The Genius G-Shot DV1210 is a very affordable digital camcorder, but is it worth its low cost?

The G-Shot certainly looks the part, and it doesn't lack any features.

We're not entirely sure of the benefit of having an FM radio in a camcorder but it didn't seem to cause any problems.

Although the G-Shot DV1210 has the look and feel of other, more expensive, camcorders, the greatest limitation is the resolution. Video is captured at a rather low 640 by 480 pixels, which can be matched by the video from many digital still cameras.

The DV1210 has the advantage of having much better ergonomics for recording video compared with still cameras - its shape makes it easier to hold steady. Sadly this didn't translate into better quality.

General scenes were acceptable but the video was fuzzy when any movement or zooming was involved. The camera's internal memory is just 32MB, enough for about a minute of video. There is an SD card slot for up to 2GB of storage, so a memory card is a must.

However, in addition to using the battery charger it can also use AA batteries. This could quickly get expensive but is a great way to avoid getting caught short at an important event.

Vista compatible: Yes