My needs were simple. I wanted something palm-size, and this fits the bill. It doesn't take still digital photos, but I already have 2 digital cameras. It will, however, allow you to snap single photos on the tape, which you can transfer to PC, as opposed to a Secure Digital card that the more expensive models have. It has a USB connection, a firewire connection, and an analog audio/video connection. The cable is provided for the latter, but not the first two. You can use the USB connection to allow the camcorder to be used as a web cam, but you will need software for that. I hooked up the analog connection to a USB Pinnacle Studio USB box I have, and it worked great. My Pinnacle Studio v.8 transferred the clips on the tape. You can save to CD or to your PC. I then tried a firewire cable connected to my laptop. Instantly, Windows Movie Maker opened up and automatically rewound the tape, then it transferred the movie, and allowed me to edit it, and save it as a WMV file. I use WinXP, which requires nothing else to work. You will need to download some drivers if you have Windows 98.

I have not tried the connection to the TV yet, but will soon. It works great in low light situations. It has a stereo zoom microphone. I could not hear any motor noise in my playback on the PC. Sound was crisp and clear, and the full screen video was crystal clear and very sharp. Depending on how hard you touch the zoom button, you can make the picture zoom in as slow or as fast as you want.

It comes with no editing software or cables, except for the AV cable. But then I didn't need anything extra, as I already had all the hardware and software I needed. It does not come with any digital tapes, so you will have to buy those. It comes with a Li-Ion battery and charger, and a cable to allow you to use the camcorder while plugged into the charger. In fact it is suggested you do that while hooked up to the PC to prevent battery drainage. Battery charging is very quick. The manual has 82 pages, is for this model and three other models, and is packed with information; and for my age, I need reading glasses to see all the small print and illustrations. It has Image Stabilization, but no remote control. The 2.5 inch digital viewfinder is very clear and easy to see, even with these "aged" eyes. The camcorder has an easy to use menu button, which is accessible when the digital viewfinder is opened.

For my needs, it is perfect. I love it, am very happy with it, and expect to get a lot of use out of it. Even with the tiny print in the manual, I still give it all 5's.

A very good camcorder (Rating: 4.00)
Review : The only -ve things I found are:
-no flash light (I knew that before buying).
-magic-pix helps to take picture in dark only if the subject is very still.
-for USB connection the software in not downloadable for free. You have to buy software from Panasonic for $11 besides USB cable which is another $8.
In spite of theses shortcomings I still like this camcorder and would highly recommend it.

Good cam. (Rating: 4.00)
Review : I bought this camcorder, like everybody else, because i need small, digital, and low-cost. this camera does all that, and the outdoors video quality is excellent.

It's not fair to compare this model with 3CCD or other much more costly models, but i will say that the EIS is not very good, and particularly poor when used in low light-lots of image smear. Of course, i think EIS stinks, period...

Overall, buy it. Best at price point.

DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA! (Rating: 1.00)
Review : IT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE PC CONNECTION CABLE AND DRIVER SOFTWARE AS TARGET IS ADVERTISING IN THE DESCRIPTION. WHEN YOU GET THE CAMERA YOU ARE STUCK WITHOUT A WAY TO CONNECT IT TO YOUR COMPUTER, AND YOU HAVE TO BUY YOUR OWN CARTRIDGE BEFORE YOU CAN USE THIS. IT NEEDS SOFTWARE THAT IS NOT INCLUDED. I HAVE TRIED FOR TWO DAYS TO CONTACT PANASONIC AND ORDER OR FIND THE SOFTWARE NEEDED, HELD FOR OVER AN HOUR TWICE AND SENT TWO EMAILS TO THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT STILL HAVE NOT BEEN ANSWERED. SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE I HAVE GONE THROUGH - FIND ANOTHER CAMERA.

Good Camcorder but... (Rating: 2.00)
Review : ...there are too many things wrong with it. This is the 2nd time I've taken this one home to try out. The first one had great video and I really liked it, but the sound didn't work. I took it back and they gave me another. This one has great video and sound, but full of the mosaic problem I've read about on other digital camcorders. The booklet says this is not a malfunction but a normal instance of digital. Give me a break...why would people put up with this and pay the prices they're paying. No way. I'm waiting until they find a cure and then I'll be back, but I don't believe this is a normal thing.

molto bene! (Rating: 5.00)
Review : For a while, my friends and I have been searching for a digital camcorder to make movies with. We had one already but it was...bad...to say the least. We needed something new.

I got this camcorder and absolutely love it. The picture quality and sound quality is amazing. I can now record at a crisp, clear 720*480 resolution.

Another pro: the zoom is amazing. Don't believe it when it says 800x zoom because that's just false, but if you turn the digital zoom down to 50x, the quality still remains almost the same as optical zoom.

Within minutes after I opened it, I had transfered a video onto my computer using windows movie maker, and saved it as an avi. All you need is a firewire cable (which I bought at the time I bought the camera).

I can't think of any cons for this camera because it has exceeded my expectations in every way.

You can also transfer videos from your computer back on to the camera using the firewire cable, and then record them onto VHS tapes.