Customer Rating: 
Summary: Broken After 18 months, Otherwise *Great*, (note sarcasm)
Comment: I once thought this was a great camcorder for all the reasons already noted. Great video and audio quality, easy to use, good price.
But guess what? It's broken and out of warranty, and in order to even get a quote on the cost to fix it, I must send it to Sony, because Sony doesn't allow anyone but Sony repair their cameras any more. So, instead of going to one of the hundreds of capable and convenient repair shops in Denver, where I can get an estimate and repairs fast, I have to mail my camera to Texas. TEXAS!
So what's wrong with it? The camera refuses to properly load any miniDV tapes now - I get an error that says "Reload tape" and the error message won't go away no matter how many times I reload the tape. Apparently this is a common failure, a quick google search shows this same problem in discussion threads all over the net. And, believe it or not, the most common suggestion to fix this error is to smack the camera repeatedly on the side to "unstick" a stuck part. This did not work with my camera, but good luck to you if you buy this piece of junk.
This is the last Sony I will ever purchase. Been burned too many times by Sony now - a TV, a PDA, a digital camera, and now this. I'm buying a Panasonic PV-GS80 miniDV Camcorder to replace this doorstop. I bought an Olympus 790SW camera to replace my broken Cybershot, and it works great. I should have learned my lesson by now, but I'm brand-loyal to a fault. Sony pushed me too far this time. No more Sony. Never again.
