The Pretec DV-4200 is a solid-state video camcorder that records to Secure Digital cards rather than videotape. It’s also a 2.1 megapixel digital still camera with a 1.8″ preview screen. The DV4200 records direct to MPEG4 compression at 30 frames per second, with audio in AAC. It can also handle other video input sources, such as “home movies” and record direct to the SD card. While this sounds pretty cool, limitations in the size and price of the SD cards make them a questionable choice for video cameras, though Pretec claims that up to 20 minutes of video can fit on a 64 meg card.
Hardware Beyond the Hype