I have found this camcorder takes fantastic video as long as you set the indoor / outdoor button properly.
Negatives I have read about and agree with:
1) It is a little slow to focus at times
2) Still pictures don't look good
3) Records in .MOD format so editing and playback of files stored on a computer can be extremely problematic. I agree the included software for this is not very sophisticated and not user friendly. I found it an unacceptable long term solution.
HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME SOLUTIONS THAT SOLVE THE VIDEO EDITING PROBLEM = Adobe Premiere ($400-$600 I believe)and Pinnacle Studio (multiple versions) support the .MOD format (format support listed on both websites). I use Pinnacle studio "plus" version 11 which I found on sale for $99. It flawlessly recognizes, plays, and edits video from this camcorder and is a much more powerful program the Microsoft Movie Maker which I was previously using. With this software I love the camcorder. Without this software, moving, playing and editing files on anything other than the camcorder was a nightmare.
So, I would rate this 5 stars except for the negatives above. Without the Pinnacle software I agree w/ the 1-2 start rating a few have given.
