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 - poor packagingGreat budget camcorder! For the price you get what u pay for and this is worth every penny. It could have more features but then it would cost more. The only problem i have is the way it was packaged by amazon, it wasn't even bubble wrapped! Instead it was lined on just three sides with what i can only describe as a three pocket airbag of which one of the pockets was busted when it arrived. I've seen far lesser known not to mention financially less resourceful internet vendors package their electronic products with more care than this. Had i known about the packaging procedures i would have never ordered it from here. Rating:  - A downgrade from the GS300Not only is the physical appearance of this model ugly, it is a complete downgrade. Panasonic takes off one of the most important features on the PV GS320 model,a MICROPHONE JACK! I currently own a 300 model and needed another camera to shoot different angels at the same time, since the 300 is discontinued I purchased the so called upgraded model. Now the only available model with MIC jack is the VDR 310, and I have heard DVD is quality on Camcorders is not what it should be. If you do any video prodcution and need to hook up your camera to a MIC, this camera is not for you. Rating: - Poor low lighting...My wife and I purchased this item to film our family events over the coming years. After a lot of research I narrowed it down to this and the Sony DCR-HC96 (in fact several online reviews compared these two as well). It came down to price, which was better at Circuit City. Unfortunatly I will be paying a 15% restocking fee now as we have decided to return it and go with the Sony. The Panasonic, I feel, is a really good camera. The colors are bright and crisp...during the day. However we felt that most of the use would be during the evening hours indoors. With all three lamps turned on in our living room, "Auto" mode showed faint images and shadows when not pointed close to a light source. After several adjustments in "manual" mode we managed to get a decently lit picture on the viewfinder (...the picture will not show up as bright on your tv). Poor lighting is a big problem with Digital Camcorders, so I was actually somewhat content with this picture quality. Where this camcorder falls short IMO is the lack of an onboard lightsource. It has a "cold shoe" on the top where you can add your own light. However it will have to run on it's own batteries since it's not powered by the camera (also the only lights I have found so far are on ebay). Knowing that this is a problem with every brand of camcorder, I simply don't understand why companies insist on not putting better, if any, light sources on their equipment. Oh well...at least the Sony has a "hot shoe" to add a light source if needed. Overall I think that this is a VERY nice camcorder...if you plan on staying in well lit areas. Just my two pennies worth :) Rating: - Some unnecesary "savings"1)Good things Image quality Great Zoom with IS Decent pictures for a camcorder Automatic turn off when you put 90° down 2) Panasonic Savings (things to improve) Plastic lens cap No SD Card inlcuded No microphone jack No blue light in the jostick No built in flash It is not un upgrade for the PV GS 300. The image quality with the 3 CCD is great but "Panasonic savings" in such things...not a very smart move. HD camcorders (Sony or Panasonic) with the same image quality cost addtional $400. Buy if you have no time to wait that the HD Camcorders prices decreases o try to get a PV GS 300... Rating:  - Closest Camcorder to HD quality!I have been in the market for a HD camera at the best price. I looked into the canon HV-10 which is priced at 1000 dollars which is HD quality. I compared this camera as a baseline. Online I read about the Panasonic PV-GS320 which is the upgraded model of the GS300 released early 2006. This camera has 3CCD , what does that mean? each ccd is a processing chip that allows the image to display at it's best. How do you test this? Go to your local Best Buy or Compusa where they have this camera. On the 1 CCD camera zoom in at 25-30X digital zoom. You will start to see blurry. Do the same with the GX320 you will see much clearer and crisp image. You will notice the difference right away.
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