Sony Handycam DCR-DVD105

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 16 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 8 stars

  Awesome baby camera

  by thon on April 13, 2006

  Pros: editability, size, simplicity of use (wife friendly)

  Cons: no cable connection to computer, no editing software

  Summary: I got this camera for our baby thats due in July to send video back to the in-laws out of state. I've been using it for the past week ...

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  Summary: I got this camera for our baby thats due in July to send video back to the in-laws out of state. I've been using it for the past week and am VERY pleased with it. The biggest issue I have with it is that it doesn't have a firewire or usb port to upload video to the computer (you have to use the dvd in a dvd drive to get it on the computer).
  
  Also, it does not include any software (except nero for burning discs) to edit anything.
  
  On to the good, the zoom, image stability and touch screen are incredible. The camera is really easy to use even though its very feature rich. My wife, who is not the most technical person, can take videos with no trouble. I do wish the camera included a dock like the old mini-dv models do, but this is a fairly inexpensive DVD cam (479 is what i paid).
  
  Overall its a great cam, and im very very pleased with it.

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  10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Great Recording, Lousy Transfer

  by VARguy on August 15, 2006

  Pros: Easy Recording & Playback

  Cons: Difficult Video Transfer

  Summary: This Handycam has great video and 5.1 Dobly sound recording. It's easy to finalize the mini DVD and pop it right into a DVD player and watch it. ...

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  Summary: This Handycam has great video and 5.1 Dobly sound recording. It's easy to finalize the mini DVD and pop it right into a DVD player and watch it. The only nightmare is finding a program that will give you the ability to transfer and edit your videos. You can use Roxio Easy CD Creator 7+ or Adobe Premier Elements... but neither of these work very well with the DCR-DVD105. What's sick is that Sony packs really neat Nero recording and editing software in the box but you can't use it! If you're lucky enough to read this before buying it and you plan on doing some amateur video editing, you should defintely opt for the higher DCR models that have direct firewire/USB video transfer from the Handycam to your PC. Hope this helps!

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  8 out of 8 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Good starter camcorder, awfu transfer...

  by bosuroka on November 4, 2006

  Pros: Easy to use, affordable, and compact.

  Cons: If you are looking to edit your movie in a computer, forget about it!

  Summary: We bought this camcorder based on value vs. price, and mostly we are very satisfied with its features given the affordability. However, when we tried to transfer the video clips ...

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  Summary: We bought this camcorder based on value vs. price, and mostly we are very satisfied with its features given the affordability. However, when we tried to transfer the video clips of our new born to our home computer, we found this particular model is not suitable for such task. So if you are looking to edit your video clips, consider other models and save yourself a lot of frustrations.

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  3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  Only uses Sony INfoLithium batteries

  by hawleyk on May 3, 2006

  Pros: Easy to use

  Cons: Limited on types of batteries to use

  Summary: I bought this camcorder online thru AAFES and love it,except the extra battery I bought thru Lenmar , which is a widely used aftermarket battery for camcorders. I ordered and ...

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  Summary: I bought this camcorder online thru AAFES and love it,except the extra battery I bought thru Lenmar , which is a widely used aftermarket battery for camcorders. I ordered and bought the exact battery that Lenmar said was to be used with this camcorder and after charging it up and trying to use it the Camcorder will turn on, say Use Sony InfoLithium battery onthe screen and then shut down again. I went to the store and tried it on two other sony camcorders that were a different one and the Lenmar will not work if it is a Sony InfoLitium battery in the camcorder.

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  4 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 4 stars

  Transfer issues - I sent the camera back

  by cstranc on April 26, 2007

  Pros: Inexpensive

  Cons: Could not get to edit the video.

  Summary: I went through a lot of pain with this camera. There is no fire wire or USB connection to the PC so you drop the Mini-Disk in place. Sony provides ...

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  Summary: I went through a lot of pain with this camera. There is no fire wire or USB connection to the PC so you drop the Mini-Disk in place. Sony provides Nero Express, but it says you need to buy new converter$$. Even then that's not editing, it's just making a DVD disk.
  
  I tried the top line version of Roxio and Pinnacle software and they would not read the disk. Talking to their support was a waste of time. They all said "use a third party converter" but none would recommend one. so I tried them and the software would refuse to read the output files although I could use Media Player no problem.
  
  In the end I had Sony, Roxio, and Pinnacle all say they were sorry and it was not their problem.
  
  I did get a 3rd party converter to work with Roxio, but Roxio editing was terrible and crashed.
  
  I sent the camera back and got one with a USB connection to by-pass the disk format issue.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Excellent, low-cost videos. Not many extras though.

  by cjgoehring on May 31, 2006

  Pros: Sharp videos, easy to use, night-shot feature is awesome!

  Cons: Not effective when it comes to doing anything other than viewing the DVD's.

  Summary: I bought this camera from a retailer after doing my homework on the net. The first day I had it, it spent the entire day tucked in an on-board soft ...

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  Summary: I bought this camera from a retailer after doing my homework on the net. The first day I had it, it spent the entire day tucked in an on-board soft pack on the back of a four-wheeler ATV. It took the punishment of the bumpy roads, trails, and dust like a champ.
  
  The videos were clear and vibrant. One shot I took involved zooming in on a bunch of bear cubs in a cave in broad daylight. Once the zoom focused in on the bears in the complete dark of the cave, you could see them as if it were daylight in the cave. Awesome!
  
  My one complaint is that once I got home and tried to print the still shots I had taken, there was absolutely no way my computer would even recognize the disk. In other words, the camera is only good for taking/viewing great videos.
  
  My solution was to return the camera to the store and now I've ordered a Sony DVD305 on the net (which turned out to be the same price I had paid for a DVD105 at the retailer!)
  
  Hopefully, the 305, with it's SD card slot and USB connector will allow me to print still photos from my computer with ease.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Good camcorder

  by MorganDVM on December 18, 2006

  Pros: Easy to use, great quality. Nice to immediately replay without rewinding.

  Cons: Can't put the small disks into an Apple computer due to the CD slot.

  Summary: DVD camcorders are not designed to edit movies later, but there's a way around it. Find the VOB files in the folder and copy them to your computer. Change ...

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  Summary: DVD camcorders are not designed to edit movies later, but there's a way around it. Find the VOB files in the folder and copy them to your computer. Change the end of the name to .mpeg4. Then you can open that file in a video editing program.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  not easy to make movie from dvd's

  by ticklemekids on April 14, 2006

  Pros: mini dvd's play directly on most players

  Cons: without firewire port I'm haven't figured out how to edit to make home movie

  Summary: cd's hard to transfer to movie maker program

  Summary: cd's hard to transfer to movie maker program

  1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  great to handle

  by angiemaeghan on January 11, 2008

  Pros: small lite wieght, easy to use

  Cons: no usb cable, seperate

  Summary: nice little camera, very easy to work. Nice videos and pictures

  Summary: nice little camera, very easy to work. Nice videos and pictures

• 2 stars

  Don't buy a sony

  by maxpowerjunior on December 27, 2007

  Pros: It worked for a while

  Cons: Lasted about a year

  Summary: I had a similar problem to 2 other reviewers on this site. My Sony DVD camcorder worked for just over a year. I paid about $500 for it. It was ...

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  Summary: I had a similar problem to 2 other reviewers on this site. My Sony DVD camcorder worked for just over a year. I paid about $500 for it. It was never abused or misused in any way. Suddenly I got a number of error messages about the disc door being open when it wasn’t and lost videos of my son’s birthday, Christmas, etc. In contacting Sony they essentially told me to take it to a repair shop. As for recovering the data lost they were “Proud to offer me” a 10% discount at a data recovery business in San Francisco. This is Sony Canada. Check other sites. This problem is common, and so is Sony’s response. Think about it before you ever buy a Sony.
  
  http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/camcorders/sony-dcr-dvd105_product-review.html?reviewId=8825091
  http://www.digitalcamera-hq.com/camcorders/sony-dcr-dvd105_product-review.html?reviewId=8828100
  http://www.fixya.com/support/t288501-lost_image_dvd_sony_handycam_dcr_dvd_105
  http://www.fixya.com/support/t310150-disc_trouble
  http://www.fixya.com/support/t141467-cd_tray_door_keeps_opening

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