This Mini DVD-based camcorder looks the part of a super¬model. A shape complemented with the right attire: dark and light grey tones never get stale, no matter how common they are. Completing the designer look is the build-solid to hold, in fact, better-built than its siblings. The button layout seemed unnecessarily complicated, though, and for the life of us we couldn't figure out the need for a Record button on the LCD viewfinder's outer frame.




Once you get used to the button layout, however, the menu is very simple to get around. There's a 5-way joystick on the left that allows menu Navigation. The Zoom and Record buttons seemed very intuitively-placed, and feel excellent to use. So com¬pact is the VP-DC575Wi that the zoom switch actually feels too close to your hand-a little cramped like the Canon DC51; of course, its forgivable since that model was much larger to begin with, and given the Sam¬sungs compactness, we don't really have anything to complain about. There's a nicely-tapered, full-featured remote control unit for your convenience. Samsung is known for brilliant LCDs, but we were a little disappointed with the viewfinder on the VP¬DC575Wi.

The VP-DC575Wi allows still images to be saved to the memory card only-so your mini DVD will be used purely for video shooting. Indoors we noticed a little discoloration, especially around light pastel-like colours, which themselves had dappled sunlight falling on them-our window draperies to be exact. Although we found no casts, and although the IS sys¬tem worked much better than those on the other two Samsung camcorders, we weren't satisfied with the amount of jitter that crept into our recordings. Once in bright sunlight, the jitter isn't very noticeable¬
this is a typical problem with nearly all consumer cam¬corders, which is why indoor testing is more important than outdoor testing.





At the long end of the zoom, noise was noticeable in all our indoor recordings-while this isn't apparent on the viewfinder during playback, the moment you connect your camcorder to any sort oflarge screen like a 1110ni tor or TV, it becomes glaring.
The VP-DC575Wi is reasonably well-priced, and is suitable for a wide variety of tasks. Just don't buy it for a lot of indoor or after-dark shooting-you'll be sorely disappointed.


Specifications:
1 / 6-inch CCD sensor (1.0 megapixel);
2.7-inch widescreen LCD (112,000 pixels);
weight: 1.05 kg.