Digital Cam Cam works ok for about 20 sec when a "communication error" message appears on screen. This occurs when recording and playback. I turn off and start again but problem keeps re-occuring. Batteries are fully charged.

I was encountering the same problem and solved it simply. Using a clean pencil eraser, I gently cleaned the contacts on the battery and the camera where they connect. The camera communicates with the battery, and if it cannot talk to it, it shuts down.

Be sure that you keep them clean, and if you wish to keep this from happening, put a small (very small) amount of petroleum jelly on the contacts, to keep the air from corroding them.

I get the same thing even with the original JVC battery. I can't get this thing to turn on unless it's plugged into the wall. Not happy.

If your batteries are NOT JVC batteries, then the problem is with your batteries. JVC batteries have some "smart circuitry" in them that helps the camera know and tell you how much juice is left. After about 20 seconds, the camera gives up trying to get the info from the non-JVC batteries and displays the communication error.

Real JVC batteries could fix the issue.