Sony HDR-CX550VE

Playback (5.5)

The playback system on the HDR-CX550V works the same way as it did on last year's HDR-CX500V. Clips are arranged as thumbnails on the LCD and you can select a video for playback by touching the corresponding thumbnail on the screen. You can also organize your clips by date, film roll, face (using face detection), or location (using the GPS feature). Once you select a clip for playback, you can control the video using VCR buttons on the LCD (part of the touch-screen interface). We don't like this set-up too much because the VCR controls really clutter the screen when you are trying to view the video (you can make the VCR controls disappear, however, by not touching the screen for a few seconds).

Playback display		VCR controls

Highlight Playback, a feature Sony introduced a few years ago, returns on the HDR-CX550V. This feature will automatically edit your video clips into a short film—complete with music—for instant playback on the camcorder. You can even adjust settings like choosing music or choosing a certain group of clips that Highlight Playback will pull from. The CX550V also has a Scenario feature that lets you save Highlight Playback scenes on the camcorder (so you can play them again later). There still isn't any method for getting Highlight Playback clips off the camcorder itself, however, so the saved scenes will only last for as long as the recorded footage is stored on a memory card or on the camcorder's internal memory.

Connectivity (6.75)

The HDR-CX550V's ports and terminals are scattered all over the body of the camcorder. Inside the LCD cavity you'll find a sliding door that opens to reveal the USB and HDMI ports. The sliding door provides very good protection to these two valuable ports, so we're happy to see this is something Sony included. Also on this side of the camcorder is the switch for turning on the CX550V's GPS feature, which can also be considered a connectivity feature (read more about the GPS option here).

The USB and HDMI-out terminals are located inside the LCD cavity.

Swinging around to the back of the camcorder you'll find two more ports: the AV-output and the DC-input. Both ports are protected by small, hard-plastic covers that flip open. The covers don't open very far, so things may get a bit crowded back here if you have cables connected while you are trying use the camcorder at the same time. The AV-out port has a proprietary design, which means it also can be used to connect the provided Component video cable. The port even works with other cables like Sony-proprietary LANC cables and S-video cables, but these must be purchased separately. The problem with this proprietary connection, however, is that if you lose your AV cable you have to buy another one from Sony—an AV cable with a regular connector won't work with the camcorder.

The external mic and headphone jack are protected by a small sliding door.		On the back of the camcorder are the AV-out and DC-input ports.

Near the front of the camcorder, on the right side, are two audio ports—the external mic and headphone jack. The placement of these ports is a bit awkward as they come right up to the edge of the hand strap. If you have cables connected and you are doing hand held shooting with the camcorder, you'll probably end up bumping the cables inserted into these ports. These ports do feature a sliding cover, however, which does an excellent job of keeping these valuable terminals protected.

The hot accessory shoe only works with Sony-proprietary accessories.		The memory card slot is on the bottom of the camcorder.

On the top of the CX550V is the powered (hot) accessory shoe that features a Sony-proprietary design. What we mean by this is that the shoe will only work with Sony accessories—unless you purchase a third-party adapter, that is. The shoe is well-protected by a spring-loaded door that slides open and closed. Flip the camcorder over and you'll discover a memory card slot located on the bottom of the HDR-CX550V. We don't particularly like card slots located on the bottom of camcorders, but we are impressed that Sony finally offered SD/SDHC memory card compatibility on the HDR-CX550V. The card slot also works with Memory Stick PRO Duo cards.

Sony HDR-CX550V Comparisons
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