It has many features. Zoom is incredibly good, anti-shake filter works nicely, and battery life is pretty nice. It also has a tripod mount, and the video looks nice when mounted on it. BUT. The Aspect ratio is not 16:9, it is 3:2. Which you have to stretch to 16:9. Therefore, when you edit the video it will look slightly funny. The codec is by far the wierdest I have come across. An H.264 AVI crossover of some sort. It is called SEDG. Very wierd. The batteries (at the time we bought them) were 75.99 and the camcorder fried through them once every month. Our included battery is fried. We purchased an energizer brand one and it's starting to burn out too. We've had the energizer one for a year or two, I recently found this camcorder sitting around on our old book shelf in a protective bag. Therefore, my father let me have it. All in all, it keeps me coming back. The frame rate is good, great for long distance zooming on a tripod mount, and if you want to capture your friends sledding (which I have done), go to a race track, or just watch your kids grow up, this may be the camcorder for you. But ONLY if you are capable of buying multiple batteries and SD Cards. I reccomend a Class 4 or 6 SD Card 2gb or higher. Performance I love the zoom, and the anti-shake works perfectly unless zoomed in all the way; but that's normal. Once you install the awkward codec, the video looks pretty crisp and clear. The videos are quite large in file size, therefore as a suggestion, I think you should get a seperate hard drive or create a partition for the video files of 20gb or higher. Battery Life The length of battery per charge is great, just how long it lasts in general. Like you have to go through 2-5 of them throughout the life on the camcorder. Durability If you move the camcorder a lot, the battery loses connection the camcorder. And you have to take out the battery and put it in again. And the file you recorded when it happened will become corrupted. I've dropped it once on cement, from about 2 feet. After picking it up, i realized there was a scratch on the plastic. But that was it, not that I reccomend you drop it. Don't, it WILL break. I just got lucky. Ease of Use Super easy to use. I have a youtube account, and I record videos and upload them. It says youtube ready, and youtube uses an h.264 codec. No conversion from youtube is needed. Just upload it and they won't convert it. Despite it being a standard defenition camcorder, the footage still looks great on youtube. Design The screen flips over to show your friends, and plays video for them. The screen looks very nice. It looks fashionable (yes, a guy wrote this) and is sold in two colors, red and black.

TheTeenageGeek

Saint Paul, MN

When I first purchased the Samsung SC-MX20 over competitors like the flip, I thought I was a step or two ahead of the curb. While I still feel that way, it is to a much lesser extent. Despite being labeled a YouTube camera, this camcorder does not feature the 1,2,3 uploads that other models offer and it does not contain any real built-in editing capabilites (it will record with some special effects such as art outling, sepia, etc.). After you record a video, you are going to have to import it into your PC and upload. With the first PC I used this camcorder with, I had to use video conversion software to convert the MP4 files the camera records to an editable format. This has not been an issue since editing software caught up with digital camcorder technology. But older computers incapable of running these new programs will run into issues. The camera does shoot good video if you are in a well-lit room without a confluence of similar colors. In low light situations it is grainy, really grainy. The audio is not exception and there is no built in microphone plug-in jack. Good points include the swivel display for checking out videos you are shooting of yourself. Also handy is the 34x optical zoom. Caution though, even the automatic stabilizer will not help you if you zoom into this level without a tripod.

miscmayzee

East Dubuque, IL

I am a stay at home mom of 2 young children.  I had been using my digital camera to snap quick video clips when the kids do something adorable that I want to cherish!  I decided for Mother's Day a couple years ago that I wanted an easy-to-use digital camcorder so that I could capture longer clips and not be confined to the allotment of my digital camera.  My requirements were that it be as easy to use as my digital camera, and that it not be too expensive.  I found both in this camera.   It is extremely simple and straight forward to use from the get go. I am very happy with the quality of the video. I would recomend it to anyone who needs a digital camcorder for every day use. I can just pick it up, flip it open and be recording in a matter of seconds, which is what I used to do with my other camera.  Now I am not confined to 30 second clips and can record much higher quality videos.  It is small enough to take anywhere without weighing you down, it fits right in a purse, or in a camera bag with your other camera.  

twixychick

Niceville, FL

This is the very first camcorder I own and I am quite satisfied with it. In terms of size, it is not very compact compared to other camcorders on market. However, I have big hands and thus I don't mind about the size (its size actually makes things easier for me). It has 34x zoom -- perfect for auditorium events although the image can be very shaky when you zoom to the max. The camcorder provides a grip that can be turned in different angles so that you can hold the camcorder in different ways. It also comes with a battery that last about two hours on one charge. There is a sticker on the camcorder that claims easy upload to YouTube (I have yet to try this feature). The negatives about this camcorder are that the widescreen mode doesn't work. When I put it on widescreen, everything stretches. People said this could be a problem when uploading videos to YouTube. In addition, the camcorder cannot take still pictures. Overall, I think it is a pretty good camcorder for beginners like me.

SylviaChow

Endwell, NY