Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Camcorder Review

Playback & Connectivity Summary
• Docking station is required for most connections—HDMI, USB, Component/AV-out • Mic input and headphone jack are included on camcorder • Playback features are basic, internal editing system is ineffective
	Handling & Use	(Page 10 of 17)	Audio & Other Features

Playback (4.0)

The VPC-HD2000 has your usual playback features, all of which are accessed by pressing the menu button while in playback mode. Most of the options—like contrast correction, rotate, resize, and direct printing—only work with still images. The camcorder can perform a playback zoom, which allows you to digitally magnify your video image up to 300%. For stills, this digital zoom capability increases to 6250% (62.5x) for photos taken at the highest quality setting.

There are no dedicated VCR playback buttons on the VPC-HD2000. Actions like pause, fast forward, rewind, and stop are all accessed by pushing the navigation joystick in various directions. You probably don't need us to tell you this is poor design and isn't very easy to use.

There's also an "instant review" feature on the HD2000 that's designed to provide quick and easy access to videos you've just recorded. The problem is, the instant review setup is implemented poorly and simply doesn't help. Accessing the feature is done by pressing in on the navigation joystick—the same joystick that is used to control loads of other actions, like shortcuts, manual controls, and menu navigation. In our experience with the VPC-HD2000, we found ourselves accidentally bumping the joystick and entering instant review mode when we least wanted to.

The Normal Playback Menu		The Simple Playback Menu

The VPC-HD2000 has an internal editing option for videos, but it only allows for very basic editing operation (join and split clips) and it is very poorly designed. All edits must be made using the navigation joystick and processing times can be extensive depending on the length of your clip—we greatly suggest investing in a cheap editing program or using your computer's provided software instead.

Connectivity (4.55)

The Sanyo VPC-HD2000 has lots of connectivity options—unfortunately many ports are relegated to the camcorder's dock, which makes things more of a hassle than they should be. The big problem stems from the fact that there's no video output port on the camcorder itself. This means you always need to bring the dock along with you if you want to view your videos on a television. The same goes for connecting the HD2000 to a computer—the camcorder's only USB port is also found on the docking station.

The DC-input		SD/SDHC card slot

The little camcorder does feature a 3.5mm microphone input and a headphone output, both of which should be included on every high-end consumer camcorder. Hidden under a flap of plastic above the lens is a cold accessory shoe, and on the back of the camcorder is the SD/SDHC card slot and DC-input. Thankfully Sanyo decided to at least put the DC-input on the camcorder itself, instead of requiring the use of the docking station every time you want to charge the little bugger. We should also note that all of the port covers felt somewhat flimsy and frail, although they each provided a decent amount of protection for the jacks and plugs.

The cold accessory is a nice bonus feature.

Mic jack (top) with headphone jack below		The docking station contains numerous ports: HDMI, Component/AV-out, USB, and DC-input

On the docking station you'll find the rest of your ports: HDMI, Component/S-Video/AV-out, USB, and an extra DC-input. It's not that we don't like the docking station—it fits the camcorder snugly and it is relatively small—it's just that we don't like not being able to connect the camcorder to a TV or computer without the aid of an extra device. Not to mention the fact that the Component/S-Video/AV cables are proprietary—you can't use standard AV cables to connect the dock to your television. Plus, this lack of on-board ports makes it impossible to connect the VPC-HD2000 to a tripod and output it to a television simultaneously. None of the other camcorders we used as comparisons throughout this review utilized a docking station, but last year's VPC-HD1010 from Sanyo came with an identical dock.