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There are much better, more reliable cameras out there. I spoke with Samsung, and since it was past warranty they put me in touch with a qualified Samsung service repair shop, which wanted to charge me over $160 to fix it.
The camera was okay and wasn't used a lot. About a week after the warranty expired, I was using the camera and turned it off.
I bought the Samsung MX20 in December 2008, so I've had it a little over a year. It wasn't dropped or ever treated roughly.
A few minutes later, I turned it back on and it went straight to a white screen and would just beep. No buttons worked.
Forget it. Learn from my mistake, and don't buy this camera.
i phoned amazon and they told me to phone samsung so i phoned samsung and they told me to phone amazon. any other retailer will give you 12 months full warranty. battery still had power but unit simply wouldnt switch on (this happened to another purchaser in reviews section by the way). it was never dropped nor ever got wet but just stopped working. i bought this samsung scmx20 camcorder in april 2009. DO NOT BUY PRODUCTS FROM AMAZON UNLESS YOU ARE COMPENSATED FOR LACK OF WARRANTY. YOU WILL HAVE NO WARRANTY. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT FROM AMAZON.
i now have an inoperable camcorder which i bought brand new. so even though the unit is still under warranty neither company is willing to fix it. i hardly used it till december though but in jan 2010 without any valid reason what so ever it stopped working. according to samsung, amazon has obtained cheaper pricing from samsung by providing their own in house warranty on samsung products but when it comes to the crunch they do not honour their obligation and want to pass the buck back to samsung. amazon says warranty is with samsung and samsung says warranty is with amazon. i have asked them both to confirm this to me in writing so that i can take matters further but have still not seen any letters in the post. DO NOT BUY SAMSUNG PRODUCTS UNLESS YOU KNOW ABOUT THE WARRANTY PROTOCOL. SHAME ON AMAZON.
I bought this Samsung SC MX20 in new condition by the past Thanksgiving 2009 timeframe and although it was $50 off from the regular price; I don't find this good enough for the money spent $150+tax. Everything seems ok until I try to playback the video on a high definition screen like most computer screens are w/ 1024x768 or above. the picture quality from far away (zoom) is not acceptable. The SCMX20 can record about 119 minutes on the only Resolution setting and I chose the Fine (2nd best) quality on a SanDisk 4GB SDHC card. Overall, if you are going to video a baby's first walk, anything close object can be fine. It is lightweight with battery, not too heavy to hang it on my neck when not in use. Eventually I returned it. The quality of picture can be blocky if you examine it.
Generally its easy to use, and to minimize rattling during recording I like setting in auto mode in white balance, focus,. it has a pretty good zoom 34x optical comparing to the High Def version which usually get only 10x optical. Besides, using a tripod would become mandatory in video shooting if using the zoom alot. But if you are planning to video your kid performing at the stage even you are sitting at the first row of any auditorium, this camcorder might not do the job well.
Upon testing it I quickly discovered that the image quality is absolutely terrible even on the highest quality setting. (I could not install on my computer) Transferring video is possible though, and is editable in imovie 08. I bought this camera on a sale on Black Friday, i was hoping to get a camcorder that would be easy to handle, and perform well in different lighting situations. When i bought this i was well aware that it wouldn't be the best quality picture because it was designed to for casual youtube users. I would not recommend this for mac users, and I would be wary if you plan on using this for something other than youtube. It not so much the sharpness or the focus; it's the interlacing. On a side note, i do have a mac computer, and that could possibly be contributing to the problem; as the software is design to work on windows and not mac.
Especially since Macs continue to gain popularity. (an issue that I have with my current digital camera) It fits well in your hand and is easy enough to use. I am disappointed that such a prominent company doesn't take Mac users in account. It absolutely runs your footage. But I was surprised that an otherwise well thought out and seemly well designed camera had such a severe interlacing issue. I will not be keeping this camcorder, as my regular canon digital camera, a Powershot SX10 is (video is its secondary function i might add) takes better video than this camcorder. (such a home movie) Buy at your own risk.
The display is great and the quality of the pictures very nice. The video camera is small and easy to handle. It came with easy to read and comprehend instructions and the machine itself is easy to use. I like the zoom distance so I can zoom in close to see faces or zoom out to record a full picture. The only downside with the camera that I could see was that the battery if left in the camera loses power so you have to remember to take the battery out when finished using it or be sure to recharge in time for use.
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