Capture Those Memories Without the Mess of Tapes: JVC Everio Review & Giveaway

May 11, 2009 By Toni

Summer sports, vacations, BlogHer…so many things going on this summer season. Lots of memories to have and treasure forever. JVC’s Everio GZ-MG680 is the perfect companion to capture all those memories with.

As a mom of children, I am always wanting to make sure to capture that next game or that trip to the park. I do however hate messing with tapes and JVC has given me the answer I was looking for.

The Everio GZ-MG680 is a hard disk camcorder, that has a 120GB internal memory with up to 150 hours of recording time. It has plenty of space to hold all the memories without having the hassle of tapes. I for one hate having to spend the money to buy tapes and if I don’t I have to clear the tapes just so I can record that next memory. Not quite what I want. With this hard disk camcorder you can also send the video you record straight to a DVD burner and have your DVD in just a few minutes, or upload to your PC right away.

Let me tell you about some of the features of the Everio GZ-MG680:

-It has a 40x Dynamic Zoom Lens, Konica Minolta 35x optical Lens and 800x digital so you are sure to be able to capture that perfect play no matter where in the stands you are sitting.
-With 120 GB Internal Hard Disk Drive it holds as much as my MacBook does…that says something right there.
-Micro SD card slot so you can add even more storage to the already large hard disk.
-Up to 9999 digital stills at the highest quality!
-New Laser Touch Operation so it’s as simple as sliding your finger or barely touching the button in the functions.
-Auto Power ON/Off & Auto Lens Cover, which is a big thing for me, because with past camcorders I always forget to close the lens, no more of that for me.
-Remote Control so you can record yourself from a distance or so you can control the playback when reviewing your movies.
-Multi-Language â€“ English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean.
-One touch export(Windows), one touch upload to YouTube (windows), import to iTunes or iMovie option.
*Please note the software that comes with it is not compatible with Mac’s however the upload process works fine with a Mac as that is what I have, you just upload to your iMovie.

Here is a little 4 minute video so you can see the difference in the qualities. I would like to say before you watch, that when this is played on my PC or my TV the quality is near perfect no matter which you use, the difference is the detail in each quality. The uploaded video is nowhere near the quality that is seen on my PC or TV but I wanted to give you an idea somewhat of the difference:

JVC Video Review from Toni Patton on Vimeo.

Recording times are as follows:
~Economy has 150 hours recording time. It is the least of all the qualities available, however it still has a decent quality of video.
~ Normal had 56 hours 20 minutes of record time. It is the step up from Economy.
~ Fine has 42 hours and 40 minutes of record time. It is in second place as far as quality is concerned.
~ Ultra fine has the least amout of record time and the best quality. However at 28 hours and 40 minutes there is still a ton of time to record those memories with.

The Everio GZ-MG680 has so many features that I feel like I can’t get them all into one post but I do have a few more things I want to share about it. One of the things that I really loved was being able to take a snapshot while in the middle of recording a video. Simply hold down the snapshot button halfway while recording to snap a photo. A video with a camera that will snap shots while recording…GENIUS. You can also switch to just camera mode to snap up to 9999 pictures. You can also set the timer so you can take family photos with the camera setting.

Back to the video setting, two last features I want to point out are the wind cut and the register event features. With the wind cut (which I did not use in the above video) you can turn it on and it will help to “mask” the wind in your video. Nothing is more annoying than getting the perfect clip outside of your kids singing and then when you go back to watch all you hear is wind. Props to JVC for making this less of a problem. The register event setting basically puts your events into categories such as vacation, sports, holiday, son, daughter so each video clip you record can be recorded under the appropriate event if you like.

The Everio GZ-MG680 truly is an all in one, the only thing you will need from here on out, camcorder/camera for your next trip or event. Sleek and small this is the perfect item to have as part of your family. Don’t forget to check out JVCAmeria’s YouTube Channel if you are untechnical like me it gives you video tutorials on how to use this camcorder.

WIN IT:

JVC has offered to giveaway an Everio GZ-MG680 (valued at $549.95) just like the one I reviewed. Can you honestly say that you would not be thrilled with one of these for your travel, holidays and any memory to come? I thought not. Okay okay I am moving on to tell you how you can win.

To win your own Everio GZ-MG680 I want you to tell me what you will use the camcorder for this summer? Any trips, sports, babies coming into the world. What do you need this for this summer?
That is the required entry and must be done for any extra entry to count, not too hard right !

For extra entries you can (THESE ARE ENTIRELY OPTIONAL BELOW):
~ Blog about this contest with a link back to this post and leave your post link in the comments.
~ Tweet about this contest daily and leave the tweet url in your comment.
~ Follow my blog through a reader or through blogger.
~ Add my button to your sidebar.
~ Add my blog to your blogroll.
~ Follow me on twitter @totally_toni.
~ Digg, Stumble, Kirtsy, etc this post and leave your username.
~ Fave me on Technorati and leave your username.
~ Vote for me as hottest mommy blogger here (what can i say it’s a vanity thing LOL) and leave your username.
~ Do a plea on video begging me to pick you LOL (5 extra entries for this, leave a separate comment for each entry on this one) and leave the link. This is purely for my humor *evil laugh*

Okay now that should be interesting and quite a few ways to get lots of entries. Please be sure to leave a separate comment for EACH entry you do so you don’t cheat yourself. And be sure to do the required entry first or the extra entries don’t count. Also, please make sure to leave your email in your comment if you do not have a blog that has your email link in it.

Contest will close on June 16, 2009 at Noon CST and announced on my daughters 4th birthday (6/17). Open to US residents only due to shipping. Good Luck and get your enter on

*Please note the link to the camcorder takes you to the page of the item I am giving away, it says it is a 60GB 75 hour, but it is not, it is the 120GB up to 150 hours version.

*Please be sure to understand the optional entries are just that….optional..those do not have to be done, the only thing that has to be done is to tell me what you are looking forward to capturing on video.

Capture Those Memories Without the Mess of Tapes: JVC Everio Review & Giveaway

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