Think of Kodak's MC3 as the Swiss Army knife of electronic gadgets. This sleek handheld unit functions as a portable video camera, digital still camera, and MP3 player. We found the device to be well designed, easy to use, and, most importantly, a lot of fun.
As a video camera, the MC3 captures QuickTime format movies with sound at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. Users choose from two settings--a high-quality 20 frames per second (fps) mode captures more detail, but fills the CompactFlash memory card at a rate of 15 MB per minute. A more e-mail friendly mode shoots at 10 fps and uses greater compression. This mode makes movies a bit choppier, but still looks fine for most applications and only consumes around 2 MB of memory per minute.
A 1.6-inch color LCD screen on the back of the camera lets you see exactly what you're filming and can also play back footage you've recorded. While most manufacturers use illuminated LCDs, Kodak has opted to use a reflective display instead. In a reflective display, the traditional backlight is replaced with a mirror. This arrangement is thinner, uses less energy, and is less expensive. It's also easier to see when you're outdoors. Unfortunately, it's more difficult to see in low-light situations--seeing what you're shooting in a restaurant will be a challenge.
The videos you create aren't as detailed as those from a camcorder, but the MC3 isn't designed to replace those traditional tape-based devices. Although the movies can be viewed on your TV (with an optional connecting cable), they're really designed to be seen on a computer screen, saved on your hard drive or CD-R, and shared with friends via e-mail.
Though it's not designed primarily as an MP3 player, the MC3's musical abilities are quite good. You get the full set of standard controls (including cue and review within a song), plus several equalizer settings, shuffle mode, and repeat. In addition, the LCD shows artist and title information, plus system settings. The built-in speaker (included primarily for audio playback of your movies) can also be used to play music, though sound quality is much better with headphones. Standard MP3 song files are transferred from your computer to the MC3 via a USB cable, using included software. There's no copy protection, so if you have a dedicated CompactFlash card reader, you can even transfer files directly to and from the memory card.
As a still camera, the MC3 is just OK. Resolution is 640 x 480 (0.3 megapixels), which looks fine on a computer monitor but lacks enough detail to create photo-quality prints, even at snapshot sizes. Photo capabilities are simple to the point of crudeness--there's no flash, the lens is fixed focus, and everything is completely automatic. Still, it works fine for outdoor snapshots, which is where Kodak thinks you'll be using the device most often.
Kodak's software suite that comes with the MC3 adds a whole new dimension to your creativity. The simple-to-use VideoImpression program lets users blend footage and stills with their favorite songs, letting even absolute amateurs create professional-looking productions in a matter of minutes.
Instructions come with the MC3, but it's so well designed that they aren't really necessary. Using the device is as easy as sliding the four-position switch on the back to the appropriate mode (MP3, movie, still, or playback) and turning on the power. When you're ready to try the more advanced features, a screen-based menu system makes it easy to find your way around. Battery life was good, allowing us several hours of MP3 playback and lots of video recording and playback before we needed to replace the three AAA cells. The use of three batteries is a bit odd--most batteries and chargers are sold in twos or fours, so you'll either need to get your batteries 6 or 12 at a time, or use rechargeables and find a charger that lets you charge just three cells.
The MC3 uses standard Type I CompactFlash cards--the same type of cards used by many digital cameras and some PDAs and MP3 players. The device comes with either a 16 or 64 MB card, depending upon price, and cards are currently available from a number of manufacturers in capacities up to 256 MB. Our sample unit came with a 64 MB card, which gave us around 27 minutes of lower-quality video, 4 minutes of high-quality video, 65 minutes of high-quality MP3 music, 500 still pictures, or any combination in between. For our tests, 64 MB was ample, letting us store a dozen songs and leaving enough room for about 12 minutes of lower-quality video. When we started to run out of space for movies, we just deleted our least-favorite songs and started shooting again.
Public reaction to the MC3 has been incredible. Whenever we took it out for a test, strangers stopped us to find out more about it and try it for themselves. Something about the design--its sheer simplicity or its friendly design, perhaps--brings out users' creative sides. We found ourselves compensating for the lack of zoom by thrusting the camera closer to the action and shooting videos of scenes we'd never captured with a camcorder. Sure, the MC3 is more of a toy than a tool, but it's an extremely fun toy. It's not much more expensive than an ordinary MP3 player, but the added fun is immeasurable. Kodak has a hit on its hands.
Pros:
- For about the same price as an ordinary MP3 player, you also get a video camera and digital camera
- Well designed, with quality construction and simple controls
- Lots of fun to use
Cons:
- Reflective LCD panel hard to see in dimly lit areas
- Power choice of 3 AAA batteries is a bit awkward
1 Just an update
I have had this for over 2 years now and I still love it. The camera part is great fun, though low resolution is noticable in prints, prints look good. I upgraded to a 128 mb card which holds about 1.5 hours of music or 900 photos or 45 minutes of video. The best thing about this is it's TOUGH. I have dropped it numerous times, it has gone flying off of my desk. Sometimes the card pops out and the batteries always scatter, but it is always fine. It works just like the day I got it. Although there is one thing that I did not like. When Realplayer updated Jukebox, they did not upgrade the drivers for MC3. I eventually was not able to transfer files to the unit, so I bought a CF card reader. It works amazingly fast and lets me transfer my files through Windows Media Player. It now works like a charm, I would recommend this for anyone who uses Windows XP. If you can get a card reader, don't install the included software!
2 Not quite up to speed
Ok, repeatedly people state its a toy, and yes it is, I bought it for my son, and he uses it to listen to mp3's and take an occasional happy snap. As far as it goes it's ok doing that. No it doesn't have a flash, so obviously you aren't going to try and take pics in subdued lighting. The movies are ok, low quality, but enough to have some fun with.
My biggest bugbear is that firstly theres no ability to have an external power supply. Secondly seeming that it is a USB device, why hasn't Kodak written some NEW software so it can be used as a WEBCAM? A previous review stated it could be, well for the life of me I haven't found anywhere on the web where it lists that capability, and in this day and age it is something you could actually use.
So anyway if you are looking for a toy like this it works fine, but you may find other such toys with more features.
Kodak of course could extend the life of the product by releasing some upgraded firmware patches that will allow it to be used as a webcam, adding one more feature to its arsenal.
There should be quite a few of these cams floating around second hand these days.
3 Fun, but not for serious use
I bought one of these after they stopped making them (somehow I got a brand new one), and was pleased with the camera. It uses a non-backlit display and this increases battery life dramatically. There are quite a few options for altering sound, so MP3 playback is great. The camera and video recorder both record at surprisingly high quality. This isn't a camera I'd use on a vacation, but something I bought just for on the go and fun daily use. The device can also be used as a webcam, which is fun. If you can find a brand new one (careful, many sell refurbished), then I'd say go ahead and buy it for under $100.
4 Totally Awesome!
I just got this for Christmas and it is soooo cool! Here are my pros and cons for it:
Pros:
It has an MP3 Player, it lets you make videos, and it lets you take pictures
It has a little screen on the back to show what your taping/taking
If you don't like the MP3's you have, download a different one off the internet and onto your MC3
It is cool!
Cons:
The video/picture is dark if you're not near a light
The batteries die quickly(so I would get rechargable ones)
The memory gets full quickly(but you can get a memory card with more room)
Well, I hope this review helped you!
5 Spencer Jones is a Company man
Go camera but, it is a toy and not for serious pictures. Kodak get real and add a flash, it wouldn't cost that much more. Mr. Jones's review is right out of the company handbook. Kodak's man comes on as a sales pitch, no one talks that way.
6 Ok, But Not Great
OK, the Mc3 is a great toy for those of you that aren't serious photographers ok anything like that. It's MP3 playback is excellent on headphones, but the speaker doest't sound all that well. The picture quality is very good for this price range; I can blow the pictures up 8 or 9 times and it's quality would be clost to perfect. The drawbacke to it are that there is no flash, no backlight, and when you are taking videos, the microphone distorts the sound a bit. But, with best quality video, it's picture is great, and when transferring songs onto it, it is almost lightning speed if you use the cable that they give you. In all, I would recommend this product to anyone between the ages of 10-25.
7 The MC3 got bugs Don't buy it
I bougth a MC3 on April, and discover that it got a 2-3mm black line on the LCD of the camera!!
I ask the kodak why, but they said it's normal, there is a bug when they design but they think the mc3 can still function so they consider the black line as normal!!!
I really very disappointed about the MC3!!
Think before you buy!!!
8 great product but 1 huge flaw
2 words: NO FLASH. this product's a great idea and it has almost everythin in it but one cannot truly and fully enjoy it if an owner can't see anything in dark places or even just indoors during the dayn while recording videos. i just hope that kodak would come up with some accessory that will aid mc3's video recording and picture capturing. a flash device would be a great idea.
9 Good for what it is
This camera/camcorder/mp3 player does a good job since it is serving triple duty. The camera feature takes alright pictures as long as you leave them normal size and don't try to enlarge them any. The mp3 function is very useful but tends to eat batteries. You should definately plan to get some rechargeable batteries with this camera.
10 Nice cool product!
This vidcam/cam/mp3 player is great! It works great, it takes great videos (on best quality 20fps), ok stills, and the mp3 sound quality is very high. Also has presets for rock, voice, pop and some others. The only dissapointment is the reflective dislpay (not backlit), but you can still see it fine, so don't let that stop you from getting it. Connecting to your computer if you have Windows XP to put mp3s on it can be a hassle at first, but all you need to do is download this plugin from kodak.com, and install the realjukebox software on the cd, and there you go. All in All, this is great camera to start you off,or even to keep you at. Also has a video out so you can connect it to your TV. Good Luck!!
11 Mc3
This is a so-so camera. evrything is great except for the fact that there is no flash, and the screen is not backlit
12 AMO LA MC3, INCREIBLE PRODUCTO UNICO EN EL MERCADO
AMO LA MC3, Y ESPERO QUE KODAK AVANCE EN LA CREACION DE ESTOS PRODUCTOS.
Inigualable dispositivo multimedia, al comprar el producto encontrŽ que no se hab’a creado hasta el momento un aparato igual.
Con excelente capacidad para capturar v’deo y sonido, aceptable calidad para tomar fotograf’as y muy buena reproducci—n de MP3.
El software que vine con la MC3 a pesar de muchas opiniones negativas que he le’do en este site a m’ me resulto muy provechoso ya que he podido realizar hermosos videos familiares con efectos especiales y verlos tanto en mi PC como en mi VCR.
Es conveniente como en todo este tipo de dispositivos adquirir bater’as recargables AAA ya que consume bastante.
13 is cheaper ifyou get it with a 16mb card but you need a 64mb
the flashcard enters and the thing to push it out has to be push to the side some costumer didnt know that... the video 320/240is only good on the day time and the exposure has to ajust by itself when it has to much light so you have to point it to the sky ..for a few secs until you see the pic if you wanna in a not too lighted place ,point the camera to the darkest point so it can ajust the exposure .i got the cheapest version 16mb for us100dollars butyou have to geta bigger flashcard anyways the video cable didnt came with it so i got one with a small plug and 3 lines on the tip of the plug it means 1 video and 2 audios if itdoens work pull it out a little bit and it works ..
14 Of course it's a toy; what do you expect?
I bought the MC3 because I wasn't quite ready to buy a real digital camcorder, and because I currently work overseas and didn't want to worry about power conversion, etc. Overall, I can't complain. As an MP3 player, it's solid. 64MB is a good amount of memory and the earphones are better than most (maybe it's just mine, but the wire for the left earphone is MUCH shorter than the one for the right. strange.).
As a camera, yes, the lack of a flash can be annoying, but if you want quality still-photos, you should NOT be considering this product. Even expensive camcorders take lousy photos. Outdoor, particularly long-range cityscapes/naturescapes, shoot pretty well. Anything up close, especially in low light, will come out blurry.
I've been pleasantly surprised by the video features of the MC3. There are two settings: high and low resolution. The high setting can capture very clear video, but results in HUGE files. Low-resolution picture quality is ok, but the files are still pretty big - not a very good trade-off. E-mailing videos of either size to friends (a big reason I wanted the MC3) can be a hassle.
There is sort of a contradiction when shooting video. Outdoor shots can come out great, but even a small amount of glare can make it hard to see exactly what you're shooting. Conversely, when indoors, the viewfinder might display a clear image, but the final video will usually appear much darker.
Software is included to add titles, effects, etc. to your video, but the program is awful. Adding even the most basic title screen, etc. can triple the file size. Functionality is minimal and online support (from the software manufacturer, not Kodak) is a joke. I haven't tried the program for still-photos.
The MC3 seems pretty durable, too. I dropped it on a concrete sidewalk from a height of about four feet with no problems, although the batteries did pop out.
Bottom-line: this is something you can have fun with, as long as you don't take it too seriously.
15 The jury is still out.
I purchased the mc3 as a Christmas present for my 12 year old daughter. It didn't take her long to get the hang of taking pictures or video and she had a lot of fun doing so. Downloading them to our PC (uses Windows XP) was pretty easy. But I do have a few complaints so far. The first is that the mc3 is now shutting itself off even though it says the batteries are OK. A change of batteries may remedy this. The biggest complaint is that we cannot download mp3 files to the mc3. The users guide is really poor with regard to this. And the fact that it is on CD makes it hard to flip back & forth. Kodak's website says to look at the users guide (big help!) The guide says to use Real Jukebox(included) to download but Real Jukebox doesn't offer the mc3 as a storage device. Very frustrating!! Somebody more familiar with mp3's may know what to do but the mc3 is supposed to be a toy, not a job. My last complaint makes me wonder how much thought went into the design and did Kodak even try it out. You cannot close the flash card door - it causes the card to pop out of the connector!! 9/25/02 Just found out from a friend that you need to push the lever up to get it out of the way so you can close the door. He found out by accident. How hard would it have been for Kodak to let me know? BTW, anyone else notice how badly AMC has gone downhill lately?
16 Cashy but NO Flashy
This camera was such a disappointment. I purchased it brand new before it was even on the shelves at Best Buy. The salespeople didn't even know about it so they weren't very helpful as to it's features. I didn't buy it for it's mp3 feature but it was an added bonus. The video footage was nice but consumed a lot of space. It also was not very responsive and took a while to get it going... by that time the moment was gone. When I took pictures, they seemed a bit on the green blah side. My children looked ill that I didn't even want to put the photos on our family web site. There is NO FLASH, nor is it expandable to accomodate one in the future. I (purchased) mine when it first came out, but (...) this is (not the best deal I found). If you want a good digital camera with no flash, try a polaroid (...).... it is comparable to this quality. If you want a good camera WITH a flash, you won't find it here. Try a Minolta, Olympus, or Polaroid. Kodak focused too much on too many features... they should stick to just taking good pictures...
17 I Love Gadgets...
And I am absolutely in love with the versatility found in Kodak's MC3 pocket multimedia device. The fact that it's an mp3 player, and a camera, and a camcorder all rolled into one device, and one that can actually fit in your pocket sounds outlandish and so very cool all at the same time. That's why I found it so unfortunate that too many reviewers didn't read the camera's spec sheet (i.e. limitations) closely enough before they purchased and therefore may have been bowled over by the hype.
Keep in mind that a decent, middle-of-the-pack digital camera is going to cost at least $200. A decent, middle-of-the-pack DV camcorder is going to cost at least $500 and an mp3 player is going to set you back at least another $100. So, to think that the MC3 at under $300 would be able to perform the functions of the previously mentioned items in an all-in-one device is asking a lot.
But what is amazing about the MC3 is how well it does perform given its limitations. This is a device designed with internet communications truly in mind. It's a lifestyle toy, not a serious tool. However, with the right expectations, it will be very enjoyable.
Here are some additional pointers:
It seems as though a number of reviewers have had problems with Me and XP. Consider not installing any of the bundled software except for QuickTime (since it's the only way you will be able to view your video clips).
Instead consider a compact flash card reader or if you are a laptop owner, a compact flash adapter. This will allow you the ability to drag and drop music, pictures and video. All the images are in JPEG format and can be edited using other 3rd party software such as Adobe PhotoShop or PhotoDeluxe. There are also a number of free photo touching software packages out there.
The same holds true for mp3 creation. There are a number of solutions for creating mp3 files, many of which can be found for free. You might already have mp3 creation software on your computer right now.
Many of you non-Macintosh owners might even have QuickTime already installed on your computers while not realizing it. Search your drive for QuickTime and see what you find. And while on the subject of videos, consider a download of Real Media's Real Producer. You will be able to take your QuickTime encoded video and shrink the file size even more for better distribution across the Internet.
Finally, while I have not done so myself, consider a tiny Maglite or equivalent flashlight for indoor picture taking. I know it sounds hokey, but considering that the light from emitted from these devices is quite intense, you might find that the light is almost equivalent to a camera's flash. Like the compact flash reader, these are added costs, but since they both have other uses outside of the MC3, they might be wise investments.
18 On my way to return it....
I just bought this camera, for a fantastic price...(...) and I am returning it.
1. The battery door is too weak, and will break with in a week or two.
2. The pic card door is SOOO weak, when you slightly touch it with pictures on it, it will need a refortmat and you will lose all info on card.
3. So unbeleivably dark that wont take indoors pictures even with florescent and halogen bulbs.
4. NO FLASH
5. Wont work with my windows ME pc.which is top of the line.
6. Ive seen Fischer Price Toy Cameras that work better.
I owned this camera for less then two hours before returning it. You can say I didnt give it a chance, I can say I didnt give it a chance to aggravate me as much as it has potential to do.
If you don't have ME, and can get it for (price) go ahead, maybe for jsut music its great.
19 be realistic
be realistic and you won't be disappointed - this is a toy, nothing more. takes decent video, plays decent mp3, haven't used the digital still camera feature yet.
two drawbacks:
- if lighting is less than perfect (almost anywhere indoors...) the video is very dark
- transferring music to the mc3 is a tedious process involving real jukebox - why can't I just drag & drop?
but good fun if you don't expect the world.
20 Kodak mc3 software is miserable. I have a solution.
Kodak mc3 is great and does what it promises very well. But the bundled software is a shame. So I have written a nice little computer program to transfer music and pictures comfortably. Please let me know if you are interested in it (of course for free ;) I hope you will find it helpful.
21 Pretty nice little package
I bought this little gem after the price dropped about $70. It is really easy to use and is great with the 128 megabyte card. I can shoot about 8 minutes of video or store over two hours of mp3s. The mp3s sound great and you can select shuffle or repeat. Also the powersave features really make it last pretty long. However shooting movies or transfering files require the batteries to be pretty full. As a result, once you are at a certain point with your batteries (just less than half) you can't opperate these features but the others will still work. Also it requires three AAA batteries which is kind of an odd amount. I suggest buying NIMH rechargeables, that way you can recharge them even if they are not dead yet so you can return to shooting video or transferring files. Even better is to buy a card reader, they are about $30. The video is 20 fps (best quality) and it looks pretty ok on a small window on your computer screen. The software works fine once you get the hang of it unless you have Window ME. The onboard microphone is good if your subject is within about three feet. Outside of that they need to talk loud.
I took this little baby out mountain biking and shot a small video on it. IT is a lot of fun.
22 love it with limitations
I definitely enjoy this little toy for all of its features, though I bought it primarily for its mp3 options. As an mp3, the sound quality and ease of tranfer is great. If you buy the accessory case (which I highly recommend) it really increases its ease of use.
My one major beef is the FALSE ADVERTISING [...] about its memory capacity. It will only format up to 96 mb. Not really a problem unless you waste alot of time trying to figure out why the 128mb won't work (like I did).
23 Good Electronic gaget BUT Impossible to connect to a PC
I had the MC3 for over 2 months and still not able to use it as it does not work with windows ME . With Windows 98 worked fine. With windows me I tried all possible combinations, and still not able to connect. I contacted Kodak for several times during the last 2 months and they seem they do not know how to solve this problem, All repies from Kodak are "THIS IS AN AUTOMATED REPLY " kindly wait !!!!! 2 months
24 Main weakness
Yes....it has very goood quality in playing mp3....but the most depressing thing is ....no flash.....which is no use at night and indoor......! Well....u can't expect much for a toy...!
25 one fatal flaw!!
First of all, i love this device. Second, and most important, i agree totally with a previous reviewer: Ever since i installed the software, it has rendered my entire computer unstable and i get reset all the time. I can not even view the videos i recorded from this thing on my OWN COPUTER!! this is not good. The device is fun, but the software ruined my computer. i am not joking about this. Kodak needs to fix this serious quality control issue. mabye if i was a computer expert, i could repair the damage, but that should not be a prerequisite to buying a fun toy.
26 Even a 30 dolllars camera has a flash
I just bought the camera and I realize that it has no flash. The opportunity cost of having mp3, video and pictures at 300 hundred bucks is that the camera just work in daylight so if you are planning to take pictures at night forget about it.
27 Truly As Good As The Commercial
Incredible ease of immediate use. Thrilling results with little effort. All members of the family were able to use it. Exceptional sound and video quality. Since the size is small it is unobtrusive, and even the most obstinate members of the family act more natural in the videos. Instant gratification with the videos and music. Is becoming a habit!! Unfortunately the price of additional memory cards is quite high to allow for the continual use that the family wants. Easily transposed onto computers.
28 When it's good, it's very good... But when it's bad...
I've had my Kodak MC3 for about 2 weeks now, and I've got mixed opinions. On the positive side:
1) Music performace: The MC3 does an excellent job of playing MP3's, especially if you upgrade to a 128 MB card so you can store lots of 'em!
2) Video Quality: When set on best (30 fps) quality, the video is great- very smooth and clear, provided you have good lighting (more on this in a minute). While it does take up a large amount of memory, it's worth it.
3) Outdoor Daylight Pictures: The picture quality in excellent lighting (ie outdoors on a sunny day, etc) is fantastic 4) Ease of Use: The MC3 is idiot proof- very simple to use, install, etc...
But the negatives:
1) Pictures in less than perfect light: If you want to take pictures indoors without bright lights, at night, or in any other situation where the lighting is a bit dim, get another camera. This is my biggest dissapointment with the camera. There's no flash, so trying to capture anything that's a bit dark or unevenly lit is an exercise in futility.
2) LCD Screen: While it is often sufficient, the screen can be difficult to see alot of the time.
Overall, this is a great little toy for taking outdoor pictures while listening to music, and even making the occaisional video clips. Just make sure you can live with the limitations caused by the lack of a flash.
29 Very handy and a good value
I was shoppping around for an mp3 player when i stumbled on this item. It was pretty much a no-brainer. For pretty much the same price as a higher-end mp3 player, you also get a video recorder and a camera.
It's real easy to set up on the computer and to transfer files. just put in the cd rom and install the mc3 software. once you plug in the usb connector (which comes with it), your computer should automatically read the mc3 player. to transfer files, load up windows explorer and copy and paste files into the mc3 drive (it will have its own letter, like the c drive, itll probably be labeled the E or F drive)
The mc3 actually plays mp3 files, unlike the sony players that require you to convert mp3 files into sony's own format. and the sound quality is pretty good. The camera and video recorder are cool, but its pretty hard to see what youre recording if you're indoors. but once you transfer the file to the computer, it looks better.
Another good thing is the size of the player. it's smaller than i thought it would be.
this product would be perfect if it came with a lithium ion battery. but i guess just spend the extra money and buy rechargeables, especially if you're going to be recording videos a lot.
30 Forget about this one!
The commercials for this thing made it look so easy and so much fun to use. After looking at it and slavering at it and thinking of the fun I'd have with it, I finally broke down and bought it. To paraphrase Arnie "BIG MISTAKE!" Tried to install it on my system but the software included wouldn't talk to the MC3-no matter how hard I tried. Further, the software installed made my system unstable-reset itself many times. I'm returning this piece of trash at the earliest opportunity.
31 mc3: Buy It! It's Worth the $$$
Kodak mc3: Versatile and Inexpensive Gadget
It's small, light, and rugged -- I take it everywhere -- school, the mall, vacation, hiking.
I've used it for: mp3s on a airplane, videos of fish while waist deep in the ocean, videos while sledding/snowboarding -- even duct taped it to a friends model airplane and flew it around -- (cool movie)!
Pictures: they look good if taken outdoors, or with some daylight -- (the lack of a flash is a clue to use mc3 mostly outdoors).
Video: it got two quality settings -- one is great if you've got a lot of motion and detail. The other is if you want small files (for email) or you want LONG (minutes) movies. The length of a movie clip is limited to the amount of free space on the card. Files are QuickTime -- but the software can change them to .avi. (HINT: buy the video cable -- and recorded your videos to VHS tape.)
mp3: has played 8 to 256 kbps mp3s; it has equalizer/repeat/shuffle; it displays title/artist/album info. Comes with a ripper and player software (RealJukebox for PCs; MusicMatch for Mac). Nice that it doesn't encrypt the mp3 file. (Comes w/ earbuds -- but I like the speaker. (Earbuds are nice for mp3s on the pc.))
Software: I've got both mac and pcs -- it was easy to install on both. Was able to get stuff on/off easy -- but I like the explorer window more than the mac. The picture and video editing programs are very cool! Go google search for "allan harris 1180 WHAM" for some videos a radio station has done using the mc3 product.
Three Comments: 1st -- you're going to use this A LOT -- go buy rechargeable batteries (two sets). (Although alkalines are handy when away from the charger.) 2nd -- Compact Flash Cards -- Big cards hold more, but cost more. What I do for a day is carry a 32MB card (w/ music) and three 8MB cards (for videos/pictures). Upload often. Or buy more cards. 3rd -- No light comes from the display, it is just a reflection. The display quality is like a good color display PDA. Pluses -- It's MUCH easier to see the display outdoors in direct sun light vs other camera displays -- and it's MUCH easier on the batteries. Minus -- It's harder to see it indoors -- but I think it is useable. (FYI: I've noticed that indoor pictures look better on the pc, than on the mc3 display.)
Summary: I love it! Simple controls -- my five year old uses it to take pictures and play music ("Sesame Street" on the airplane). I carry with me in a pack or by the wrist strap listening to mp3s all the time. When I want a picture or video, mc3 is there. Expensive cameras and video equipment are for special occasions -- the mc3 is for my every day stuff.
Punch Line: Simple, fun, easy, rugged, versatile, and inexpensive. Simple Elegance.
32 good camera but bad batery life
i think this camera is great it does the coolest stuff for not a very big price. ive made millions of movies with the video impression software which is a steal because it comes with it. the movies are pretty high quality and the photos are good enough where you dont need to worry about getting a better camera. the only things wrong is the lcd screen is very hard to see in darker areas. if you will be buying this camera i very highly recommend getting rechargable batteries because the battery life with normal ones is in a word bad.
33 Cool gadget!
This is a really cool gadget, a must have for other gadget lovers. I travel a lot, and it has reserved a permanent place in my travel kit. The MP3 player is great for the plane, and the camera and camcorder are great for when I land.
Keeping that in mind, if you have a specific need for a digital camera, camcorder, or MP3 player, it does not do a fantastic job at any of these. The camera doesn't have great resolution, and it takes a long time for the lightmeter to adjust for genuine "snapshot" use. The lack of backlighting on the LCD screen preserves batteries, but often make picture taking difficult even where there is enough exposure light. The MP3 player does not have all the bells and whistles that dedicated MP3 players have.
That said, I still love this device.
34 A fun cool useful toy!
What I like most about this wonderful device is all of the things it can do with just a flip of a switch. If you are listening to one of your favorite songs, and suddenly see something you want to photograph or film, you are ready! I found the mc3 exceptionally easy to use and intuitive. The software was a bit less easy, at least for me, but after a little playing around, I got the hang of it and was amazed at the quality of the pics, movies and cd-quality sound. I didn't like that the mc3 does not come with a paper manual, so if you have to look something up, you have to pore through the 90+ page manual on the CD. Also, the battery life seems very short, especially after transferring files. I noticed that the batteries will play music for a very long time though, even after you can't use the other features. Over-all, i love this device, and I am sure i will bring it wherever i go, especially when summer comes. It seems to be the perfect thing for the beach, camping, or any place where you want to bring music or fun with you. And the price makes it even easier :)
35 Jack of all trades, master of none, but a lot of fun anyway
The emphasis here is that the MC3 is a toy - it's a lot of fun to play with, but it's not the sort of tool to use if you're planning on doing any serious publishing (online or on paper) or video work.
That said, this camera is fine for taking lots of fair quality VGA-resolution photos for e-mailing or sticking on your webpage (for what it's worth, the photo quality is notably better than other bottom-of-the-line dedicated digital cameras). The quality of the videos is at least comparable (if not slightly better) than the first generation Sony Cybershot cameras, although the MC3 doesn't limit the length of the video clips to 15 seconds like the Sony (a definite plus). The MP3 player component seems to handle various CBR-encoded MP3 files (I've tried 64, 128, 160, and 192Kbps with success), although it doesn't seem to support WMA. Finally, the USB cable allows for surprisingly fast file transfer, slightly slower than a dedicated card reader.
For $200 (which is how much this camera costs if you supply your own CF card), the MC3 is a fine gadget. If you want a good digital camera, video camera, or digital music player, you'll probably have to resort to getting three separate devices.
36 cool
this product is really awesome. the software is great. it makes it easy to mix videos and audio and it includes other great features.
37 Awsome
I think this is so awsome it works fine and it's so cool. I think it is 1 of the most easyest thing to use. A camra,a cam corder, and a mp3 player all in one for this price is a real bargin in my check book!
