Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Well, Samsung, which usually has superior electronics that function as smooth and well as they look, has fallen victim to the software lobby which has screwed the pooch on this camcorder. Here's what I'm talking about... It is a total snap to set up, learn to use, and use this sleek, cool-looking, and small camcorder. It is equally as easy to transfer videos to your PC, which is a huge downfall of every other camcorder. With the SC-HMX10C (which was featured on Oprah as one of her top 10 favorite things this holiday season), it is literally as easy as hooking up a USB port and "cut and paste" the videos to your desired folder. The videos can be recorded in a range of clarity from HD, all the way down to standard definition economy. The videos are all recorded in .MP4 format. Here's the kicker, and where Samsung screwed up and sold out... The videos are recorded with a certain codec, which is essentially a formatting code programmed into the video file that allows the video to be viewed only by certain video players. In this case, the only software that can view the Samsung SC-HMX10's videos is the cheap, annoyingly poor quality Cyberlink DVD Suite software that comes with the camcorder. And it just so happens that the version that comes with the camcorder will only play the audio...not the video. And it will only even do THAT by right clicking on the video file and choosing "Open With" and the included software. I guess Samsung got lobbied by Cyberlink to codec the videos so you had to use their software to view it and Samsung caved. It even states right in the user's manual, "Use the provided software to play back the movie images in the PC. The movie images recorded on your HD camcorder may not be played back in other software" (p. 92). It's akin to creating an otherwise SWEET camcorder and coding the video so that only RealPlayer (PC World's #2 worst tech product of all time) could play it. My older Olympus camera records videos in .MP4 format and Quicktime always plays those videos with no problem at all. But with Samsung's specially coded .MP4s both Quicktime and even iTunes lock up and/or crash if I try to view the videos with those. The only way I can watch the videos is by converting them to an .avi using a free program called Super by eRightSoft...an easy, but annoying process. And the videos are then highly pixelated and not even close to HD or even standard definition video quality. (NOTE: I have not yet tried to play videos directly from my camcorder to my TV, nor have I tried burning the videos I copied to my PC to a DVD and watching them) So now I have a cool, sleek, $763 (that's what I paid, including taxes) camcorder that will cost me over $100 in "repackaging fees" if I return it that is absolutely worthless because I can't watch the videos it takes that are easily transferable to my PC. It makes you wonder why companies like Samsung that have an otherwise totally superior product would cave in and make its playback versatility so exclusive that it is (at least in my case) unusable. I did call Samsung customer support and hardly waited at all to talk with a "Level 1" support tech (meaning, they basically have a FAQ that they're familiar with to answer most customer support issues) that spoke english really well. Unfortunately, since this camcorder is so new, she had no resources to draw from so I had to be transferred to a "Level 2" support tech (someone with a more detailed, working knowledge of a group of items). Unfortunately, they're only open from 9am-9pm on weekdays (it's Saturday as I write this). A word to Samsung QA and every other company out there that has anything to do with video files: There are only two media players worth a darn - Windows Media Player and Quicktime. If your videos aren't 100% compatible with either or both, then they're a waste... ...just like the Samsung SC-HMX10C unfortunately. Despite a very user-friendly interface, cool looks, and a sleek, small size, I still gave it the worst rating (1 star) because I can't watch the videos it's supposed to be taking. As I stated in the title above, having a camcorder in which you cannot view the videos is rather self-defeating. Any other questions, you can contact me at headbanger51 at yahoo dot com. I hope someone from Samsung does contact me, because the issue of having videos specially coded so that only ONE player (the annoying version included with the SC-HMX10C) can view said videos is an issue of biblical proportions in its annoyance. If I were running things at Samsung QA, I'd at least post a downloadable codec on their website to install into Quicktime to make the videos viewable. I hope this was helpful. UPDATE (27 Nov 07): I spoke at great length today with level 2 tech support at Samsung. I'm happy to report they were based in NJ so they spoke clear english and were very patient. However, after speaking with several people, no one could figure out how to play the files on my PC. After downloading several different programs and emailing me several different codecs, even tech support threw in the towel. Interestingly enough, tech support was not yet aware of which software came bundled with the SC-HMX10. In my lengthy conversation with them, my unofficial conclusion is that this product was rushed to release to make the holiday shopping season. I cannot pinpoint what else was said to help me reach that conclusion. I just know remember that there were several things said that made me think it was rushed. I remember him saying there were a lot of issues being troubleshot. I would think that this would be one that would have been troubleshot many times over by now to ensure the video could be played on the widest variety of software configurations on a PC/Mac. As of today, I have sent in a request to Executive Customer Relations for a full refund, since the store I bought it from will charge me $115 in restocking fees! Each case is reviewed on an individual basis. But I'm hoping, and obviously feel justified in asking for and being granted a refund.