JVC Everio GZ-MG20
Manufacturer: JVC Part number: GZ-MG20
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Though the short battery life and mediocre image quality are frustrating, the JVC Everio GZ-MG20U's amazing recording capacity and tiny size still make it an enticing device.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | See Site | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
CNET editors' review
JVC Everio GZ-MG20 price range: $699.99
- Reviewed by: Denny Atkin
- Edited by: Lori Grunin
- Reviewed on: 10/19/2005
- Released on: 08/08/2005
The good: Stores tons of video; excellent zoom reach; very small.
The bad: Terrible battery life; mediocre video quality; grainy low-light footage; requires a computer or stand-alone DVD burner.
The bottom line: Though the short battery life and mediocre image quality are frustrating, the JVC Everio GZ-MG20U's amazing recording capacity and tiny size still make it an enticing device.
As the battle heats up between DVD, SD, and MiniDV camcorders, JVC has entered the market with a fourth media option that borrows as much technologically from the iPod as it does from competing cameras. The JVC Everio GZ-MG20U eschews removable storage and instead includes a built-in 20GB hard drive (similar to that found in the iPod) for an extremely impressive 4.5 hours of storage at best quality and as much as 37 hours of Web-quality footage. With a 25X zoom lens and a built-in video light, it offers solid camcorder features, but its wimpy battery poops out long before you can fill much of the massive storage space with the camcorder's mediocre recordings.
User reviews
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Pretty good, all depends on the user!
by rds5500 on December 26, 2005
Pros: Size and ease of use.
Cons: Image quality and battery
Summary: The Cnet opinion is right on the money. I bought this for my wife and she loves it. I'm pretty good at figuring out computer related problems so uploading ...
Summary: The Cnet opinion is right on the money. I bought this for my wife and she loves it. I'm pretty good at figuring out computer related problems so uploading and editing the .MOV files are not too much of a problem. Very easy to use, but just like anything else it depends on the user. The negatives battery life with the standard battery is horrible. Video quality is good at best. I questioned the video quality before I read other reviews and they confirmed my concerns. So, if you are computer savvy and you can handle the image quality issues it's a great camera to have and it's made my life easier. NO MORE LITTLE TAPES that I lose or misplace!!
4 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Outdoor Camcorder Only
by Brian JK on February 19, 2006
Pros: Long Record Time, Decent outdoor Quality on clear bright days.
Cons: Battery Life, Low Light Quality
Summary: After reading the other reviews about this camcorder I decided to try it since the best comment stated it was good if set correctly. Quality outside it sunny AZ was ...
Summary: After reading the other reviews about this camcorder I decided to try it since the best comment stated it was good if set correctly. Quality outside it sunny AZ was pretty good, but the moment I went inside the quality degraded so fast it was actually surprising. The picture became fuzzy and almost pixilated. Even with all the indoor lights on, the picture quality was not acceptable. I would compare the indoor, low light, quality to something you saw on first generation camcorders. The same quality was experienced outside when the sun was setting. The camcorder really needs a bright area to function. The idea of hard drive recording is right on the money, but wait until they improve the quality/technology. I returned this camera and purchased another one rated much higher (even in low light) for hundreds less. Save your money and purchase another type or wait for the second or third generation Hard Drive camcorder. And yes the 1hr battery is a waste on a 10hr camera.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Ehhh I don't know about this one...
by Ovadramaticqt on January 24, 2006
Pros: light-weight, nice special effects, nice menu
Cons: grainy picture, doesn't adjust to dark areas well
Summary: Well I am a high-school student and was hoping to make some documentaries with this camera. I am very disappointed with the results.
In my opinion, it has horrible picture ...Summary: Well I am a high-school student and was hoping to make some documentaries with this camera. I am very disappointed with the results.
In my opinion, it has horrible picture quality compared to some cameras that are half the price!
Yes it is very handy and I love the easy to figure out menu, but the pro's aren't enough to cover the negitive aspects of this camera.
Uploading the videos was a nightmare for me!!
I would return it if I could =\2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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easy to handle, small... and weak in low light
by Oing on November 16, 2005
Pros: HARDDRIVE !!!, small compact and cute, ease of use
Cons: low picture quality, very bad in low light areas,
Summary: OMG it is so small and cute, and comes with a built in hard drive. easy to handle cause I have small hands. files are saved as something called mod (*....
Summary: OMG it is so small and cute, and comes with a built in hard drive. easy to handle cause I have small hands. files are saved as something called mod (*.mod) media player didn't work, but using another player I was able to watch the videos.
Auto mode is okay, but works a bit better if you adjust it manually. Okay quality (not great) in bright areas, and quality goes down as it gets darker. Never tried takiing pictures with it, only videos.
Doesn't work so well in dark areas. built in light is very intrusive, blinds the target youre trying to record in dark areas. (dark area I took videos in was at a bar) Battery life was okay cause I don't take pictures for long period of time, used like 20 minutes while we were hanging out, but can be a problem if you need it for more then an hour worth of footage.
Had to return it, Although I love this compact camcorder, for its physical attributes, I still needed something that would work some what decent in darker areas.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Picture Quality and Recording
by Bazzle49 on November 9, 2005
Pros: Can edit and take clips with software provided
Cons: Zoom Button a bit iffy and control button difficult to use with large fingers
Summary: An excellent piece of equipment, compact and easy to use. However I would like to see a larger battery supplied than the one hour battery provided(costing £55 to replace) ...
Summary: An excellent piece of equipment, compact and easy to use. However I would like to see a larger battery supplied than the one hour battery provided(costing £55 to replace) The replacement batteries are 2Hr 10 mins at £75, and the larger 5hr.40 at a whopping £95 considering 25 hours of continuous recording is possible with this camera, a 1 hour battery is not enough, unless you have a mains supply close by
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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One of the worst Camcorder
by Golgapa on June 27, 2009
Pros: A 3Mega pixel mobile phone is better than this Camcorder.
Cons: -Very bad for video recording and photos as well
Summary: I bought it two years ago from Argos in London. There was no return policy on this camcorder. I became bit suspicious that something might be wrong with camcorder but ...
Summary: I bought it two years ago from Argos in London. There was no return policy on this camcorder. I became bit suspicious that something might be wrong with camcorder but then I took a chance, as my opinion about JVC products was good, but it changed when I bought this camcorder. I waisted my £325 on this **** product. This is one of the worst camcorder. It ruined my very good moments when I used it for recording. The picture quality is very very bad. If you keep it still then its little bit ok but if you move it even very slowly to record a moving object then it drags the picture.
For Indoor recording its worst. I tried all the settings but its always the same. I took some still photos to check, the photos quality is worst. I would say a 2mega pixel mobile phone will be better than this camcorder. JVC products are out of my life forever. Will never buy JVC products again.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good but not great
by bnoguchi on April 19, 2006
Pros: No more tapes, Lightweight, Easy and fast uploads, clean audio
Cons: Low light video quality, sluggish auto-focus, .mov format
Summary: Replaced a cantankerous DV recorder with this one - fed up with lost footage and drawers full of unlabled tapes. It really could have been my ideal camcorder were it ...
Summary: Replaced a cantankerous DV recorder with this one - fed up with lost footage and drawers full of unlabled tapes. It really could have been my ideal camcorder were it not for its low-light/indoor performance. You have to play with it to get the video quality you want - the key is using the manual white balance, turning on every possible light in a room and NEVER turning on the "gain-up" feature. The built-in light is virtually worthless, which, knowing that, at least saves on the power consumption. The zoom feature is great, but the auto-focus seems kind of "less zippy" under certain conditions.
I know that all of the above sounds like a total pan, but I love how quick it is to upload footage and can't tell you how great it is not to have any mechanical "whirr" in the audio - this didn't used to bother me much until I had footage from this camera to compare. I've also been pleased that the .mov format can be edited without major issue in Pinnacle Studio 10.5 (the editing software that comes with the camera wasn't so robust, so I was relieved.) I know that older versions of Studio as well as Ulead won't recognize the format, which may be an issue for some people.
Basically, it's not for anyone with real DV film-making aspirations, but seems perfectly suited to creation of little home movies that can be burned to DVD. You just have to be prepared to tinker and experiment a bit with the settings.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Entry level camera at a mid-range price
by backlashnz on January 2, 2006
Pros: hdd & SD,remote,TV out,impressive software package
Cons: Still quality is disgusting,video is slightly less appalling
Summary: Before buying this camera online,i researched both US and Canada JVC web specifications,both specifically state 3 still image resolutions,however this camera only supports 640X480 and images are ...
Summary: Before buying this camera online,i researched both US and Canada JVC web specifications,both specifically state 3 still image resolutions,however this camera only supports 640X480 and images are blurry and pixelated,even at highest quality with a tripod and additional lighting,the video quality is marginally better than a web cam,i found the on board LED to cause more problems than it fixed,auto focus and exposure were slow to adjust and the battery provided only 45 mins footage on a fresh charge.
However the nifty remote and TV out were a great feature and the bundled software is excellent.
As a matter of courtesy i contacted JVC prior to writing this review to question the still resolution discrepancy and was informed that the specification was generic to all everio series,i responded that all other features were specific to each model and was told that JVC reserves the right to change specifications without updating web information.1 month later still waiting for the return phone call that was supposed to take 2 business days and both sites are still listing incorrect specifications.
I think i'll use this as a portable storage device and to play movies in the car for the kids,thats where its performance lives up to the price.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Camcorder small size
by Spectral_Snake on March 5, 2008
Pros: Great Video quality and hours of video
Cons: terrible battery life
Summary: The jvc gz-mg20 is a great little camcorder and has great video quality but lacks battery life the battery is supposed to last 40 minutes and only lasts realistically 15 ...
Summary: The jvc gz-mg20 is a great little camcorder and has great video quality but lacks battery life the battery is supposed to last 40 minutes and only lasts realistically 15 or 20 minutes if this where better i would have given it a 9 but the battery life is just terrible because the lcd screen eats it up.
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Great once you learn how to adjust the settings
by mitchum100 on August 1, 2007
Pros: Small, hardy, decent quality, easy to transfer to dvd/vcr recorder
Cons: Hassle to make dvds with computer,indoor filming not too good
Summary: I've had this for about a year. The picture is grainy indoors, but that's only with the default setting. You need to change the setting so it'll ...
Summary: I've had this for about a year. The picture is grainy indoors, but that's only with the default setting. You need to change the setting so it'll let in more more light--the downside is that quick movement leaves streaks. Outdoor shooting in the highest quality setting makes pretty darn good movies. Much better than our last camcorder.
The CNET review is wrong about needing a computer or a stand-alone burning device. We usually use the computer (takes a while), but occasionally we just plug it into the dvd recorder or vcr and record it in real time.
I'm rating it 8 out of 10.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: JVC
- Part number: GZ-MG20
- Description: Don't tape it. Don't worry about reloading discs either, because the palm sized GZ-MG20 records over 24 hours of video on its high-capacity 20 GB hard disk drive. So when you are on the go, vacationing or at a family event, pack your lightweight Everio and go. There are four recording modes allows you to record the way you want. The ULTRA mode will record over 4.5 hours of almost DVD movie quality. The FINE mode will record at DVD camcorder quality for over 7 hours. Either way, the high quality MPEG-2 recordings are the same format used as a DVD. There will be no quality loss when burning to DVD. Plus, no cassettes or discs to lose. Every Everio camcorder is designed to simplify your life. The built-in hard disk drive allows you to easily delete unwanted scenes and rearrange your footage even on the go. This Everio's multi-connectivity allows you to get connected and share all your memories. Your own portable video scrapbook - from JVC. Long recording time and easy to use features in a palm sized hard disk drive solution.
General
- Product Type Camcorder
- Digital Zoom 800 x
- Effective Sensor Resolution 6.8 megapixels
- Total Pixels 8.0 megapixels
- Progressive scan Yes
- Optical Sensor Size 1/6"
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Analog Video Format NTSC, PAL
- Digital Video Format MPEG-2
- Special Effects Sepia, Strobe, Monotone, Classic Film
- Image Stabilizer Electronic
- Digital Scene Transition Door wipe, Slide wipe, Black fader, Corner wipe, Scroll wipe, White fader, Window wipe, Shutter wipe, Black & white fader
- Min Shutter Speed 1/2 sec
- Max Shutter Speed 1/4000 sec
- Camcorder Slow Shutter Modes 1/2 sec
- Shooting Modes Digital photo mode
- Shooting Programs Snow, Spotlight, Sports mode, Twilight mode
- White Balance Custom, Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Fine, Cloudy, Halogen
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Camera Flash None
Main Features
- Color Support Color
- Still Image Format JPEG
- Remote Control Remote control - Infrared
- TV Tuner None
Memory / Storage
- Digital Storage Media Hard disk drive - Built-in - 20 GB
- Image Storage Fine JPEG 640 x 480 : 770 - With 128MB card, Standard JPEG 640 x 480 : 1100 - With 128MB card
- Media Type Hard disk drive
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 2.2 mm - 50 mm - F/1.8-3.2
- Focal Length 2.2 mm - 50 mm
- Lens Aperture F/1.8-3.2
- Optical Zoom 25 x
- Lens system type Zoom lens
- Min focal length 2.2 mm
- Max focal length 50 mm
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Filter Size 27 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 2.2 - 55 mm
- Focus Adjustment Manual, Automatic
- Macro Focus Range 60 cm (Tele-macro)
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 2 sec, 10 sec
- Digital Still Camera Function Yes
- Built-in Light Yes
- Additional Features DPOF support, Direct print, Date/time stamp, Built-in speaker, PictBridge support, USB 2.0 compatibility, Backlight compensation, Digital image rotation, Digital noise reduction
- Remote control Remote control - Infrared
- Software Cyberlink PowerDVD, Drivers & Utilities, CyberLink PowerDirector, CyberLink PowerProducer, Pixela Capty MPEG Edit EX, JVC Digital Photo Navigator
- Included Accessories Lens cap, Camcorder shoulder strap
Viewfinder
- Viewfinder Type None
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
- Microphone Features Wind noise reduction
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x S-Video output, 1 x DC power input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Audio Input
- Audio input type Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
- Microphone Operation Mode Stereo
- Microphone Technology Electret condenser
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows ME, MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, Apple Mac OS X 10.2.8, Apple Mac OS X 10.3.1 - 10.3.9
- Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1, 1 x USB cable, A/V cable
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
- Battery type - Lithium ion
Battery
- Supported Battery JVC BN-VF707U
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 700 mAh ( Included )
Viewfinder / Display
- Display Form Factor Rotating
- Display Format 112,000 pixels
- Viewfinder Color Support Color
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 32 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
Physical Characteristics
- Width 2.6 in
- Depth 4.3 in
- Height 2.8 in
- Weight 0.7 lbs
Manufacturer info
- JVC
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse JVC products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.jvc.com/
- Address:
1700 Valley Rd.
Wayne, NJ 07470 - Phone: 800-526-5308
