JVC GR-DVL300U Digital Camcorder
By: JVC Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 18
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 On: 2007-02-02
I have this Camera from the year 2000 and work perfecly. Im very happy whith this. JVC is a great product.
 On: 2005-06-08
I purchased my JVC DSL300U new back in 2000. I bought the extended warranty for an extra chunk of change. I couldnt be more unhappy with the product and so I am leaving these commments. It is an expensive camera and it if would have worked some of the time over the last 5 years I would have been happy with it. The largest problem is that it flashes the message "HEAD CLEANING REQUIRED" "USE CLEANING CASSETTE". When this happens it does not work. Cleaning does not help. I have had it into the repair shop every time I tried to use it and it would work on average of 10 minutes to 30 minutes after I got it back. Often the authorized repair shop would say they could find nothing wrong or to try JVC tapes. I have only used JVC tapes in the camera. There is also the message E04 that tells you to remove and reinstall the battery. Lets be honest, removing and reinstalling the battery does absolutely nothing to fix the problem. I have taken very good care of it and it has NEVER been dropped. When I have actually thought is was recording and later looked at what I recorded birthday / holiday, I found out that it did not work correctly. Wide horizontal red and lines and no sound is not my idea of a good recording. Maybe you think I got a lemon. I did a web search on google with the following: JVC "head cleaning required" . I found out that all of the JVC mini DV cameras have the same problem and I am not alone. Do the search yourself before you buy any JVC video camera. Consumer reports November 2004, page 29 rates JVC mini DV as the worst in repairs and serious problems. It also rates JVC VHS-C as the worst for repairs and serious problems. You have been warned. Good luck!
by: darshman On: 2004-11-12
Ive had this camcorder for about 3 years now and its been a nice addition. The battery life is fair (roughly an hour), and the picture quality is above average. I say that because it doesnt pick up all the details on pictures that youd get from say just a digital camera. I like how the flashlight in the front actually does a good job and doesnt light things to a minimal effect. Dark rooms light the heck up once you switch that sucker on. The digital screen shows everything perfectly (for its size that is) and you wont have any trouble making sure youre getting everything or not. The sound is pretty good as well. Even when talking close to the speaker on it, I rarely got fuzz or any other weird effects added to voices. Theres also a snapshot feature which isnt excactly innovative, but nice if youd rather take a quick picture instead of taping something for a few seconds. Keep in mind that when you tape something, even after you see the status change to "REC", a second or two might get cut out. With the snapshot though, you dont get the full image because of a white border around the image. So be careful there.
Whats keeping it from 5 stars are three things. One of which might be obvious and I just wasnt aware of it. The cable it came with isnt for use with my eMac. So I dont know if Mac users are just screwed here or what. But itd be nice if I could find out where to get a cord for it if I can in fact use it with my computer. It was just fine with my PC when I still had it, and there were no problems. Another thing being the lack of a headphone jack. The last con about this product is the same thing everyone here keeps mentioning- the "head clean" message. Why this appears, I dont know. Everything can be taping just fine, and then all of a sudden, the message flashes on the screen. If this does happen, then you can forget about what it is you just taped, because it deletes it for some reason. Ive lost a ton of priceless moments thanks to this. And sometimes when I put in a tape, it just wont do anything. Like when I pop in an older one to view something and go to the play mode and hit one of the buttons (play, rewind, fast forward, etc.), nothing happens. Itll just stay on the blue screen until I take the tape out over and over. Its very annoying. But this could be due to the fact that Ive used the camera so much. I never got this problem the first 2 years I had it. And yes, I used those cleaning tapes, which worked at first. But now, nothings helping out much. Its a game of chance half of the time. And now that I think about it, the buttons are delicate. Right now, the stop button is very fidgety, and I cant tell if I activated a button or not unless I watch the screeen. This is most likely due to the number of times the cameras been dropped. Yes, I see that saying that right there may result in the head cleaning messages, but everyone else on here seems to get that message regardless of if their camera(s) has taken a few bumps or not.
In the end though, I liked this camera up until it gave me the stupid messages to clean it. Maybe its just a production error with the first wave of cameras, maybe not. Its great for beginners though, and a good start to building a nice photo gallery. You can see the quality of some of the pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/mujaheddin_nagi. Mostly being of myself and things in my home. As you can see, the quality is pretty good, but it could be a little sharper. I look forward to getting another JVC digital camcorder in the future. Theyre great products.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-08-13
This is my first camcorder, and Im having a ball with it! Its so easy to use, and I love the snapshot feature that allows me to take a snapshot image in the midst of recording, and it even throws in a little shutter click sound for effect! Maybe Im easy to please, as I have no prior camcorder experience, and therefore no preconceived notions as to performance. But the picture looks great, and the sound is decent. Im basically just using this for family purposes, and it serves me well!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-11
Looks like the RCA CC9370 I have heard about, however the RCA has a 3" screen. I wonder if the RCA has a color view finder?
 On: 2001-07-11
Picture quality is good but the image stabilization is very bad. I purchased this camera a week ago and decided to return it and get Canon Optura Pi, since Optura Pi has the optical stabilizer.
by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-06
My 300u has the same problem with the clean head message too. After approx. 30 min of recording and playing, "clean head warning" appears and blocks of noise appear during playback. This happened just last Sunday with a brand new unit. But came Monday everything seems to be normal again. Strange!! I am using TDK tapes (not Sony some users complain of messing up the video head), but according to their link, you may be damaging your camcorder by using anything other than JVC tape!!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-07-01
This camera is small, nice looking, has good pictures, and cheap ($399 including freight). I was very happy. However, like some of the other users, it broke down after about 30 minutes of use. It keeps prompting for heading cleaning and I know the head is dirty because blocks of noise appear during playback. It happens especially bad during LP mode. Why???Needless to say, I am disappointed. I have also thrown away some of the package (manual in French, registration card, etc.) If the seller wont give me full credit because of this, I can only have JVC repair it. But according to my past experience, once they open up a camcorder, only more troubles to follow.
On: 2001-05-24
Hi:I have had the same experience as the other two reviewers that had the "Clean Heads" warning appear after only a few minutes of use. After which the camera then died. Fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund but that is not satisfactory, as JVC should be ashamed of themselves for subjecting their customers with a problem that is obviously running rampant in this Model. That is almost 30% of this small sample that have had this experience. It would appear that either you become a victum or luck out and get one that is ok and it should not be a game of russian roulette when you are making this kind of purchase. Come on JVC lets show some initiative and concern here and rectify the situation. Do the right thing!
by: Anonymous On: 2001-03-26
After doing a week of comparisions between JVC and Sony, I finally decided to purchase the DVL-300U. All electronics in my household are Sony but after comparison shopping I thought I would give JVC a shot. The size of the camera and easy operation were second to none. But then the trouble started. After the intial set-up I was excited to get the chance to start recording. After recording about 10 minutes worth of video& 5 still pictures we thought we were in business. I hooked the camera up to the TV to watch our video. After 2 minutes of playing, a prompt came on screen telling us that we needed to clean the head. This was a brand new camcorder! The prompt would come onto the screen ever minute or so. Then after 4 minutes of tape, the video became very distorted. I thought I was purchasing a digital quality camcorder? (GUESS NOT) I was very disatisfied with this and instead of going through the headache of trying to have JVC repair/replace it, I decided to get a refund and purchase a Sony TRV320. The Sony 320 is great. Comparable in size and ease of operation and not mention the fact that it is less expensive. I would suggest for a new camcorder owner to purchase the Sony over the JVC. I understand that you may pay more for upgrades in batteries but to me the name says it all, what you pay for is what you get!
On: 2001-01-28
I just bought this camera .... Ive had no problems importing still images or video to my PC, though the still image quality is nowhere near that of a true digital still camera. The LCD screen is a bit small, but again its just fine for the price. Also, dont believe everything you read about the mic. I tested it and it picked up whispering at ~1 meter and normal conversation at ~5 meters. It even has a feature to reduce wind noise on windy days. Very nice touches make this a good camera. The users manuals are very detailed yet very easy to follow. The power cord stretches over 3 meters and the battery seems to last a while as well and only takes 90 minutes for its first charge. Does not come with any tape, though, so be sure to order some too.
On: 2001-01-21
Even though this camcorder has many great functions, I was disappointed that I had a dirty head warning after the first 60 minutes of use. Not what I expect after spending 650+. The recorder was new (sealed box). Trying to get the recording on a VCR is also giving me problems. It may be my TV and VCR are Multi-system units but I dont think thats the problem. I am fair with the cable connections and expected immediate success. Things should not be so tough. I have been able to watch the movies connecting directly to the TV though and like the quality of the picture. Im sure I will get it going and hope head cleaning is not required every 60 minutes of use.
On: 2001-01-06
This camera is a good one but the programs that is included with it should have been burned to dust. There are alot of problems importing files to the p.c. If you have a adobe 5.0 premere you have to get diffrent drivers to make the fire wire compatible. If you use the camera for fun its great, but dont count on making hollywood productions.
On: 2000-10-06
I bought this camera and loved almost everything about it. The biggest problem is the fact that there is no external mic input jack and no headphone jack. The quality of sound you get from the onboard mic on almost any camcorder is not very good at best. And you should never underestimate the effect good sound has on the quality of your video projects. If you plan to do anything needing good on location sound you will want to find a model with the ext. mic jack and use either a shotgun mic or some lavalier mics. I would say buy a camera that gives you this option because down the road you may need/want it. It would stink to [buy] a camera and then find out that it didnt do everything you needed it to do. I took the camera back an bought a better one that had all of the connections I wanted. (the panasonic pv-dv400, its a little more expensive but very much worth it to have the sound quality, not to metion the 18x optical zoom.)
On: 2000-09-19
i just bought one of these, and it is so much fun, this is also my first time buying a cacorder, and i think that it was, for the price, the best buy. there were other products like this, but more expensive. it is easy to use, and the lcd screen makes recording easy.
On: 2000-06-22
This digital camcorder brings Mini DV performance with a 680k pixel CCD and PCM Digital Audio for excellent picture & sound. Full DV connectivity, convenient LCD screen, plus a serial transfer cable and high value PC software package. But I think it should be cheaper.
On: 2000-06-21
This digital camcorder brings Mini DV performance with a 680k pixel CCD and PCM Digital Audio for excellent picture & sound. Full DV connectivity, convenient LCD screen, plus a serial transfer cable and high value PC software package. But I think it should be cheaper.
On: 2000-06-18
A digital camera and a camcorder in one. Light and compact. With still picture. With handy editing and recording features. Price buster.
by: Anonymous On: 2000-06-16
I just got my camera and I love it, nothing was too complicated and it took seconds to get started
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