An outdoorsman MUST HAVE!
You need this camcorder if you do a lot of outdoors activities. I have higher end cameras I take with me camping but I leave them in the trailer all weekend because I'm afraid they'll get damaged (like the last two!). This camera is VERY high quality construction, flip out screen hinge is tight and all the components feel solid. Definitely get extra batteries as the battery doesn't last all that long (maybe I need to adjust my screen brightness?? had not had it long enough to know), but with a large capacity sd card (bought an 8gb card for under 20 bucks on Amazon) you can shoot all weekend (the movie timer showed 6 hours of record time on an empty card)... I love this camera already, highly recommend it!

PS- the video review was what did it for me, those people did a great job!

pretty dope camera
This video camera is a steal for what it can do. I just got it and have been recording a lot of concerts and outings with friends and it shoots really good video. Its also great that it fits in your pocket. I still recommend carrying around a camera because the pics dont come out that good at nite, plus its kinda hard to have some stranger take a pic of you and your friends. By the time they figure out how to take a pic, the moment has passed. Its great that its waterproof, records in ipod format and that you can use sd cards to record on.

The things I dont like about it: I wish there was more optical zoom, the battery life is about 45 mins to an hour of continuous recording. The price of aftermarket batteries are cheap, but they dont last as long as the sanyo battery. The picture quality in low light conditions sucks. The color of the camera is kinda funky, but the things that it can do makes up for it.

Overall, I still recommend getting it. Great price, great video & sound quality, perfect size for carrying in your pocket, sd cards, cheap aftermarket batteries, and records in ipod fomat.

Great for pool-side videos and pictures
We have a pool in our backyard with two young boys. The Xacti has been awesome at capturing really cool underwater video and pictures. Plus the camcorder is great at capturing above water and video...

SUPER!
I bought this camcorder a month ago and have been enjoying it ever since. I decided to get a Sanyo because my mother has an older model which I liked very much. This one seemed even more interesting due to its waterproof feature. The price of this Sanyo Xacti is reasonable considering that it works perfectly under water. I tried it out while canoying down a river the other day and it does make great videos and photos.
When using the macro, it has happened that some pictures end up blurry if you are not using the flash light even if it is not that dark, something that bothers me a little. But if you make sure you're using enough light, you can do without the flash (which can cause unwanted shadows). Apart from that, everything else works perfectly fine and I am more than happy to have it. It is a fantastic allround camcorder you can use for wherever you go without having to worry if it gets wet or so, just what I wanted since I like to do a lot of outdoor activities. It is small, so it does not bother carrying it around all the time and it is very easy to handle. Love the quality of the videos!

Nice idea, poor ergonomics, and stopped working in four months
Nice, compact to carry around but really poor ergonomics. It is tough to hold it in a "pistol" grip and use the thumb to press the various buttons. My index finger almost always ends up over the lens.

Kept it because I liked filming my kids under water occasionally. Should have sent it back as it stopped working after four months of limited use. I find out that they only have a 90 day labor warranty on this unit and I have to ship it from California to some "TV Repair" store in Illinois to get it fixed. It is now lying around in my junk bin. No thanks, I am not throwing good money after bad money.

Unless you really need to shoot under water, stay away!