GS 400 Problems
 

My GS 400 is about 5 months old and something went bad with it a couple of weeks ago. When placing a new tape in the camera the camera starts making a sound like it is just spinning and running over and over. When I try and play a prerecorded tape the player seems to be stuck in some sort of fast forward. The picture is all pixelated and missing jumpy. After a few seconds the camera just stops. I have tried the little reset button and menu resets but nothing has worked. If you guys have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Ben, the only thing you can do, and you should do this immediately, is to send your camcorder to Panasonic's factory service center. The sooner you send it out, the quicker you'll get it back. Keep us advised on your progress and good luck,

The Panasonic service center in Elgin, IL is reportedly now outsourcing all GS400 repairs to Valuetech in California. See these links:

Telephone number
Mailing Address

So sad to hear gs400 got so many problem. I bought that gs400 in the hope that I can use gs400 to play back the dv tape recorded on my jvc gy-dv5000. This way will save the head hour of my expensive gy-dv5000.

I thought consumer minidv camera should have some long lasting performance due to huge production volume.

Regards
Leigh

I have every box that came with my camera and all the Japanese writing but I can't seem to find my receipt for the camera. Isn't funny, if I didn't need to send it back I would know right where the receipt was.

Ben, all you need is the Warranty Card in the green envelope. It should be stamped with your dealer's name and the date when the unit was purchased, or, your dealer should have provided a sticker (to be attached to the warranty card) indicating the same info (company name and date of purchase). Your warranty is valid only in Japan.

Allan does that mean I have to send it to Japan?

If you want to avail Warranty, I'd say yes. Your dealer in Japan should help you on that.

FYI, two-way expedited and insured shipping between the US and Japan would cost you around $100-120 but since your unit is covered with 1-year parts and labor warranty, there should be no other cost to consider unless your dealer charges you for handling. I estimate a turnaround period of 3 weeks or less (2 weeks for two-way shipping and 1 week in the service center). In any case, you'd better check with Panasonic US if they would accept repairing your unit. That might cost less even if you pay and that's probably faster.

Good luck.