I agree with you completely that that's the way it should be. Unfortunately that's not the way it is. It affects me directly because I want to purchase a Canon from one of our DVINFO sponsors one of these days in the not too distant future. Unfortunately they're all in the States. I'm in Canada and even after the currency conversion and paying the sales tax I'm still money ahead buying south of the border so I'd really like to go through them. But alas, Canon Canada tells me I'm on my own for service if I purchase from anyone except a Canadian dealer and they won't do warranty service on a camera purchased in the States from anyone, even from a Canon authorised dealer.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I called AMEX last week and had them make some notes on my account about this purchase just in case. I called Prestige today ready to do battle, but they were very pleasant to deal with. They gave me an RMA number with almost no questions asked and said they would include some kind of LCD cleaning kit with the replacement for my trouble. My wife is due in 11 days so this is going to be cutting it close. I hope they are true to there word and don't give me any grief over the return and send out the new unit promptly.

I had the same problem !! tapping the camera against something hard gently but firmly "jarred" it back into proper functioning but now a few days later its worse

still images are useless (banding horrizontal like old tv reception) and video requires max ISO even in broad daylight. its hosed.

the ny vendor time2envy NOW tells me its a grey market import and won't replace it. I am disputing the charge on the credit card and desire a US VENDOR with the US VERSION with the option of an extended warranty.

Suggestions ?

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

I'll save Chris the effort, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/.

Maybe they have US versions. Basically, if your version has this, the US version might have the same.

Well I finnaly got my return unit in last night from Prestige and I could tell just by looking at the box that it was a used repacked camera. The battery was fully charged and the date and time were allready set. Not a good sign. It seemed to work OK at first but after playing around with it it will not go into playback mode and after a couple minutes of use the the screen becomes all blurry. If you tap it against something it will work for a minute and then goes blurry again. So I will be returning it for a refund and will be calling AMEX to make sure the charge is removed. I wish I could just buy local but I don't know of any store in San Diego that has it.

Nathan

If you want a brick and mortar store, try Frys. Several of the stores in LA/Orange Coountry have them. Just don't expect internet pricicng.

Also, Best Buys has them in their distribution center, but not the best price.

well I started the dispute process with the credit card. I don't expect any issues since they never told me it was grey market import (a nono) I am just going to wait till I get the money back and order it from amazon. its $120 more but its from a reputable source and they have a reasonably priced 4 year warranty for it.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com

Jeff,
I just checked at the Frys here in San Diego two days ago and they did not have one on display. I did see an add in the paper for Ritz Camera that showed a picture of the HD1, but I don't know if a local Ritz store actually has them in stock.

I called Prestige again and got an RMA number for my second defunct camera. I have been unhappy with the merchandise and the fact that it is grey market, but I must say that Prestige has been easy to deal with and I don't think I will have any problems getting my money back.

I called several Ritz stores here in San Diego and none of them carry the HD1. Can anyone confirm that the HD1 from Amazon.com is a legitament US version camera? I might have to order from them.

Now that I have gotten to play with this camera a little bit I really like it and the quality is much better than my old DV camcorder. My wife immediatly noticed the quality improvment as we watched a clip on our PC. Not to bad for a "toy".

Do they allow you to order one from the Fry stores and they get it sent in (quickly)?

Nathan,

I got my HD1 from Amazon and it seems to be a US market model. They have been great to deal with. I also picked up the spare battery and a card.


Bo

www.bophoto.com/HDV

Nathan,

Look for a warranty card in the box! I originally bought a gray market HD-1 (after telling the sales person I wasn't interested in a gray market cam--he lied). The only difference between the gray market product and the one I subsequently bought from Apple Computer is the presence of the warranty card in the legit product. I returned the gray cam.

-Cal

I just went to order from Amazon.com and was reading the user comments. The top 3 comments mention either the black screen or system error problems that I was having, so this appears to be a fairly common problem with this model. I loved this camera for the two days that I had it and it was partially working, but now I am wondering if I should just wait for something diffrent. Maybe the Sanyo HD2 will have all the bugs worked out. Any thoughts?

One more black screen reported
 

Hi,

One of my friend was also seduced by this little cam and has ordered one in Germany (NURTEC.de), at reception, the camera was not working (black screen) and he sent it back to the internet shop waiting now for a new one.
Sanyo germany is actually offering a 3 year warranty.

My 'Black Screen' problem was repaired under warranty!
 

Hi,

I also experienced the 'Black Screen' problem with my Sanyo VPC-HD1, after it had operated normally for two months.

I had purchased the camcorder from Amazon.com and it came with a Sanyo warranty on Labor for 90-Days and Parts for one year.

First I tried Sanyo's Warranty Option 'A', which used www.sanyoservice.com, to locate a Sanyo repair center close to my home, which is in the San Francisco East Bay. That showed one Sanyo repair shop in San Francisco, but unfortunately, that shop no longer repairs camcorders.

I next tried Sanyo's Warranty Option 'B' which had me call their 'customer support center’ at 1-800-421-5013. They sent me to:

Customer Care Clinic & GSC, Inc.
Mid Valley TV & Electronics
11343 Moorpark Street
Studio City, CA 91602
818-508-0947

I sent my camcorder there via UPS. They repaired it by replacing the "LENS ASSEMBLY", and sent it back to me via UPS. I received it today and every thing seems to be back to normal. They even added a "Service Guarantee for same problem: 30 days labor on work performed and 60 days on part(s) replaced.

I was surprised to find out that my problem was with the "LENS ASSEMBLY"!

Maury