Saturday, December 1, 2012

Coby SNAPP CAM5005 Portable Camcorder Review


Electronics have come a long ways, especially cell phones. When it comes to capturing those special moments, many of us will just capture images or short videos using our cell phones. But it's hard to beat the quality and the edit ability of footage when you use a stand alone camcorder. Fortunately for us, prices on those have contually gone down. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is one of those camcorders.


The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is a small, hand held, HD camcorder. It can capture images as well as video in 720p resolution. It is very compact and has a flip out touch screen LCD monitor and built in light. MSRP is a lowly $59.99, which is quite the bargain. I remember spending $800 on a Hi-8 camcorder 17 years ago. And that was a good deal!


Features and Specs:


  • Full-color 2.7" Swivel LCD Touch Screen
  • Records video in 720p HD resolution
  • View recorded videos and photos on a TV (HDMI or composite video supported)
  • Advanced features including still capture and digital zoom (4x)
  • Supports SD/SDHC memory cards
  • Integrated Hi-speed USB 2.0 plug for fast file transfers
  • Built-in Lithium Ion Battery


  • The product came in a plastic shrink wrapped package, with a colored printed paper that surrounded the device that included features and specs of the camcorder. Included in the package was a USB charging cable, AV cable, owners manual, software CD and a protective cloth pouch. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 is made of a plastic housing with an ok fit and finish. It didn't feel as solid in hand or well built as many other camcorders, yet at the same time it also wasn't flimsy or felt like it would fall apart. It should hold up just fine.  You'll just want to be a bit more careful with it. With electronics, you tend to get what you pay for, so just remember the price point.


    Using the Coby SNAPP CAM5005 was fun. Not being very complex, it was easy to just charge it up and start recording. The touch screen display was responsive and managing throught the settings was rather simple and easy to follow. I liked the memory card slot so you basically have unlimited storage.  Your only limits are the size of the card or number of cards you want to haul around.  And if you really want to turn your kids into hams, just flip the screen so they can see themselves to get some fun footage. Low light performance was not the best and images were grainy, but the built in light did help some. The included software also allowed you to upload your creations to YouTube after basic editing, and was sufficiently simple to do.  I also liked the built-in anti-shake feature, which was not an advertised feature.  It has other typical camcorder settings such as quality, resolution, white balance, etc. The HDMI output also lets you easily connect it to your HDTV. The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 could be a poster child for Bang for the Buck!  Full camcorder functionality for only $59.99 is amazing.  For those on a tight budget but still wanting to capture precious moments, or for those kids aspiring to be a movie producer, the Coby SNAPP CAM5005 could be a good start.


    The Coby SNAPP CAM5005 proved to be a very capable and extremely portable HD camcorder. It's obvious not a $600 Canon, so don't expect it to perform like one.  But it's a true bargain at it's $59.99 MSRP. There are a lot of manufaturers with cheap camcorders. Given the performance of the Coby SNAPP CAM5005, if this was my price range, I would have no problem jumping on the Coby. Based on it's design, features, quality, perfomance and bargain price, it has easily won our Value Award. For more info and complete specs check out their website at www.cobyusa.com.



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