Posted by JT on 12/09/05 01:46

Thanks for posting that. Kind of a surprise - even at a labor rate of
say $80/hour burdened, that's a lot of hours.

I ended up sending mine off to VideoOneRepair, out near Santa Barbara.
They're fairly unique, I guess, in volunteering to examine your camera
and return it for free if you don't want their help. And someone
knowledgeable will talk specifics on the phone. Of course unless
you're working for California law enforcement and have sent them a
well-documented problem (I'm not) you have to trust their quote.

So my PD-150 - a eBay purchase, so I don't really know its history -
was eating all the tape I was willing to feed it. Cleaning tape and
alcohol swab on things in the path didn't do anything. Their
recommendation was to replace the mechanical unit (which they quickly
pointed out does not include the heads) for $700. Parts, labor, tax,
shipping. "Worn parts in the path. No, we can't pinpoint the cause.
Sometimes just letting the camera sit for a while will do that." That
didn't seem quite right to me, but wtfdik? Plan B would just replace
the worn parts for $590 or so. Again, parts and labor, so handily
beats Sony. And since I suddenly learned that I could put the camera
to good use this weekend, they agreed to fix it and ship it back this
very day.

They guarantee the camera - surprisingly, the words were "completely,
not just what we replaced - we go over it thoroughly" - for six
months. Maybe I got a song and dance and all it really needed was
slightly stronger holy water than I had, but assumingly they know what
they're doing and the camera does work properly going forward, I guess
it was the best I was going to do. Sony would have gotten the same
money (plus parts, in case any really were needed).

Note that despite my cynical tone, I have no known fault with the
shop. They certainly are anxious to work with the customer when it
comes to schedule, and afaik are honest and knowledgeable as can be.
They do nothing but Sony and Canon, lending a little credence to them
being a professional kind of place, and if you scrounge around google,
you'll find a smattering of happy customers, and no complaints.



"Matt" <mttmrrsn.nospamme@gmail.com> wrote:

>"Matt" <mttmrrsn_blablabla@gmail.com> wrote in message
>news:2sednbOp5JHYCw7eRVn-hw@comcast.com...
>>
>> "JT" <NgPoster@missing.org> wrote in message
>> news:lq62p1pin78ajnugntk66v7n0dmr0tcbom@4ax.com...
>>> Cool! I stand correct and am happy to hear the number. I'm surprised
>>> that they still do it, though - videoonerepair, a private shop with a
>>> decent rep, quoted me more than that to replace the transport
>>> mechanism NOT including the heads.
>>>
>>> Which Sony center do you use?
>>>
>> I believe it was the one in Teaneck, NJ and they also quoted me a 2 week
>> turn around, provided there was nothing major wrong with the camera.
>>
>
>Just in case anyone cares, the flat rate did not include parts...
>

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