Quick Look at the HP V5061u Camcorder

My main advice for the day is don't try to wake up early and then stay up late trying to get stuff done. I am the sadder but wiser girl. However going down the wrong path can lead to a camcorder discovery.

I'm lying in bed trying to convince myself to wake up. I'm looking at a magazine but not seeing anything I haven't written about before. Then my eyes land on the HP V5061u camcorder.



HP has a camcorder? It seems that they do and the price isn't bad if you shop around. This is a point and share camcorder that has some kicky features.

The Specs

Records on SD/SDHC cards up to 32GB. That would be 2 separate SD memory card slots.

Video Resolution: 1400x1080p now this is not the standard but at least they were honest enough to tell you that it is not 1920x1080p. If you are uploading only to the web or taking family records for DVD or HD television this is more than enough.

It also does 720p, 640x480 and for those in 56k bandwidth challenging areas on the planet you can record in 320x240. Ah, memories.

Video Recording Format: HP claims that it records in .avi so this should be ok with both Windows and Mac users. I can't say for sure.

According to the web site, the video is in the H.264 .avi format. I'm going hazard a guess that Windows Movie Maker can't open it, Windows Live Movie Maker might be able to open the video and all others editing software it depends on the age of your last update.

Unless it is really .mov. Mac folks should be hesitant about plunking down money without verification on this one until it is verified. Yet other folks are saying it is in .mov format

It is a crap shoot. There might be editing software on the DVD but it is probably for Windows users.

Battery Power: The thing I latched on to is that you can use an internal lithium battery AND it has a two AA batter chamber. This means if you lithium battery is about to drain out you can put in AA photo batteries.

Doing the internal happy dance about that one because one of peeves about my current camcorder is the 45 minutes battery life. I do like the option of being able to pack emergency power.

A lot. Especially after last weekend.

Not much more to tell. It is a basic camcorder. So I did find some videos of folks checking it out. This is an indoor example inside of a store with florescent lights:



This an outdoor demonstration:



The specs are compatible with the price which is currently somewhere between $140 and $160 depending on where you shop.

Now it is not the greatest camcorder. HP didn't have much to say about the lens, the sensor or other important items. I'm not going to kick about it much because HP has a certain quality level to their products.

For a day to day, impulse or outdoor event videos that spring up on you this seems to be functional.

I'd be willing to give it a shake out. Except I'm on a camcorder buying restriction for a while.