[themoron]

I was looking at prices online for the Sony HC44 camcorder and found this comment from a customer

Originally Posted by Ralph (A Dabs Customer)

Problem with Sony is the firewire link to PC. DV out (1394)tends to blow after several uses. Average person shoots the holidays etc so maybe edits a movie on the PC about twice a year. Mine lasted ten connections, check Google etc for lists of very unhappy Sony customers.

Is this a real problem? Has anyone experienced this and had to get their camcorder repaired?

[emocean]

I use the i link port on my Sony camcorders about 500 times a year and have never had a problem in 5 years. I did once buy a new PC330 and the i link did not work but the camera was replaced by the retailer and I have not had any further problems in 2 years of heavy use. Always use a good quality cable to connect your equipment as a 2 quid one from ebay may not be as good as a branded product.

[laser]

I've been using a HC42E without any problems.

Any firewire problems would probably lie with the PC or possibly a faulty cable. There are some known issues with firewire and Windows XP SP2 but I've never encountered them and I think they have since been fixed with the Windows Downloads.