I've seen comments in a number of forums that suggest using an inexpensive MiniDV camcorder as a playback deck during editing is a good idea (thus saving wear and hours on my recently purchased PD170). I'm wondering how (or if) that affects image quality. Would Sony's DCR-HC28 be good choice in such an application?

Digital is digital. The cost or quality of the playback deck means nothing as long as the ones and zeros get down the cable.

What you will find is the inexpensive transports are slow in fast forward and rewind and generally respond sloppily to commands.

That said, if you are capturing a tape all at once, it doesn't matter at all.

And you have a backup camera.

Thanks for the help and the quick response.