I will be making a trip to the US next week and was wondering if there are any reasons why I should not buy a camcorder over there.
I realsie that any mains adapters will have to be used with a travel adapter when charging in this country but what about the fact that in the states the TV and video formats are different. Does the apply to camcorders as well?

Hi there.

As long as you make sure that whichever model camcorder you buy in the States, it is a PAL camcorder, you should be alright, make sure it is not NTSC.

I bought a Sony TRV 900 about 2 years ago and saved about £500.

The only problem would be I think with the manufacturers guarantee, which I don`t know whether or not it would be valid in this country.

Dave

Hi,

I was looking to buy a camcorder whilst out in Hong Kong last week and did some research regarding warranties before I went.

The two cams I was looking at were made by Sony and Panasonic.

Panasonic said that their products were only covered in the UK if bought within the EEC and that any cam bought outside this was not covered and therefore my own responsiblilty to fix.

Sony however stated that although they have the same policy as Panasonic with regards to goods brought outside the EEC.
They would look to fix my cam if it broke within the first year as a gesture of good will, but only if parts and the such like were avialable.

My advice would be to visit various manufactures websites and use their contacts page to ask them.

Oh and make sure you take a copy of a current Camcoder mag with you. You can then compare prices, models etc. It helped me from getting stung by shops on more than one occasion.
In then end I decided it will be just as cheap to get one via the internet in the UK.

Happy Hunting,
Drew.

Thanks guys,
Going back to the PAL/NTSC thing is it safe to say that a for example a particular sony model in this country which is PAL will be PAL in the US?

Hi again,

Camcorders, although the same model, will have a different model number if it is in a different format, but if you go into an electrical shop in the USA, and ask for a PAL model, it will have the same model number as in this country, or should.

Don`t forget that if you do buy in the USA, you want a PAL camcorder, you can always make sure it is PAL, because it will have PAL on the box, if it says NTSC, you don`t want it.

Dave