I didn't pay much more than that brand new about 7 months ago from B&H. Not much of a bargain if you ask me.

Well, I didn't say they were a bargain -- I said that's who has them if someone really wants one. I thought B&H had them for a couple hundred more ($2799?) when they had them new, so the price isn't ridiculous, as these are brand new, not refurbs, and are just apparently "clearance priced" to get them out of inventory.

Given that the few web dealers who claim to have them are asking as much as $4k (!) then the Sony Outlet price isn't too bad.

The HVR-V1U is only $3300 (after the rebate) at B&H.

Refurb FX7s are now available online (from Sony):

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...&storeId=10151

Looking at prices on many of the cameras on the Sony site it looks like they are charging street price for refurbs claiming big savings off of the retail. I looked at a couple of the cameras at B&H finding that they are (or were) the same price.

As of 10:15pm 3-30-08:
Sony upped the price on the refurbed FX7's to $2,850.

Yeah, that really sounds pretty outrageous for a refurb. But I guess with supply dwindling they can price however they want and still move units.