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The JVC Everio GZ-MC200 sells currently for $1,099.99 on Amazon.com.
Compare prices on other stores. UK Readers Click Here.

Overview
I decided to get the cube shaped JVC Everio GZ-MC200 and not the GZ-MC100 because of the way to hold it during video shooting. The vertical style GZ-MC100 is better to put into pockets because its flat but for shooting I would have to flip out the screen and hold it vertically. I already don't have a steady hand, so the idea of closing my hand around the camera appeals to me. And the GZ-MC200 is really nice to hold. The thumb rests on the record button. The pointing finger is right there where the zoom lever is. The menu button and the menu joystick are also controllable with the thumb. The only thing I cannot do with one hand is to switch the Everio from video to photo mode or switch it off. Those functions are on the side operated on the side of the camcorder. If I want to controlled swivel the camcorder up or down, I can use my left hand to do that.
The JVC Everio records DVD Quality video in MPEG-2 with AC-3 audio. It has a maximum bit-rate of 8.88Mbps. Directly recording video onto a 4GB CF Micro Hard-drive is the big technological achievement of the Everio. JVC is the first to offer a camcorder with a 4GB hard-drive.
The menu is just well made. The user interface has a sliding hierarchy metaphor. All icons turn in 3d when selected. The background of each menu section has background icon. The navigation around the menu is very intuitive. As I write below, I found myself mostly shooting with manual settings. Those settings are also very easily accessible during shooting. I have to say, I needed more time to get used to the Sony T3/T1 interface than to this one.

Video Recording
Switching the Camcorder on takes about 5 seconds. That is maybe the biggest issue with the JVC Everio i found so far. JVC is bridging this time with a animated 3D JVC logo flying to the picture, but still I am used to the start-up time of digital cameras like the Sony DSC-T1 or DSC-T3 of a bit over 1 second. Shooting with the Everio is plain fun. The automatic mode is only useful for good light conditions as far as I can say so far. I quickly changed into manual mode and adjust the White Balance manually and in low light conditions change the Shutter Speed to get brighter colors. Slower Shutter Speeds have of course side effects for filming fast moving objects or moving the camera fast around. I am still experimenting here. The image stabilizer works very well and I am pretty shaky. Only in high Zoom settings it does not work anymore, that is why there is a setting to limit the maximum zoom level in the menu. The highest zoom levels only make sense when mounted on a tri-pod. What is clear for each light condition the camcorder setting need to be optimized. The automatic setting is only ok for casual filming in good conditions in my opinion.
As said the Everio records in MPEG-2. This is DVD quality recording. That also means the files get quickly very big when recording in high resolution mode (ultra fine: 720x576 pixels 8.5mbit/s). The 4GB hard-drive can hold 1 hour of DVD quality recording. To transfer 4GB of video via the USB 2.0 interface takes about 28min. That is about 2.4MB/s. Theoretically the Hitachi 4GB Microdrive should make 4.3 - 7.2 MB/sec. So it could be faster.

The bundled Video Software includes the Cyberlink DVD PowerProducer, PowerDirector Express and Player. The PowerDirector Express makes it easy to produce movies with music, caption and generate files for DVDs or other compressed formats like DivX with a convenient wizard. I like the PowerDirector Express so far. No need to look into the manual and all works with drag'n'drop. The PowerProducer 2 Gold is used to create DVDs and Photo slide-shows. The Player can be used to play back the MPEG 2 files, although other players like the DivX player can do that too. More details on this DVD suite on CyberLink.

I am not sure if this video sample (1.7MB, DivX Avi) is any help in determine the quality as I of course had to convert it down for online publishing. The quality of the video mostly depends on good light. When recording in ultra-fine mode the video is as good as I have seen on conventional DV camcorders. The battery loads fairly quick with 1 hour 35min. On the other hand maximum continuous recording is only 1 hour 5min. I got the same battery life JVC states in the handbook. So a second battery pack would become very handy. The JVC BN-VM200U battery is available in several European stores for around 77 Euros. In the US I only heard that JVC.com is selling the Everio batteries directly.

Taking Photos
I am actually impressed with the quality of the photos the 2MP camera can take. The maximum photo resolution is 1600 x 1200. The photos can either be stored on the microdrive or on the SD Card. The two storage media actually map as two external drives when connecting the Everio via USB to a PC. I don't have a SD Card available (only Sony Memory Sticks) to test. Theoretically 5,500 photos fit onto the 4GB drive. That is a lot. The camera mode of the GZ-MC200 has all the features you would expect from a digital camera including: self-timer, continuous shooting, red-eye reduction, macro. Below are a couple of sample photos. JVC also bundles a photo manager to the camcorder, but I did not test it.

JVC Everio Sample Photos compared with DSC-T3 Sample Photos
The Cyber-shot T3 sample photos are from my Sony T3 review a couple weeks ago. The objects in the photo are not entirely similar. What I can say is that JVC Everio 2MP are not a big disadvantage to the 5MP the T3 has. A lot is dependent on the White Balance setting. The JVC has a way to calibrate the White Balance manually rather easily. I can just hold the lens against a white wall or paper and hold the play button when selecting manual WB. The camcorder remembers the setting even after power off.

Voice Recording
One thing that I recognized when recording video is the excellent sound quality. Even when playing back the video on the camcorder it sounds good via the mono speaker. The Everio also has a special voice only recording mode. The recording can than be played back like on a dedicated voice recorder gadget. This mode is quite useful for reporters.

Misc
JVC Everio GZ-MC200 can be directly connected to a TV of course via S-Video or composite. The picture quality is great. Its also nice to see the menu on the big screen. For Europe it comes with a SCART adaptor.
I got some questions from I4U readers on Apple compatibility of the JVC Everio. Well the bundled software is only for Windows. The Documentation does not mention Apple. Theoretically the Everio should be recognized via the USB connector as external drives by Macs. The video files with the extension MOD are standard MPEG-2 format and can be opened with any software that supports it.

The GZ-MC200 documentation states that the camcorder is compatible with the CF Microdrives from Hitachi. It also says Microdrives with less than 1GB are not supported. I don't know if it would support larger than 4GB microdrives. CF Flash Cards from Lexar, SanDisk and Hagiwara Sys-com are compatible. SD cards from Panasonic, Toshiba and SanDisk are certified.

Conclusion
To answer the question from the Intro, the JVC Everio GZ-MC200 lives up to my expectations. It is a great device and has the it factor and early adopter coolness. The Coolness also comes with drawbacks. The battery life of 1 hour is not that great. The Everio gets quite warm and the documentation talks a lot about how the Everio will shut itself off if it gets to hot. For my taste there is too much talk about this. It never happened though so far. The data transfer rate from the microdrive to the PC is slow. The video quality is great. I mean this is full DVD quality coming from this small digital camcorder not MP4. If you want to record hours and hours of video in one setting this Camcorder is not for you. If you want a small camcorder that records DVD quality video without having to digitize the video and do not want to deal with tapes the JVC Everio GZ-MC200 is for you.

How to Buy
The JVC Everio GZ-MC200 sells currently for $1,199.99 on Amazon.com in the USA and you can compare prices on other stores.
In the UK use Shopping UK for instance to find the best price.

Specifications

[CyberLink DVD Solution]

Intel® Pentium®III 700MHz or higher (Pentium®IV 2GHz or higher recommended) 128MB RAM or higher (256MB RAM or higher recommended)

If you have questions about the JVC Everio, please email us.