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Hi 8 / digital 8 VCR?

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My Sony Hi 8 camcorder just puked after 4 years and fewer than 25 tapes recorded on it. I've heard that this is a relatively common problem so I am curious as to some more durable options.
First of all I'll need a new camcorder. Digital 8 w/ backwards compatibility to do hi 8 playback is a must. I'm looking at a Sony DCRTRV350 ($499 retail) as a replacement. Does anyone know of any other brand options? Is Sony the only choice?
Also I have been looking for a HI 8 VCR as an option to take some of the rewind duty off of the camcorder. We also duplicate all of the tapes to VHS to send to relatives. My wife also complains that she can't watch a video (shes too lazy to hook up the camcorder to the TV) so an 8mm VCR would be ideal. ACTUALLY a combo HI-8/VHS machine would be perfect. Does anyone make one?
I noticed that Sony makes a GV-D200 Digital/Hi8 vcr but it is $600 and might possibly be just as big of a POS as the camcorder was. So I'm not too anxious to go out and buy one. Also, some day I would like to transfer all of our videotaped to DVD-R when the machines become more affordable.
Any thoughts?
Eat Mo'Hot Sauce,
crazychile

Follow Ups:

Re: Hi 8 / digital 8 VCR? - JimR3192 05:30:33 03/24/03 (2)
I'm in the same mess and am considering the same SONY model. Just ran across a Hitachi VMD975LA digi 8 camcorder but know nothing about it. Also would love to find a digital8 VCR
- Re: Hi 8 / digital 8 VCR? - crazychile 13:46:30 03/24/03 (1)
  The other thing that has occurred to me is that other digi/HI-8 manufacturers may be using the same Sony transport mechs. If that is the case then the Sony is probably no better or worse than anything else.
  Eat Mo' Hot Sauce,
  crazychile
  - Re: Hi 8 / digital 8 VCR? - phatty 07:23:17 03/25/03 (0)
    I don't know of any Hi 8 decks. I did see , a few years ago, a Memorex , but it wasn't Hi 8.
    I am in the same boat, and I use my Sony Hi 8 heavily to do sports videos. I usually send the signal through an analog mixer, which provides a little boost. Than I have the VHS for viewing. I think that the next technology will be the mini dvd camcorder. I therefore am not going to spend anything on digital. If my Hi 8 dies, I will replace it with the cheapest Hi 8 I can find. Prices have been falling.

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