Vivitar, purveyors of all sorts of affordable gadgets, has unveiled a new 720p HD capable waterproof handheld video camera. The Vivitar DVR 690HD boasts those three main features; 720p HD (1280-by-720) recording, waterproof up to 10 feet, and small handheld design; and the asking price is just $60.
Now those features come with the camcorder but there are some caveats for the Vivitar DVR 690HD.
Firstly the design isn’t the sleekest around, so if that matters to you this camcorder will fail in beauty contests.
Secondly the camcorder doesn’t offer optical zoom support, only 4x digital zoom is available.
Thirdly the audio recording is analog only for this camcorder, analog microphones aren’t as capable as digital stereo mic’s.
Fourthly there is no built-in HDMI output for this HD camcorder, no output of HD content on HDTV’s over HDMI.
Last but not least this camcorder only comes with 8MB of built-in storage and to record even one minute of 720p HD video you’ll need to get yourself a SD card, the 690HD has a SD card slot that supports up to 16GB cards and 720p HD video needs 1GB for every six minutes of recording.
Those caveats are what one should expect from a camcorder that’s only $60, though. So if you’re fine with those problems just pointed out the Vivitar DVR 690HD might be for you. The camcorder is available now in multiple colors; Black (pictured), Dark Blue, Light Blue, Pink, Red, Violet, and Yellow. You can check out this camcorder on Vivitar’s website but if you want to purchase the camcorder online you’ll need to visit Sears.com (Black mode).