Gateway DV-S20 Review

Write a Review

onewhoknows • November 2, 2003
Rating: 2/5
I bought this from the Gateway On-Line Store nad was immediantly taken by it’s small size. However the movies it takes are worthless…grainy and low light,,,,plus I could never get the video to play on my Apple Mac. Tried converting the asf files and all….No where did it say Windoze only for the OS……I called the customer support people who claimed it was supported in the Apple OS but called me back to say they could not get it to wok either….This is classic you get what you pay for….Shappy implementation and even worse movie quality…
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Ken • November 17, 2003
Rating: 3.5/5
Very nice small size. Adequate image quality. Not good in low light situations. Audio distorts on loud sounds. Easy to use.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Jim C. • November 19, 2003
Rating: 1/5
I cannot get any of my computers – 3 PCs, 2 Macs – to play the ASF files that it creates. I get a generic “no codec available” file, but I thought Windows Media Player played ASF files?

I can’t test further without opening the cable and/or software, and I really don’t want to pay a 10% restock fee due to incompatablity. So back it goes. What a shame, such great potential for a fun toy.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Manuel benavente • November 20, 2003
Rating: 4/5
To import asf files with the Gateway DV-S20 camcorder you must to exec the DVS Importer program and extract these files with that program included in the CD Roms of the Gateway DV-S20.

After this operation you can run the .asf files downloading the latest version of the Windows Media Player (9.0) from the Microsoft web site and you will see you nice shots or videos. Best regards from Spain, Manuel.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Mark Nelson • November 25, 2003
Rating: 0.5/5
I own it. I’ve had it for a month. It has made me lose both Halloween and now Thanksgiving at my son’s school due to it’s crappy quality. Video ONLY works in bright sunlight. Photos ONLY work in bright sunlight. The flash washes out EVERYTHING. Complete crap! Junk!
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Rich in LA • November 30, 2003
Rating: 0.5/5
I bought a gateway dv-s20 camcorder with mpeg4. It is a total piece of crap. It only works in bright bright light. On an overcast day, the LOW LIGHT sensor is still on. Pretty bad. The video and stills are pathetic. The photo quality is as sharp as a pair of urine soaked sweatpants.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Denis • December 1, 2003
Rating: 4/5
J’ai utilisÃ© l’appareil pendant deux semaines et il fonctionne trÃ¨s correctement. Excellent rapport qualitÃ©-prix
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Johnny • December 3, 2003
Rating: 0.5/5
It is a total piece of crap. It only works in bright bright light. The battery life is… well, ZERO. i had to replace the battery after 1 1/2 hrs of on and off use. The video and stills are pathetic. You are wasting your money on this piece of crap. If you buy this you are flushing $200 down the toilet.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
honestTed • December 25, 2003
Rating: 4/5
I spent the entire day testing the multi-cam the day I recieved it. I did everything I expected … and no more. So I am very satisfied. I use my other digital camera or camcorder to important or low light footage.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
D.T.Walker • December 26, 2003
Rating: 4/5
What a great package! I bought the DV-S20 as a Christmas present for my teenage daughter. What I got was a respectable 2.0 Megapixel still camera that is capable of extended video. It was half as expensive, at $99.00, as the typical 2.0 Megapixel still camera, but it’s small size and audio/video capabilities give her so much more portability & capability. We’ve been into digital imaging for a few years and have learned that “portability” is makes a real difference. If you’ve got the camera with you all the time…important memories don’t get away from you!

I also want to mention that the picture quailty was very reasonable, the camera did better than expected in low light situations and the audio didn’t “wash-out” as indicated by some reviews. This is a lot of camera for the price!
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Greg • December 26, 2003
Rating: 3.5/5
I found a niche for this thing…as a helmet cam. Small enough to fit on my helmet (in a custom housing), works great outside in bright light, the housing mutes the sound a bit to avoid oversaturation, and it can run long enough for a whole ski run without problems. For $99 after rebate, I can afford to trash it. :-)
It won’t replace a real video camera, but who carries a real video camera around in his pocket? This one is good for what it is.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
jbach39 • December 28, 2003
Rating: 3.5/5
Comming from someone who has been into Digital Imaging for years now, I decided to try this Gateway Digital Camcorder, I have had it a day so far and here are my conclusions, as a camera, it’s not bad, not a 2 MP cam suitable for portraits (going on what I have seen so far) since it is a prefocused cam, there’s no closeups, would probably work for group photos or scenery photos, it’s strength is in it’s video mode, since it will do about 20-25 fps, it is slightly more capable than most regular digital cameras that do video (with sound) (higher framerate than most digital cameras), I bought this to replace my Aiptek DV2, similar idea, no flash, and no zoom at all, and slower framerate (and only 1.3 MP resolution for the still photos), the only thing the DV2 has over the DV-s20, is that the DV2 has manual focus..

The DV-S20 also is an MPEG-4 camcorder, which should make for smaller video files (and better for use in streaming video).
I’d suggest this for someone wanting a small photo/video cam to keep with them, or a student, or someone just interested in getting into video for their website, or just for videos of life in general
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Vikram • December 29, 2003
Rating: 4.5/5
Earlier I was thinking about affording too much to buy a handycam? Then the gateway mail-in rebate 100$ offer does a lot for me. Its worth buying it more use than its cost! Easy to have it in ur pocket :) take good pictures or capture video of good quality. Maybe not comparable with other costly handycams , but its worth buying it for short purposes. You no need to bother about tapes etc at all. Its a real deal buddy ! Smallest handycam in the world?
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
dan • January 1, 2004
Rating: 5/5
video quality is good, great frame rate for a mini cam i open the asf files on windows98 and windowsXP using windows media player9, it does come with software to convert asf to mpeg but i dont use it,

great camera for the money
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
SuperMav59 • January 4, 2004
Rating: 4/5
I just got this little camera as a Christmas present. At first I was drawn to the idea of taking pictures as well as recording video in such a small device. I have been pleasantly suprised thus far with its performance. Everything has an ease of use that rivals any other camera I have used. For the price ( mine was purchased with a $100 rebate on sale for only $99), it is totally worth it. I also got the $40 accessory kit, very useful. The picture quality and video quality are substancial, but not professional grade by any means. The samples on this web site are a dead on representation. The sound is just fine. The only drawback that has been mentioned countless times is the “low light” that is displayed on the screen often while in use. Unless there is sufficient light, it’s difficult to see through the LCD screen. The screen itself is great, and rotates a full 180 degrees. So, other than the need for bright light, this little Gateway is fun, easy, and gets the job done well. After experimenting with the flash settings and knowing when to use which, the camera takes great looking pictures. The internal memory is more than enough, and easily expandable. It connects easily to my computer, and all the files work just fine with it, and with the included software. You don’t need to be an Einstein to use this camera, so I’m not sure why so many users writing reviews had so much difficulty. It’s simple and compact. I fully recommend it for someone who is not too intense in digital photography, but still wants a reliable and handy tool for taking pictures and video. It’s a great buy.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Joe • January 6, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
Still shots are fuzzy at best and vidio was unusable .

Please ,Don’t waste your money.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Tony • January 11, 2004
Rating: 1/5
I’m just disgusted with the DV-S20 from Gateway. The video is very very crunchy. It starts, stops, starts stops. Color is poor. Low light is defined as anything NOT in direct sun. Stills are very poor, usually yellow orange. Save your money. These other folks who think it’s OK must have very low expectations of Gateway. Of course, that’s the right attitude for Gateway.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
mel in Brooklyn • January 12, 2004
Rating: 3.5/5
I bought the DV-S20 with the $100 rebate and think that it’s well worth the money. The stills are very sharp and the flash options work just fine. If you want closeups just hold a cloaseup lens in front of the lens(a supplementary lens as used in still cameras) and use the LCD for framing and focus check like in an SLR. It won’t beat my mini DV video camera in any video shooting, but tiny as my mini-DV camera is it doesn’t fit in my shirt pocket for quick recording at any time. Anyone getting fuzzy stills should realize that a camera as tiny as this has to really be held steady. I used to hear the same complaints about the APS tiny cameras. You can’t wave it about and get sharp images. I had no problems opening the videos in Windows media reader version 9.0. It’s a free download from Microsoft if you don’t have it.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Ron • January 24, 2004
Rating: 4/5
I received this as a Christmas present. It is a fun gadget and with a little care produces very useable point and shoot video or stills. Users should realize that it is very hard to hold such a light camera still. Much of the poor image quality in “low light” is due to camera shake. Try it on a tripod with the self timer and you should see a difference.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Patty • February 5, 2004
Rating: 1/5
I bought this camera and the pictures are terrible. They come out too light and are always smear. You have to hold the camera completely still to take a 1/2 way decent picture. Terrible. To return it I had to pay a 15% restocking fee. DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
NegPol • February 16, 2004
Rating: 3.5/5
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dvs20/
A group dedicated to the little camera. Consider it an ongoing review.
It is a good little camera, just dont move it when you want a picture.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Angus J • April 19, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
What a total piece of junk! Poor color, poor light sensing, and HORRIBLE support from Gateway. No wonder they are closing all their stores. With service and products this bad. Save your money.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Mike • April 28, 2004
Rating: 3/5
Yeah having it does make you feel like James Bond but it won’t take videos in indoor light even during the day. I liked the idea of using it as a helmet can, out to the halfpipe I go :)
Rating: 6 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Will • April 28, 2004
Rating: 2.5/5
I bought it as a display model for 50 bucks. It has 64 megs of internal memory, which is pretty cool, the sound distorts when loud, and the low light is pretty bad. Mainly I don’t like that I can’t set the flash to always be on, which is needed to off set the white balance in low light situations, that are still too bright to kick on the flash settings. Work great for what I needed, wish the flash would stay on.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Susan B • May 2, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
Well, I thought that I’d struck gold, but it turned out to be cesspool of problems. The battery life is poor, the video is very bad, the photos are orange, and gateway is folding up and won’t take a return. Stay away from gateway products.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
ramesh • May 11, 2004
Rating: 1.5/5
i personally own one. Got carried away buy it small size and its flashyness. It performs bad in low light though you have flash. Battery life is ok !!
Rating: 3 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Brad Ginn • July 1, 2004
Rating: 4/5
if you are having problems with low-light then get out of the dark!!! You can also go into set up and change the lighting for shade, lamp, daylight or flourescent. This camera takes the still images(not great detail but what do you expect for a 2.1 mp camera) and video. I bought the 256 mb chip and can get up to 47 minutes of video with audio!!! Beat that with other digital camera/video cameras out there. I have not yet tried to view on the computer but I know it will work because I know how to use a computer unlike sonme of the other genuises writing reviews. Note to consumer** if you buy a product that interacts with a computer, you might want to know how to use that on?off button before your purchase it.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
chinajo • July 4, 2004
Rating: 2/5
I bought this in December it is now June and the back rubber door doesn’t stay closed and the battery door doesn’t stay shut because a piece broke off to make matters worse it was open at some point I don’t know when but my SD card fell out and I was not able to upload my pics in the camera until I “purchase” another card, GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Rating: 4 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Kimberly • July 17, 2004
Rating: 5/5
this camera is kick. the quality may be low, but you can change that with the ‘one, two, three stars’ option…more stars means better quality.
i took the camera to a concert and it got moshed on. all i lost were the rechargeable batteries. it has some battle scars, but this thing is a trooper. even my memory card stayed intact.
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Jack Fors • July 28, 2004
Rating: 2.5/5
I cracked the cd that contained the DVS Importer program and have been unable to get a replacement from Gateway. If someone has this camera. Could you please copy this file off your cd and e-mail me. I will gladly pay a reasonable price for it. Thanks

jfors3@comcast.net
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Phoenix • August 3, 2004
Rating: 1/5
… I have only had this camera for about 24 hours, and I’m not impressed at all. Granted, it’s not a top-of-the-line camera, and I wasn’t expecting it to be. But I’ve gone through two sets of batteries (good batteries, not cheap ones), and when it recorded the last five seconds of movie that the camera could hold, it froze up completely… the only way I could turn it off was to remove the batteries.
Honestly, even if you are just looking for a cheap camera, spend a little more money and buy a better one than this… you’ll probably save yourself some money when you consider the money you’ll end up spending on batteries for this camera.
Rating: 2 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Bob • August 9, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
I ended up paying around $20 due to rebates for the camera and accessory kit through HSN. It is absolutely not worth more than that. You must have adequate lighting for the flash to work. Movie quality is all washed out. Outside pix are very, very sensative to sunlight washout. Too bad. I bought a Toshiba 2 megapixel T20 instead and it works like a charm.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Tony • August 12, 2004
Rating: 4/5
This camera can produce good results if tests are made to find what works best. I found turning off auto white balance and setting exposure to -.6 gives good results. Also movies are less jerky if camera movement is kept to a minimum.The whole point of this camera is low cost and portability. You get what you pay for . This camera will capture moments more expensive cameras miss because you left it home in fear of damaging it. This is a carry always cheap and cheerfull always ready camera. Dont expect DVD quality from the movies and you wont be dissapointed.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
margaret • September 18, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
I went on vacation to Mexico, learned how to use this camera in all that sunlight and took beautiful pictures that I saw on preview. However something happened

and all 100 shots were some how deleated from the hard drive. That hurt. Gateway was of no use as to way this happened. Has any one else had this problem.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
• September 21, 2004
Rating: 0.5/5
… Worked for two photos, then the rest were all shaded pink, battery life is a joke, you better buy them by the case!!
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
joe f. • October 7, 2004
Rating: 4/5
Pics are nice…they come out well but only in good lighting. For me the flash actually helped because in some of the poor lighting pics i have taken it made them usefull. Havent used it much for video but lighting is a factor. But all in all the sheer ease of use an very small size more than make up for its minor faults.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
mel gerson • October 14, 2004
Rating: 4.5/5
I submitted a review early in 2004 and have since learned how to use the DVS importer and Pinnacle Studio 8 which comes with the included CD. You can add text and music along with great transitions (fades, wipes, etc). I think the whole package is great fun. I take it everywhere. The flash stills are often orangey, but Paint shop Pro and other software programs do an automatic color balance that works very well.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
whatever • October 14, 2004
Rating: 4/5
Only a moron pays $89.99 for this product and expects comparable video quality to DV camcorder at 5x the cost!!
Great for what it is: low cost (disposable) video recorder that you can carry at all times and not worry (too much) about losing.
Rating: 8 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Primitivo • November 9, 2004
Rating: 2.5/5
I bought my DV-S20 from Maple Shade Gateway which relocated already. I want tobuy the accessory kt but I do not knoe where it went. My S-20 was 200 dollars yet. If I postponed a week it would havecost me only 99 dollars, but I was so fascinated by the appearance and size. About performance ==I am satisfied with the still pictures at large and fine settings. Theyare very very good and clear if taken with enough light. The video is very poor, so I still use

my analog videocam. I bought a 256 mb SD card so my videos can last for 30 minutes. It is satisfactory if you know how to use it. I use it in well lt places butnot on bright sunny places. My still pics taken in poor lights can be enhanced verywell with photoimpression editing tools.
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Beth • November 16, 2004
Rating: 2.5/5
anyone know how i can get the software for the gateway 2.1 mega pixel digital mpeg4 camcorder. Mine got broke in a move, wandered if anyone could point me to where i could download from internet free drivers or order software. any help greatly appreciated
Rating: 5 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
mel • January 2, 2005
Rating: 4.5/5
I love the camera but started having trouble with the DVS importer (for editing videos) It opens for a few seconds and then disappears from the screen. I’ve tried uninstalling it and reloading but it doesn’t work.

Does anyone have any ideas???
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Simon • January 6, 2005
Rating: 0.5/5
Gateway is offering that 100$ mail in rebate for the one and only reason that they know this camera is complete junk. Very disapointed at Gateway. Do not buy this camera.
Rating: 1 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
mel • January 10, 2005
Rating: 4.5/5
I’ve submitted several positive reviews for the camera but began having trouble with the pinnacle software -DVS importer. Solution: stop using it and switch to Windows movie maker 2.1 (a free download) it works great with almost the same features and does not require the import feature like Pinnacle’s software.
Rating: 9 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
GL Wilbert • April 23, 2005
Rating: 3.5/5
Camera is ok for the price…

Never buy a Gateway computer! Gateway

has a real customer service problem.

All in All they SUCK BAD!!!

BE Aware, They make them sound great,

Really just Junk.
Rating: 7 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.
Amy • August 17, 2007
Rating: 5/5
I buy so many cameras and recently found this camera since my computer crashed and everything erased
I need the software. Anyone have it or know where to download it please tell me
Also willing to buy the CD software & accessories!
Rating: 10 :: 0 out of 0 people found this user review helpful.