JVC Everio GZ-HD320

The Sanyo VPC-HD2000 isn't like the rest of the camcorders we used as comparisons throughout this review. First of all, it has an upright design that gives the camcorder the appearance of a Buck Rogers ray-gun or a common watering gun. Secondly, it has a number of awkward design issues and some cheap construction. Thirdly, it produced some incredible results in our video testing and put up some of the best low light numbers we've seen this year. The Sanyo VPC-HD2000 is slightly cheaper than the HD320: the Sanyo costs about £450, £50 less than the JVC. The Sanyo doesn't include any internal memory, however, so you need to factor in the cost of a couple of SD/SDHC cards into that price. A 4GB SDHC card will cost about £20.

The Sanyo clearly has better video performance than the JVC HD320. Its still features are more abundant, its low light performance is far superior, and it can capture much sharper video at bright light. The GZ-HD320, however, is much easier to use and its design is far more intuitive. The menu system on the Sanyo is difficult and confusing, its navigation joystick is unresponsive and cheap, and many of the controls are aggravating to manipulate. While the Sanyo may appear more portable because of its upright design, it isn't really the case. The large lens on the Sanyo HD2000 is bulky and makes the camcorder difficult to squeeze into a pocket. On the whole, it is just as easy to transport as the JVC GZ-HD320, although the Sanyo is a bit lighter.

If you can deal with the complexity of the Sanyo VPC-HD2000, it is a very strong camcorder overall. It has better video performance than the JVC GZ-HD320, but its awkward design may be enough to dissuade many would-be consumers. If you want a simple camcorder that is easy to use, and you don't care too much about high-end video performance, the JVC GZ-HD320 is the better buy.

	Comparison Specs
	JVC GZ-HD320	Sanyo VPC-HD2000
Price	£499	£449
Primary Recording Media	120GB internal hard drive	SD/SDHC memory card
Secondary Recording Media	MicroSD Memory Card	None
Image Sensor	1/4.1-inch CMOS	1/2.5-inch CMOS
Effective Pixel Count	3.05 Megapixels	5.31 megapixels (Video)  8.0 megapixels (Photo)
Mic Input	None	Yes, 3.5mm
LCD	2.7-inch with 123,000-pixel resolution	2.7-inch with 230,000-pixel resolution
Viewfinder	None	None
Weight	370 g with battery	311 g with battery
Dimensions	53mm x 68mm x 113mm	90 x 112.6 x 54.4mm
HD	Yes	Yes
Frame Rates	1080/50i	HD: 1080/60p, 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 720/30p  SD: 240fps (448 x 336), 600fps (192 x 108)  (native progressive)
Compression	AVCHD	MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
Maximum Bitrate	24Mbps	24Mbps
Optical Zoom	20x	10x
Stabilisation	Digital	Digital

Close-ups at 60 lux Auto
JVC GZ-HD320  100% Crop	Sanyo VPC-HD2000  100% Crop

Required Illumination *

* the lower the lux required, the better the performance