Vivitar ViviCam 3635

Review Date
March 20, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Reviewed by
Bubba_Gump , Intermediate

Price Paid
$149.00 at Legend Micro (dotcom

Summary
I emailed tech support about this one before I recieved it in the mail because I noticed on the Vivitar website that it could onlly take up to 48MB SD cards. I thought this wierd, so I asked to make sure, and the response was that in fact it had a built-in limitation and could not accept cards above 48MB...so much for the 128 card I bought at the same time from newegg. Oh well. Then the camera arrived just today. I unboxed it, read the quick start guide and assembled all the necessary ingredients (batteries, SD card, etc) and turned it on. Nothing. Well, not exactly, beeping, flashing LED, and nothing. I got an error code 111 and flashing...I was decided not to accept this fate, so I checked the connections of the card and batteries...everything looked okay, but I endeavored to try again. Turned it on, same thing. 12 more on again off agains, ,and it booted the OSD asking for me to set the clock (mind you I had changed nothing about the setup). I set the clock, formatted the SD disk, and turned in off. Went to turn it back on. And it has been a lost cause since then. I emailed tecch support again, I will wait to see what they say, but nothings forbodes well. The site has no mention of what specific error codes mean, the literature supplied is WAY cautious in its wording...of 37 pages, 3 are warnings about how the camera will not work or cause elecric shock if you do this or that. arrgh! Will repost if any miracles take place.

Strengths
Looks nice...like that helps when it doesn't work. And seems to have a great feature set, but again kinda worthless when the thing shipped more or less dead on arrival.

Weaknesses
See above.

Similar Products Used
Vivtar 3630 (few working parts, had me sold on vivtar though quality of pictures is not the best, still overall a good solid camera)

Customer Service
good at getting back to you, but seems like I'm having to use it too much for a person with a physics degree.

Review Date
February 3, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
car_trainer , Intermediate , from Oklahoma

Price Paid
$75.00 at Ebay

Summary
I bought this camera used on Ebay. After several weeks of use I am very pleased. Photo quality on high resolution is great. The standard 8MB SD card only holds 17 high res photos but I bought a 32MB card and it will hold about 70. Very simple to use on full auto but in manual mode you can take control of most functions. Battery life using alkalines was terrible but with NiMh rechargeables I can shoot for days on a single charge. Downloading is easy via USB cable. The joystick zoom control is tiny but OK once you get used to it. After all, the whole camera is SMALL! I'd recommend it highly for beginners or intermediate users.

Strengths
Easy to use. Very small and easy to carry. Great pictures. 30 second video capability.

Weaknesses
Eats alkaline batteries. Use Nimh rechargeables. Joystick control small. No lens cover.

Similar Products Used
Sony Mavica.

Customer Service
No experience.

Review Date
February 1, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
2-5 years

Reviewed by
Ben , Professional

Price Paid
$200.00 at hsn

Summary
This camera is a nice camera, but i really wouldnt recommend it to anyone. The battery life on this camera is ridiculous. You can have brand new batteries, and use the camera for a hour and your batteries are dead. The camera it self takes great pictures, Im sure for the price you can find something better though.

Strengths
Good Quality

Weaknesses
Battery life, Glare Reduction

Review Date
October 19, 2002

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 6 votes

Reviewed by
Thor Jansen , Expert , from Norway

Price Paid
$140.00 at Walmarts

Summary
This little beauty is a bargain! Had a trip to USA a couple of weeks ago, and came across the Vivitar 3635 in a clearance sale at Walmart's, USD 140.-
Very happy with it so far, although I have not have time to read the manual yet, and therefore will find a lot of settings and functions which I am not aware of yet.

Strengths
Inexpensive, you can't miss out on this one.
Small, will fit in your shirt pocket. I see some reviewers are complaining about small size and small buttons, but that small size is of course a strength!
USB-connection to PC, turns up as an extra disk drive when connecting. That is uncomplicated and quick, no need for special fancy upload programs etc.

Weaknesses
Slightly fiddly micro-joystick for controls, the trick is to use your nail to operate it properly.

Similar Products Used
Various digital still and video cameras over several years.

Review Date
September 30, 2002

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
2.33 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
james evan wood , Beginner , from Dothan, AL

Price Paid
$145.00 at Wal-Mart

Summary
I just bought this camera a couple of days ago and found it to be a great bargain. Wal-Mart had it on clearance. K-Mart has same camera for 219.00 I really didn't know what I was looking for, but this camera has a lot of features of the expensive ones. It came with everything needed and downloading to my computer is a snap. I got 2- 8MB SD cards, carrying case, strap ( small), and two alkaline batteries (it can use them up quick, but you can get alternate recharge batteries.
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Strengths
zoom lens works great, once you've taken a picture it will allow you to multiply x2 on LCD monitor, three different modes of quality reproduction allow from holding 17 to 68 pictures, and you have ability to record 3- 15 second movie clips

Weaknesses
It will fit in the palm of your hand and buttons are tiny. Working the toggle switch can be difficult.

Similar Products Used
None