Reviews for Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.5" LCD - CCD20x Optical Zoom - 990x Digital Zoom - Firewire - MPN: DCRTRV480 
By member:
sandeepk1999
- Oct 3, 2005
Excellent!Strengths: Greatest strength is Playback analog cassettes, good movie quality, comes with software & overall cheaper than miniDV version with same specifications Weakness: Uses Hi8/Digital8 cassette which is a Sony proprietary I had some Hi8 cassettes which i needed to convert and I found this one is best suited for a better price. This also supports online streaming, so can be used as a webcam , stream videos and convert to movies. Excellent one! 100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
mfhollander
- Dec 28, 2005
A few missing partsStrengths: USB interface, FireWire interface, ability to transcode analog tapes into digital Weakness: No LAN-C connector for Sony Tripod Loads from the bottom - must remove from tripod before reloading Relatively small screen I'm replacing a camcorder that I dropped which had a 3.5" screen, and I'm unable to find a good Digital8 with a screen this large. It's impossible to find one that loads from the top - you have to take the camcorder off the tripod to load a fresh tape. 83% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
spkan01
- May 21, 2005
Sony Handycam Digital Camcorder - 2.5" LCD - CCDStrengths: price, look-- touch screen.. focus, can use many types of media and that media is kinda cheap. Weakness: heavy, color is not good... should have cover for screen protection. charger is too big and ought to make it smaller. used this for a party and works fine_ have cool focus. You will like it. charger is too big and ought to make it smaller. 79% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
By member:
savagelovewinds
- May 12, 2007
Great Cam for great priceStrengths: It has a lot of great features on it. I love the touch screen that it has and the remote is great for when I travel alone and want to record myself. Weakness: It is a bit heavy. I have had this cam for about a month. So far I like what I see. This is the first cam that I have bought since my Sharp VHS on was stolen. I am still playing with all the features. It also has a feature for taking digital pictures that require a memory stick which I love and I don't have to pull out my digital camera. Also it tapes great in low light. Although I wanted something a little lighter in weight, I could not pass up the price. I got it at Meijer after it went on clearance for $229, then they had an extra 40% off clearance and if you use the store credit card you could get an extra 20%. Plus I work there and get an additinal 10%. So I got a great cam for like $110!! Hard to beat!! Did you find it helpful or unhelpful? Top
testseek.com - Dec 8, 2008
Sony DCR-TRV480
TestSeek.com has collected 5 expert reviews for Sony DCR-TRV480 and the average expert rating is 59 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions. Top
easycamcorders.com - Sep 7, 2005
Quick Reviews Camcorder : Sony DCR-TRV480
The Sony DCR-TRV480 has the key feature that makes a Digital8 camcorder at least something of a viable purchase: backwards compatibility. Were it not for this feature, which allows you to view your old 8mm and Hi8 tapes, the Digital8 camcorder would be one with the dinosaurs. This is also the feature that separates it from the virtual throwaway little sister model, the DCR-TRV280. Top
CamcorderInfo - Sep 2, 2005
Sony DCR-TRV480 Camcorder Review
Sony introduced its high-end Digital8 camcorder this year at CES. Other than a new color scheme and memory mode, the DCR-TRV480 has not evolved much from last year’s DCR-TRV460. The camcorder still has the same 20x optical zoom lens with 290K effective pixels in its arsenal, though its digital still capability, and backward compatibility, are welcoming and innovative features for this medium.... TopSponsored Links
 
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Great camcorder for the price
Strengths: Optical zoom 20 Plays 8mm and Hi8 tapes Lots of features
Weakness: Audio quality not that great, but acceptable
After much research about digital camcorders, I made the decision to go with the Sony DCR-TRV 480 for several reasons. It's predecessors had been rated a CR Best Buy in Consumer Reports, many reviews from both experts and consumers had rated it highly, and it had all of the features I was looking for in a camcorder. In addition, I have older 8mm tapes (my 10 year old Sony stopped working recently), and I wanted to be able to view and transfer them.
The 480 is a quality camcorder at a very reasonable price. I purchased it at Sears because they not only price matched it for $332.99, but also took 15 percent of the price difference off, making the camcorder about $325.
It has many more features than I was familiar with, but studying the manual is very helpful. You can also just push a button to make it an "easycam". The optical zoom of 20 is great and the picture quality is very good. In other reviews, the picture quality was rated just about as good as a mini dv camcorder. It's fun playing around with the features, and I also like the ability to connect to the computer. I burned a video CD using USB streaming, and it came out quite good. I don't have the IEEE link for my computer, but plan to buy one, as the USB streaming is rather slow, but that's to be expected.
It will take some experimenting to see what settings to use for taping, but it's fun to learn the different settings.
The only weakness I've seen so far is that the audio quality is not that great, but still it's quite acceptable. I also recommend that while installing the "Picture Perfect" software that comes with it, be sure to read the instructions thoroughly. When I did that, I didn't have any trouble with the hardware installation of the camcorder to the USB port on my computer.
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