DXG 580V Digital Camcorder Review

This cut-rate camcorder can't cut it, and hides behind some dubious claims to get consumers interested in its lacking feature set. By Michael Patrick Brady

DXG 580V

Suggested Alternatives

Pure Digital Flip Video Mino

from $114.88

Sony DVD850

from $359.00

Pure Digital Flip Ultra (2GB)

from $180.00

DXG is a company that likes to make big claims and offer outrageous deals on products and features that should be, generally speaking, unavailable to budget shoppers. Now that Pure Digital and Creative have made affordable high-definition camcorders, it's not entirely ludicrous that one might be able to acquire a cheap HD camcorder. However, even those respected brands offer only camcorders capable of filming in 720p. DXG, by contrast, has gone right for the top of the mountain, 1080p, and say they can do it for much less than the price of Pure Digital's Flip MinoHD.

Lest I keep you in suspense, I'll cut to the chase: they can't. 1080p is shorthand that represents 1920 x 1080 pixels (the p is for 'progressive scan,' however, not pixels). Flip to the back of the 580V's manual, and you'll see that they define 1080p as 1440 x 1080 pixels. This is not entirely unusual or limited to DXG; some big name brands have used similar tactics to sneak by lower resolutions as '1080p.' Just understand from the get go: their 1080p is not the 1080p you'd be right to expect.

Design

The DXG 580V is built to look like a traditional camcorder, only smaller, and it fits snugly into the palm of one's hand. Unlike previous DXG models, the 580V has a distinctly toy-like feel, owing to its largely plastic body construction and diminutive size. The 580V is extraordinarily slim, and while it's slight it does have a solid build.

The 580V has no optical zoom capabilities, and focusing (available in macro and landscape modes only) is toggled with a switch on the side of the camcorder. It records video to Secure Digital High Capacity cards and can be powered by either a proprietary lithium-ion battery or four AAA batteries. Unfortunately four AAA batteries provide very little juice, and will end up depleted after 5 to 10 minutes of use.

One smart move by DXG is the inclusion of an HDMI cable (camcorder end: mini, TV end: standard size) so you can easily connect your camcorder to a high-definition television for playback. That's when things start to go downhill.

Performance

The DXG 580V is simply not up to par with the competition, and to claim that it provides high-quality, full HD video is outrageous. While the pixels might be there, the date behind them is not. The manual does not provide any information regarding the bit rate of the video being captured, but it is assuredly quite low. Compared to the Flip Video MinoHD or Creative Vado HD, the DXG 580V may as well be shooting standard-definition video. It's noisy, grainy, and not at all what one would expect from a supposedly HD camcorder.

The old maxim, "you get what you pay for," holds true in this case. The cheap, $150 DXG 580V provides cut-rate quality at a cut-rate price.

Conclusion

That said, if you had no illusions about the quality of the video, and were simply looking for a cheap, handheld video recorder that took decent-to-mediocre video, the world isn't going to end if you bought the 580V. I just wish DXG wouldn't try to pull a fast one on consumers and instead represent their products fairly: as an inexpensive way to capture low quality video.