So you and the family are on the dream vacation. The day is becoming a bit of a marathon with so much to see and do and so much to record with your video camera. You are starting to run out of tapes with only one left and much more of the day ahead of you. Even worse, the battery light is starting to beep on-screen. The hot humid weather is also doing its part to screw with your attitude. You are tired, sweaty and more than a little sick and tired of carrying this video camera. You think to yourself, "Why can't they make them smaller?".



All these wishes that you have can be granted with the JVC Mini Digital Camera. To start with the camera doesn't use tapes so it is much smaller and lighter than most digital camcorders. Without the tapes and with a rather smallish 1.8 inch LCD/TFT color monitor, the JVC Mini Digital Camera is one of the lightest, smallest camcorders you can buy. Sleek looking with its aluminum finish with the black plastic body molding, the JVC Mini Digital Camera has a rather unique feature because all the controls are placed at the back of the camera. Combine the compactness with the video light, flash and 10X zoom with 40X digital zoom and no detail will be missed.

The camera uses Li-ion batteries. Lithium-ion batteries, pound for pound offer the best energy of any consumer electronics battery. It has no memory effect and has a slower rate of power loss when not in use. Light, powerful and durable, it is the most popular battery models available for portable electronics.

Although the JVC Mini Digital Camera doesn't supply MicroDrive or SD cards, it would be a good idea to get some for the camera. That way you can utilize the JPG still images. The camera is a "point and shoot" mini digital video camera suitable for first time users or casual hobbyists.

All of the functions of the JVC Mini Digital Camera are located at a menu button at the back of the camera. The digital zoom at 40X is powerful enough however you can get more with 200X rations. Without a tape system the camera isn't married to just one format. Opposed to tape formats, there are many more digital features. The still images range from Fine to Standard. With the standard setting the camera offers JPEG resolutions of SXGA (1280x960), XGA (1024 x 768) or VGA (640x480). Of course the resulting photos can be stored on many different mediums. The voice recording feature records using 256 kbps right up to 1536 kbps. Some models have webcam capabilities while a night feature called Night Alive is available for shooting in extreme low light.

Positive reviews pour in from users that extol the ease and likeability of the product. This camera is all a "point and shoot" camera should be. For these reasons, I believe you should check out the JVC Mini Digital Camera when you go shopping for a video camera.