I have a Sony camcorder that is about 3 years old. The camcorder
hit some concrete quite heavily after I fell while still holding the
camcorder. A Sony Service Center gave me an estimate of
several hundred dollars to repair the camcorder, but said the
reliability of the repair work cannot be guaranteed. In normal
circumstances, Sony give a 3 months guarantee on their repair
work.

It seems that, although Sony can repair the parts that have been
visibly damaged as a result of the accident, there may be
continuing problems from other components of the camcorder.
Can anyone please explain to me whether it would be sensible
to have the repairs carried out in these circumstances? Does
anyone know the types of ongoing problems that you might
have from a camcorder that has been dropped, even after
repairs have been made to the parts that were visibly damaged?
Are there many very small components of a camcorder that
could have been damaged even though this is not evident
from an initial examination of the damaged camcorder?

Thanks for your help.

Brian

The tape path in a rotary head machine like a camcorder is a very
finicky thing to adjust. I would worry that the camcorder chassis
got warped during the fall which would misalign the various rollers
and guides. I have a Hi8 Sony VCR which always mistracks slightly,
producing white dots on the screen, until I prop one corner up
momentarily, and then it tracks well after that. Why not just buy
a new camcorder?

Albert

Brian MacD ) wrote:
: I have a Sony camcorder that is about 3 years old. The camcorder
: hit some concrete quite heavily after I fell while still holding the
: camcorder. A Sony Service Center gave me an estimate of
: several hundred dollars to repair the camcorder, but said the
: reliability of the repair work cannot be guaranteed. In normal
: circumstances, Sony give a 3 months guarantee on their repair
: work.

: It seems that, although Sony can repair the parts that have been
: visibly damaged as a result of the accident, there may be
: continuing problems from other components of the camcorder.
: Can anyone please explain to me whether it would be sensible
: to have the repairs carried out in these circumstances? Does
: anyone know the types of ongoing problems that you might
: have from a camcorder that has been dropped, even after
: repairs have been made to the parts that were visibly damaged?
: Are there many very small components of a camcorder that
: could have been damaged even though this is not evident
: from an initial examination of the damaged camcorder?

: Thanks for your help.

: Brian

Brian MacD wrote:
I have a Sony camcorder that is about 3 years old.

Batteries are shot...

Time for a new one!

The camcorder
hit some concrete quite heavily after I fell while still holding the
camcorder.

Poor thing!

A Sony Service Center gave me an estimate of
several hundred dollars to repair the camcorder, but said the
reliability of the repair work cannot be guaranteed. In normal
circumstances, Sony give a 3 months guarantee on their repair
work.

"Several" you say. Well "A couple" means two; so "several" means 3 or
more...

Spend $300 for repair work on Electronics in this day and age?

Replace it...

$400 will buy you a DV cabcorder with a Firewire interface, and probably
USB 2 too.

For another $100 the ability to use some sort of a memory card or stick
is added.

Almost any brand you want. Watch the sales, and close-outs and you're
likely to even find Sony in that price range.

It seems that, although Sony can repair the parts that have been
visibly damaged as a result of the accident, there may be
continuing problems from other components of the camcorder.

Like head alignment!

Can anyone please explain to me whether it would be sensible
to have the repairs carried out in these circumstances?

Not in my humble opinion.

Does
anyone know the types of ongoing problems that you might
have from a camcorder that has been dropped, even after
repairs have been made to the parts that were visibly damaged?

After all the cracked plastic is replaced, internally who knows?
Anything from cracked printed circuit boards, to bent metal brackets,
misalignment in the video heads and possibly in some switches, etc.

Who knows!?!!

The thing could decide to eject the tape for no reason, because it
thought you opened the door - due to a misaligned switch or sensor...

How to you demagnetize a thing? Smack it. Drop it. Whack it!

Are there many very small components of a camcorder that
could have been damaged even though this is not evident
from an initial examination of the damaged camcorder?

Plenty!

Thanks for your help.

Brian

Good luck.

Sincerely,

Jack

"Andys cam" wrote in message
...
You need to include the model of the camcorder. Cheap ones are hardly
worth
fixing. If it is a $10,000 camera then it certanly is worth taking a
chance on
the repair

Thanks very much for your reply.

The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.
The repair costs would be about $US700. The question
is what can subsequently go wrong with camcorders that
have been repaired after they have been dropped? Are
such repairs usually successful? What hidden parts could
be affected by a camcorder that has been dropped?

Would it per chance be covered under your home owners insurance? Sometimes,
these things are and you could buy a new one with the insurance money, minus
any deductible. Just a thought!

L.


"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Andys cam" wrote in message
...
You need to include the model of the camcorder. Cheap ones are hardly
worth
fixing. If it is a $10,000 camera then it certanly is worth taking a
chance on
the repair

Thanks very much for your reply.

The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.
The repair costs would be about $US700. The question
is what can subsequently go wrong with camcorders that
have been repaired after they have been dropped? Are
such repairs usually successful? What hidden parts could
be affected by a camcorder that has been dropped?

"Jack Edin" wrote in message
...
snip

Are there many very small components of a camcorder that
could have been damaged even though this is not evident
from an initial examination of the damaged camcorder?

Plenty!

Thanks very much Jack for your reply. Can anyone give me
some more examples of the types of small components that
could have been damaged that would not have been noticed
in an inspection of the camcorder? Although I agree that
it seems more logical to replace the camcorder than to
repair it, prices are somewhat more expensive in Australasia
than in the UK or USA. The main problem is that my insurance
company, despite the no guarantee warning from Sony, wants
the repairs undertaken and has said that, if the repairs fail, they
will pay for further repairs to be done. The insurance company
is most reluctant to pay for a replacement camera until the repair
option has been tried out. My concern is that, if the camera
fails after being repaired, the insurance company could say that
this is from normal wear and tear. I just can't understand why
an insurance company won't heed the advice of Sony that, even
after the repairs have been done, the reliability of the camcorder
cannot be guaranteed!

Brian

"L." wrote in message
o.net...
Would it per chance be covered under your home owners insurance?
Sometimes,
these things are and you could buy a new one with the insurance money,
minus
any deductible. Just a thought!

Yes, the camcorder is insured, but despite the no guarantee
warning from Sony, the insurance company is keen to see if
the repairs would be successful before they will consider the
replacement option. Before I agree to this option, I want to
find out whether the repair of a dropped camcorder is likely
to be successful, or whether there are too many small hidden
parts that could have been damaged which would not be
detected from a routine inspection of the damaged camcorder.

Brian

"Brian MacD" writes:
The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.

A TRV11 wasn't worth anywhere near that much 3 or 4 years ago. I
think they were around $1200 new. You can buy them used on ebay now
for $350 or so. They are consumer cameras, and as such, there will be
a lot of them out there with very low usage (a few shots of the kid's
xmas play, a few more of the cat jumping around, you get the idea).

"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...
"Brian MacD" writes:
The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.

A TRV11 wasn't worth anywhere near that much 3 or 4 years ago. I
think they were around $1200 new. You can buy them used on ebay now
for $350 or so. They are consumer cameras, and as such, there will be
a lot of them out there with very low usage (a few shots of the kid's
xmas play, a few more of the cat jumping around, you get the idea).

That was the price "down under" in Australia and New Zealand. We
could never have bought one for $US1200 here! In local currency they
were well over $3000 here, so you are lucky in the US to have such
good prices!

"Andys cam" wrote in message
...
It is very likely that if the cam goes 3 months after repair without a
malfunction then it is not going to die because of the drop. Head
alignment
would be corrected, if needed, during the repair. Sony is very good about
returning the cam to new specs whenever they do any repairs.

I would expect Sony to do a good job, but they have given a written
"no guarantee" warning and say that there is no guarantee that the
camcorder will perform reliably after it has been repaired.
So if anything does go wrong the day after it has been serviced,
there are no guarantees and no refunds. Also, if you are going away
on holiday where it is not easy to have your camera serviced, who
wants a camcorder that Sony says cannot be guaranteed to perform
reliably? You could easily lose many non-repeatable valuable photo
opportunities. But the insurance company want to take the risk that
the repair will not be successful, but that doesn't help me much if it
breaks down at an inopportune time.

Brian

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 11:08:25 +1200, "Brian MacD"
wrote:


The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.
The repair costs would be about $US700.

OK. You've answered your question. Look what $700 will buy you in a
DV camera today.

If you hadn't been coy about the actual figures in your OP we'd have
got there a lot quicker ;-)

"Andys cam" wrote in message
...
I would expect Sony to do a good job, but they have given a written
"no guarantee" warning and say that there is no guarantee that the
camcorder will perform reliably after it has been repaired.
So if anything does go wrong the day after it has been serviced,
there are no guarantees and no refunds.

He said that Sony would give their standard 90 day guarantee after the
repair.
That covers EVERYTHING even failures outside of the scope of the original
repair.

Unfortunately, this is definitely not the case with my camcorder as
can be seen from the written "no guarantee" warning that I refer
to above. Failures outside the scope of the original repair have
definitely been excluded.

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Jack Edin" wrote in message
...
snip

Are there many very small components of a camcorder that
could have been damaged even though this is not evident
from an initial examination of the damaged camcorder?

Plenty!

Thanks very much Jack for your reply. Can anyone give me
some more examples of the types of small components that
could have been damaged that would not have been noticed
in an inspection of the camcorder? Although I agree that
it seems more logical to replace the camcorder than to
repair it, prices are somewhat more expensive in Australasia
than in the UK or USA. The main problem is that my insurance
company, despite the no guarantee warning from Sony, wants
the repairs undertaken and has said that, if the repairs fail, they
will pay for further repairs to be done. The insurance company
is most reluctant to pay for a replacement camera until the repair
option has been tried out. My concern is that, if the camera
fails after being repaired, the insurance company could say that
this is from normal wear and tear. I just can't understand why
an insurance company won't heed the advice of Sony that, even
after the repairs have been done, the reliability of the camcorder
cannot be guaranteed!

Brian



Any of the parts could have been damaged, as someone else said, the chassis
may have been warped. That said, if insurance is paying for it, have the
thing repaired, what have you got to lose? If the repair fails, buy a new
one.

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Andys cam" wrote in message
...
You need to include the model of the camcorder. Cheap ones are hardly
worth
fixing. If it is a $10,000 camera then it certanly is worth taking a
chance on
the repair

Thanks very much for your reply.

The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.
The repair costs would be about $US700. The question
is what can subsequently go wrong with camcorders that
have been repaired after they have been dropped? Are
such repairs usually successful? What hidden parts could
be affected by a camcorder that has been dropped?



*ANYTHING* it was dropped, there's *no* way anyone can tell you what was
damaged.

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...
"Brian MacD" writes:
The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.

A TRV11 wasn't worth anywhere near that much 3 or 4 years ago. I
think they were around $1200 new. You can buy them used on ebay now
for $350 or so. They are consumer cameras, and as such, there will be
a lot of them out there with very low usage (a few shots of the kid's
xmas play, a few more of the cat jumping around, you get the idea).

That was the price "down under" in Australia and New Zealand. We
could never have bought one for $US1200 here! In local currency they
were well over $3000 here, so you are lucky in the US to have such
good prices!



How much could it possibly cost to ship one to you from another country?

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:RLxXc.11498$%11.5452@trnddc02...

Any of the parts could have been damaged, as someone else said, the
chassis
may have been warped. That said, if insurance is paying for it, have the
thing repaired, what have you got to lose? If the repair fails, buy a new
one.

The main thing you are losing is the overall reliability of the camcorder.
This is very important, because who wants to have a camcorder fail
while you are on holiday or miss getting video that cannot be repeated,
such as a special family occasion. I have been warned by Sony that
they will not guarantee the overall reliability of the camcorder, even
though they would no doubt stand by the reliability of the particular
parts that they replace. So if through a hairline crack in the board
that eventually gets worse my camcorder fails when I am taking
video that cannot be refilmed, I would only have myself to blame.

If the repair fails, you would need a written guarantee from the
insurance company that they will either repair it again or provide
a replacement camcorder. Further repairs could be very expensive
if you need to replace the board. So it seems far more logical
with an expensive repair job to abandon the camcorder at the
earliest opportunity and replace it with one that you can rely on.
Believe me, there is nothing worse than filming with an unreliable
camcorder if you are an avid movie enthusiast filming events that
cannot be repeated! Having confidence in your equipment is
an important part of satisfying movie making.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:SLxXc.11500$%11.341@trnddc02...

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Paul Rubin" wrote in message
...
"Brian MacD" writes:
The camcorder was a very good consumer model 3 or 4
years ago, the Sony TRV11, and cost about $US2,200.

A TRV11 wasn't worth anywhere near that much 3 or 4 years ago. I
think they were around $1200 new. You can buy them used on ebay now
for $350 or so. They are consumer cameras, and as such, there will be
a lot of them out there with very low usage (a few shots of the kid's
xmas play, a few more of the cat jumping around, you get the idea).

That was the price "down under" in Australia and New Zealand. We
could never have bought one for $US1200 here! In local currency they
were well over $3000 here, so you are lucky in the US to have such
good prices!

How much could it possibly cost to ship one to you from another country?

There is a lot more involved than just the shipping costs from one
country to another. For example, the NZ dollar is not on par with the
US dollar, $1NZ is worth about 64 US cents now but has been down
below 50 US cents, so this has to be taken into account. Also, US
camcorders are based on the NTSC system, but we use PAL here,
so it is unwise to import camcorders from the USA if you need a PAL
camcorder. If you import camcorders from overseas, there is also
the possibility that you will have to ship them back to the country
of origin when they need repairs under guarantee (or so I'm told).
NZ and Australia also have goods and services taxes (GST) that
have to be paid on camcorders (12.5% in New Zealand). And the
local resellers like their 30% to 50% margin on what they sell. All
these factors make buying camcorders in Australasia very expensive!

"Brian MacD" writes:
Also, US camcorders are based on the NTSC system, but we use PAL
here, so it is unwise to import camcorders from the USA if you need
a PAL camcorder.

You can buy PAL camcorders in the US. They cost a little more than
NTSC camcorders here, but there is a steady business in selling them
to visitors from places like, um, Australia.

Profeel.com is a pretty good Internet dealer who sells them. I don't
know if they ship internationally.

http://www.profeel.com/palcamindx.htm

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:RLxXc.11498$%11.5452@trnddc02...

Any of the parts could have been damaged, as someone else said, the
chassis
may have been warped. That said, if insurance is paying for it, have the
thing repaired, what have you got to lose? If the repair fails, buy a
new
one.

The main thing you are losing is the overall reliability of the camcorder.
This is very important, because who wants to have a camcorder fail
while you are on holiday or miss getting video that cannot be repeated,
such as a special family occasion. I have been warned by Sony that
they will not guarantee the overall reliability of the camcorder, even
though they would no doubt stand by the reliability of the particular
parts that they replace. So if through a hairline crack in the board
that eventually gets worse my camcorder fails when I am taking
video that cannot be refilmed, I would only have myself to blame.


The bottom line is if it works for a few days after it was repaired, then it
will probably keep working until something else fails that would have failed
regardless of the drop.

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:6nSXc.139$Cj5.118@trnddc04...

The bottom line is if it works for a few days after it was repaired, then
it
will probably keep working until something else fails that would have
failed
regardless of the drop.

If there is a hairline crack in the board that was not visible at
the time the damaged camcorder was repaired, the camera
could work satisfactorily for a lot longer than just a few days
before the crack grows bigger and then leads to other faults
occurring as a result of the crack. I have been advised that
such a crack might start to cause problems several months
later, not just a few days later. If you spend a lot of money
to repair a camcorder, and the repair fails, then this is money
wasted that would have been better put towards a new
camcorder in the first place. I guess that it would sometimes
be difficult to tell whether failures after a damaged camcorder
has been repaired are due to the shock of being dropped or
would have happened regardless of the drop. But much
depends on how much it costs to repair the damaged camera
in relation to the cost of a new replacement camera. If the
repair costs are a very small proportion of the cost of a
similar new replacement camcorder, then it might then make
sense to give the repair option a try. But if the repair costs
are as high as say 60% of the cost of a new camcorder, then
it wouldn't make economic sense to go ahead with the repairs,
in my humble opinion!

"Jon" wrote in message
...

you have insurance that is willing to pay for the repair to the
camera. You are extremely lucky in that case. Take advantage of it.
Since the repair is to a camera thats' 3-4 years old now, go ahead and
make plans to purchase a new one. If the repairs work out on the
original camera, great. If not, then you'll have a new one to fall
back on. Just curious though, how long did you expect to be able to
use this camera? battery availablility alone would make it due
replacing sooner or later.

Thanks Jon for these comments. I would be very pleased to have
the camcorder repaired if Sony would guarantee the repair for the
usual 90 days. But the present quotation includes a clear warning that
the reliability of the camcorder after it is repaired cannot be guaranteed.
So this is not a repair at all, it is only a partial repair that may, or may
not ultimately be successful. This means that the camera could break
down at any time after the repair, and no keen videographer would
ever place reliance on such a camcorder.

So what I need is a quotation from Sony to repair the camcorder
properly so that the usual 90-day guarantee can be given.
It seems that Sony are worried about the condition of the
camcorder circuit board after a solid blow, so I think the board
should be replaced so that both Sony and myself will be confident
that the camera will operate reliably after the repair.

Battery availability is not a problem, the batteries I bought with
the camera are still sold with most of their new models. I think
a camcorder that is well looked after would last for up to 10
years.

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

"Jon" wrote in message
...

you have insurance that is willing to pay for the repair to the
camera. You are extremely lucky in that case. Take advantage of it.
Since the repair is to a camera thats' 3-4 years old now, go ahead and
make plans to purchase a new one. If the repairs work out on the
original camera, great. If not, then you'll have a new one to fall
back on. Just curious though, how long did you expect to be able to
use this camera? battery availablility alone would make it due
replacing sooner or later.

Thanks Jon for these comments. I would be very pleased to have
the camcorder repaired if Sony would guarantee the repair for the
usual 90 days. But the present quotation includes a clear warning that
the reliability of the camcorder after it is repaired cannot be
guaranteed.
So this is not a repair at all, it is only a partial repair that may, or
may
not ultimately be successful. This means that the camera could break
down at any time after the repair, and no keen videographer would
ever place reliance on such a camcorder.

So what I need is a quotation from Sony to repair the camcorder
properly so that the usual 90-day guarantee can be given.
It seems that Sony are worried about the condition of the
camcorder circuit board after a solid blow, so I think the board
should be replaced so that both Sony and myself will be confident
that the camera will operate reliably after the repair.

You're not gonna get it. Live with it. As the last poster said, you are
VERY lucky to get what you're getting. It may last--relatively
speaking--forever, or it may break in 91 days, warranty or not. There are
no real guarantees in life. Nobody except me has ever paid for repairs to
anything I've dropped. If you are getting this, be thankful and take it.

jak

Battery availability is not a problem, the batteries I bought with
the camera are still sold with most of their new models. I think
a camcorder that is well looked after would last for up to 10
years.

In article ,
"Brian MacD" wrote:

"L." wrote in message
o.net...
Would it per chance be covered under your home owners insurance?
Sometimes,
these things are and you could buy a new one with the insurance money,
minus
any deductible. Just a thought!

Yes, the camcorder is insured, but despite the no guarantee
warning from Sony, the insurance company is keen to see if
the repairs would be successful before they will consider the
replacement option. Before I agree to this option, I want to
find out whether the repair of a dropped camcorder is likely
to be successful, or whether there are too many small hidden
parts that could have been damaged which would not be
detected from a routine inspection of the damaged camcorder.

I dropped a cheap Canon camcorder once, and Canon repaired it under
warranty, even replacing the chassis. Thing is, the alignment was so
different from what it was before that my old tapes were unviewable.
After a few months, the thing began eating tapes. I've taken it in for
an estimate, but have come to the conclusion that these things are like
Bic pens-disposable after the batteries wear out. There's a reason Sony
won't guarantee their repair. Let your insurance company waste their
time and money, but I'd say you should be looking for a new camera.

Oh, and don't walk backwards while shooting unless you have a helper ;-)

"Kent Clarke" wrote in message
...

In article ,

"Brian MacD" wrote:
Yes, the camcorder is insured, but despite the no guarantee
warning from Sony, the insurance company is keen to see if
the repairs would be successful before they will consider the
replacement option. Before I agree to this option, I want to
find out whether the repair of a dropped camcorder is likely
to be successful, or whether there are too many small hidden
parts that could have been damaged which would not be
detected from a routine inspection of the damaged camcorder.

I dropped a cheap Canon camcorder once, and Canon repaired it under
warranty, even replacing the chassis. Thing is, the alignment was so
different from what it was before that my old tapes were unviewable.
After a few months, the thing began eating tapes. I've taken it in for
an estimate, but have come to the conclusion that these things are like
Bic pens-disposable after the batteries wear out. There's a reason Sony
won't guarantee their repair. Let your insurance company waste their
time and money, but I'd say you should be looking for a new camera.

Oh, and don't walk backwards while shooting unless you have a helper ;-)

Thanks Kent for this information, most people I have talked to agree
with your view that it is a waste of time and money trying to repair a
camcorder that has had a solid blow. The following web site
http://www.batterycanada.com/camcorder_faq.htm

says that "The DV format camcorders use a tiny video head drum
and mechanism and as a result are very fragile and time consuming
to service. It is often cheaper to replace the complete VCR mechanism
or printed circuit board rather than to attempt to service a problem.
The down side of digital, particularly a DV camera is that repairs are not
cheap, even for minor problems. "

The insurance policy says that the company will pay:
(a) the repair cost, where the item is damaged and capable of being
economically repaired; or
(b) to replace the item as nearly as possible equal to its condition
when new, where the item is lost, destroyed or cannot be repaired.

Apparently, Sony has advised the insurance company that the lack
of a guarantee for the repair work is the "standard wording" added
to a quotation when a camera has been dropped and that Sony has
confirmed that they are prepared to repair the camera. For this
reason, the insurance company is determined to push ahead with
an unguaranteed repair, and will not look at option (b) above,
which is to replace the camcorder.

To repair the camera with a guarantee, I guess Sony would need
to replace the circuit board because they have warned that even
several months after a dropped camera has been "repaired",
hairline cracks in the circuit board can get worse and stop the
camcorder operating. If the circuit board was replaced in
addition to the other repairs that are needed, the cost of
doing all this would approximately equal the cost of a similar
new camcorder. So, in my opinion, the camcorder is not capable
of being economically repaired if the repair is guaranteed by Sony
and the insurance company should give me an equivalent new
camcorder in accordance with clause (b) as quoted above.

"jakdedert" wrote in message
. ..

"Brian MacD" wrote in message
...

So what I need is a quotation from Sony to repair the camcorder
properly so that the usual 90-day guarantee can be given.
It seems that Sony are worried about the condition of the
camcorder circuit board after a solid blow, so I think the board
should be replaced so that both Sony and myself will be confident
that the camera will operate reliably after the repair.

You're not gonna get it. Live with it. As the last poster said, you are
VERY lucky to get what you're getting. It may last--relatively
speaking--forever, or it may break in 91 days, warranty or not. There are
no real guarantees in life. Nobody except me has ever paid for repairs to
anything I've dropped. If you are getting this, be thankful and take it.

jak

Thanks Jak for these remarks. Anyone who pays for insurance can expect
to be compensated within the terms of the policy if things go wrong that
are covered by the insurance you are paying for. I disagree that you are
very lucky if insurance companies meet their obligations under insurance
contracts, this is what you are paying for. In my case, I have to pay the
first $US100 of the repairs, and I also incur additional premiums of $130
because of loss of no claims bonuses over the next 2 years. Add this
to the cost of the insurance for one year of $200, and you will see that,
I am paying $430 of the estimated $700 repairs.

Sony say that they will not give their usual guarantee for this repair job
because there may be hairline cracks in the circuit board that cannot be
detected at this time. I don't think that many serious videographers would
use a camera like this to film important unrepeatable occasions, the risk of
failure of the camcorder makes you lose confidence in it.

I am very surprised that a major manufacturer such as Sony would even
contemplate repairing a dropped camcorder and then say that they do
not have confidence in their repair work because the circuit board could
easily have hidden cracks in it that could subsequently cause the camcorder
to fail. I believe that Sony should only give an estimate to repair a
camcorder if they have confidence in their repair and are prepared to
give their usual 90-day repair warranty. In this case, the estimated cost
of repair should include the cost of replacing the circuit board. If Sony
do not have confidence that a Sony camcorder will operate reliably
after they themselves have "repaired" it, how can they expect the user
to have confidence in using it to film important unrepeatable events?

Take another example, if a car runs over my bicycle and the repairer
says that he will replace the wheels and the tyres, but he will not
give a warranty on the repairs because he is not sure whether the
accident may have caused hidden cracks in the frame of the bike
that may later cause it to collapse, would you have confidence in
riding this bicycle or would you go out and buy a new one?

Brian