:28 am

   Just ordered this from Amazon 2 days ago & got it today. Can’t speak as to battery life as haven’t used it long enough. Literally popped the batteries in & got to shooting. The software is REALLY easy. If you have a printer or camera dock that accepts the SD card you don’t even have to use the cables although they are just your standard USB. It also comes with cables to hook up to your TV. It’s all very self explanatory & I have tried it all. I’m hardly a computer whiz and I’ve already made a “movie” and slideshow with the pictures & video I’ve captured on this little camcorder. Now it’s not the sharpest video in the world but I’m just looking for a pocket recorder to put in my purse & keep with me for those moments when you want to capture something & your camcorder is just too bulky. Besides my 5 year old is way too rough on it. This is perfect especially @ $40 no worries about him ruining it. You should buy it & keep it with you for those got to have moments with the kids!

3. 

   Stiksister on December 3, 2009 at 1:35 am

   I picked up two of these for family members and they love them. Really good value for your $$. Easy to use and decent quality videos. Don’t expect HD for $30, but you can’t beat it for the price. Will take up to an 8GB SD card which will record over 2 hours of video. Also will take stills. Small size makes it easy to carry around. Do your kids always want to use your expensive video camera to make their own videos? Does that make you nervous? Get them one of these instead. Simple to use, even young kids can operate it and it is fun to see the videos that they make. Putting the videos on YouTube could not be simpler. I took a video and then put the SD card into the card slot on my computer and uploaded directly off the card to YouTube. Easy peasy!

4. 

   Brian VanderBeek on December 3, 2009 at 4:29 am

   Managed to snag this camera for $19.99 from J&R, and purchased an 8GB memory card for $14 at the local Target. The instructions indicate the Coby camera accepts up to an 8GB card, which would give it about 2 hours of recording time. When I inserted the 8GB card, the camera froze. It would start up, then freeze, and the only way to turn it off was to remove a battery. I did this 5-6 times, with the same result. I called Coby and was told my camera might be defective and I would have to return it to receive a replacement. It would cost as much as the original price to return, so I declined. The camera worked fine with no card, but with minimal internal storage I got about 20 seconds of recording time. I tried again with a 4GB card, and the camera still froze. I had an old 512MB card around, so I tried it. Lo and behold, the Coby accepted it. It gives me nine minutes, 3 seconds of recording time. Bottom line is that my camera is not defective, but it does not accept 8GB cards as advertised. When working properly, this is an amazing little camera for the price. Very easy to use, acceptable picture quality, decent sound. Not sure the small light on the front would help in any situation, but it’s nice to have. USB is true plug-and-play (no installation required) with all my PCs (haven’t tried with a Mac.) I’m going to continue to find the largest memory card it will accept, since 9 minutes is not quite what the product promises.

5. 

   Avid Reviewer on December 3, 2009 at 4:41 am

   Even though the Coby CAM3000 has a puny 1.3 MP pixels (1280 x 960), I’m pleasantly surprised that the quality of the video looks very descent on my 21″ monitor (@ 1680 x 1050 screen resolution); it looks only very slightly pixelated. Considering how affordably priced this mini camcorder is, I’d say it’s a real bargain.

   - Build Quality
   
   The build quality is really quite good — this mini camcorder does not look cheap to be sure. Although it has a shiny, not rugged, plastic exterior, it seems to be fairly scratch resistant. All the buttons are firm, not jiggly.

   - SD Card Expansion Slot
   
   The mini camcorder has about 20 MB of built-in memory, which is sufficient for only a few seconds of recording (makes me wonder why they even bother including the built-in memory). No problem – it has an SD card expansion slot. I have no trouble getting the mini camcorder to recognize my high-capacity SD card. I’m using a Kingston 8 GB microSDHC Card with an SD card adapter (came with the Kingston package).

   - Digital Zoom
   
   This mini camcorder actually has digital zoom-in/out, as opposed to optical zoom (better). The trouble with digital zooming is the image gets pixelated when you zoom in. The zooming is also a little choppy.

   - LCD Screen
   
   The display on the LCD screen is very clear. The LCD screen is somewhat smallish, but it’s perfectly adequate nonetheless.

   —
   
   For the price, this mini camcorder produces some very descent 1280 x 960 videos. The quality isn’t on par with that from a regular camcorder, of course, but it is more than adequate if you’re planning on using your videos on y0utube. It’s ultra portable and perfect for some quick and casual takes.