Hello, I just joined and it looks like a great board so far!
I am in the market for anew camcorder and am thinking about a MiniDV from JVC. I have found a good deal on the "JVC GRDV500". Has anyone here used one and if so how did you like it? I will be using it for shooting track and field video mostly as well as for family events ect.
That is the link to the JVC camera I am interested in and it seems to be the cheapest out there thus far. Thnkas for any advice/feedback as it is greatly appreciated.
This company is a joke. Run away as fast as you can! DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY, NO MATTER WHAT YOU READ. I am convinced most of the positive reviews are written by employees. My order was promised before I left for a trip, and I even upgraded to an express delivery to be sure. They promised within 5 days, and it took around 15. The customer service is pathetic. They will NOT provide any shipping tracking number, nor will they even email an order confirmation, leaving you completely in the dark. They tried to tell me the hold up was b/c the credit card info I gave them was incorrect. Funny considering the charge was approved the day after I ordered it. I can't stress enough, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! Just google digitallydiscovered... You'll see all the bad reports on it.
I would also say that for any expensive electronic equipment like a camcorder etc, you should really buy from a physical store with a good name (like Jessops in the UK), or if you REALLY have to buy online only use a top-name company with proper support and returns policies. Last thing you want when your cam needs fixing is trying to get an online company to fix it (takes forever and you need to pay for p&p). Any decent `real` store would offer a price-match or discount to compete with the online price.
If you decide to order from this company (which I STRONGLY advise against), be sure to record your phone conversations with this company. If, and when, they don't deliver on time, keep in mind a little known law called The Federal Mail Order Rule. It's not a very well known law, but the penalties are stiff for the crap that this company pulls. I would love to have taken this company to their knees, but the only proof I have of doing business w/ them is my credit card statement showing when the charge was approved. I have no proof of how rediculously late the delivery was. So, do yourself a favor... Record your conversations w/ this company, and DEMAND a trackable shipping method. I requested this, but they didn't do it. Make sure it gets done. The following link is more info on this law.