Sony Handycam HDR-XR520VE

Playback (5.5)

During playback mode, videos and photos are displayed as a series of thumbnails—the usual organization for a camera or camcorder. You can scroll through several pages if you have more than twelve files to view, or you can display files by date. When you select a thumbnail, the video will start playing, with VCR controls along the left and bottom of the LCD. Our biggest complaint is with the inaccessibility of the delete function. Deleting a file should be one of the easiest things to do in playback mode (though you don't want to do it by accident). On the XR520, you have to tap the screen an awful lot of times to finally delete the clip you're viewing. You can also delete while looking at the thumbnails, but this process is just as much of a hassle.

Videos and stills are displayed as a series of thumbnails		The VCR controls aren't particularly intuitive or responsive

In all honesty, it is not incredibly easy to do anything in playback mode. The touch screen is not ideal for fast-forwarding or rewinding, and even volume adjustment forces you to cover most of the screen with your finger while making an adjustment. Fortunately, you can set a master playback volume inside the Home menu, which might keep you from constantly lowering or increasing volume every time you want to view a clip.

The Video Playback menu		The Photo Playback menu

One of Sony's most highly tauted features in the 2009 line-up is the new Highlights playback, which will automatically put together a string of short clips, extracted from your videos. The camcorder selects these highlights based on the appearance of faces, zooming, and other interesting activity within the frame. The clips are then strung together with simple transitions and accompanied by a cheesy soundtrack. The XR520 even appears to have a Music Download tool, which will let you import music through a USB connection. We have to admit that we actually had a lot of fun with the highlights feature, creating some great reels that looked like the opening sequence of Alf. One huge disappointment: you can't export the highlights reels as its own movie. Maybe the Highlights creations are all the more priceless because of their ephemerality?

Connectivity (6.25)

The Sony HDR-XR520VE has a good amount of connectivity features, although numerous ports use Sony's proprietary-fit design. The hot accessory shoe on the top of the camcorder is well placed behind the built-in microphone. Unfortunately, it is protected by a flimsy sliding cover that feels easily breakable. The shoe is also only compatible with Sony-brand accessories, due to its proprietary design. There are third-party adapters available, but we don't have a good idea of how well they'll work with the HDR-XR520VE.

The hot accessory shoe is only compatible with Sony accessories.		The DC power input

On the back side of the camcorder is the DC-input, which is protected by plastic flip-down door. The door is a bit weak, but it protects the port well and is relatively out of the way. Inside the camcorder's LCD cavity is the Memory Stick Pro Duo card slot. The slot is protected by a hard-plastic door that feels strong and sturdy. This means you shouldn't have to worry about your memory card being accidentally ejected while you're shooting. 

The Memory Stick PRO Duo card slot		The microphone and headphone jacks (left) and the AV/Component-out, USB, and HDMI ports (right)

The rest of the camcorder's ports are all located on the right side. A sliding door near the front of the camcorder covers the AV/Component-out, USB, and HDMI ports. The AV/Component-out port uses Sony's proprietary design, which is why it works as both the AV and Component-output. The sliding cover the protects this collection of ports is well-designed and mostly out of the way. Canon made a major design flaw on the HF S100 this year by placing the ports directly in the way of the right-side hand strap. Near the back of the camcorder, behind a small, flexible door, are the headphone and mic jacks. The ports are colour-coded (headphone is green and microphone is red) and are well placed for easy access.