Tired of Tapes! But is the HD1 reliable?
 

I currently own a Sony MiniDV unit. It has served me well but now I'm considering moving to high definition.

What I find tedious about using MiniDV tapes is the non-linear aspect of it. To transfer footage to your computer, you have to do it in realtime. As well, if you want to transfer a particular scene to the computer, there is the added process of rewinding/fastforwarding to the spot on the tape. Too tedious!

What that said, I won't be getting the HDV units (was considering the Sony HC1).

I am seriously considering the Sanyo HD1 but reading about people's experiences of getting units with "black screens" scares me. It seems like the quality control on this model is not very good? Since I only have enough money for the "grey market" model ($600), I doubt I'll get guarantee coverage if my unit goes bad.

Is the HD1's "black screen" still a concern or have Sanyo improved their QC?

Carlos,

You will find very recent posts about black screen and other issues. So I would not disregard this, PARTICULARLY with considering a black-market unit. wait a month and save the money so you can get a straight off the shelves unit from a place like Amazon or somebody else with a US model.

For what its worth, keep in mind that there are LOTS of people reading this forum every day, who do not post, you will find a much higher % of people with problems who post about these, so in reality the camera is probably not really a big problem, just that all online forums seem to reflect more about problems than pleased owners in the beginning of a product life. (well actually that seems to be the case for years to come.)

Regardless, if you do not have the money to play with and loose, then don't purchase a black-market unit..! It will always be a gamble..!

Sincerely Bo Lorentzen

www.bophoto.com/HDV

Thanks for the advice Bo. Your input on this forum about the HD1 and your videos are partly what got me interested in the camera in the first place.

I think I will wait out the summer and at that time get a "legit" HD1 or look into the new H.264 units that are supposed to come out. I hope the AVCHD units from Panasonic that record to SD cards are also finalized by that time.

I have a feeling my current MiniDV unit is my last video camera that takes tapes.

Solid State from now on!

If you only had $200, there would be a dilemma.

But you have the price of a new model on Amazon, very soon - I just checked and it's going for $650.

The dilemma facing you is not grey/not grey... it's HD1/another model.

I would say HD1 because even when the other models come out, they won't be $600.

The $650 price is for a used HD1 from a new seller with zero ratings so I wouldn't bite that deal.

The lowest new model from a reputable seller at Amazon is $719 + Free Shipping which isn't that bad.

Hmmnn...decisions...decisions...!

Yeah, you're right... 'new and used models' from $650, I guess you'd pay a little more for one brand new.

You see my point, though.

It will be easier to wait until new ones are $600 or to find the extra $100 now than to deal with a dodgy unit.

Based on my own experience and reports I've read from other HD1 users, failures tend to be immediate or at least of the "infant mortaility" sort. Accordingly, make sure your HD1 vendor has a good return policy to cover you during the infant mortality period. Even with a generous and reliable return policy, I'd avoid gray market cams!

B&H sells the HD1 for $699, lower than Amazon and just as reputable. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I get far fewer failures with my HD1 than I did on prior cams. My only issues have occurred when I haven't used the right format option to prep the card or when my battery has gotten excessively low and I've pushed to keep going.

You have returned a number of HD1/s, what is the serial number of the latest? Are any of the problems fixed up (bug, auto focus, exposure stepping etc)? Pity people are not putting their serial numbers together? I'll give it a kick-start with a new thread.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=70788

B&H photo
 

I know we don`t talk about ebay but one of our sponsors has there own store on ebay, B&H photo every week they have demo`s or refurb hd1`s
Iv`e noticed hardly anybody bids on them. B&H is reputable, they won`t sell you trash and these units are equiped with a full mfg. warranty like new. You can get them for $400 +/-

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sanyo-VPC-HD1-VP...QQcmdZViewItem

I bought my Sanyo HD1 from B&H on ebay and its working fine for me (touch wood)

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