Customer Reviews
Review of purchased camcorder. 
2007-01-16
I was very pleased the fast shipment. I bought this as a Christmas gift for my husband, and he loves it. Every day he finds a new feature.
great Camcorder 2007-01-10
I purchased this camera about a year ago and I have had no problems with it yet.. It is also light weight and is compact.... Great product...
Not good for playing old S-Video Tapes 
2007-01-06
I bought this to play back old Hi8 tapes so I could transfer them to DVD. However, there is no S-Video out and no stereo out. Video quality was bad: output was noisey and reds were over saturated. I imagine this is because there is no S-Video out. I returned it and have ordered a Sony GV-D200. Hopefully it will give me better quality since it was more than twice as much. There are some cheaper used options available, e.g. Sony EVO-250.
8mm archiving 
2007-01-03
Steven, i would like to know how you record to DVD-R from this camcorder. I know sony offers a video adaptor, (VMC-20FR) for connecting to a TV or VCR; do you connect to a VCR, then to a DVD-R recorder?
Pinnacle Systems makes a DVD Recorder that connects composite video to USB, is this what you use? I too want to preseve my old 8mm analog tapes, and i am looking for the best way to accomplish this.
Good player for 8mm tapes 
2006-12-27
I purchased this cancorder for one purpose: to playback old 8mm tapes for recording onto a DVD-R recorder. For this purpose it is ideal: low cost; colour view sceen with sound; plays 8mm and Hi8 tapes; rugged and high quality feel, so it may last a long time; apparently the only name-brand 8mm camera available at this time.
If you are looking for a general purpsose camcorder do not buy this one for the following reasons
1. 8mm and Hi8 is obsolete. When your camcorder finally breaks (as all three of mine did after an average of 5 years use) you will have a hard time finding a device to playback your precious tapes on.
2. This camcorder has no "steady shot" which in my experience is the most important feature for easy recording of good quality videos.
3. This camcorder is rather big and heavy compared to many others available.
Steven Woodward
Wasn't stereo, sold it on ebay @ a loss :o( 2008-02-20
Wasn't stereo, sold it on ebay @ a loss :o(. Ads said hifi sound....didn't says hifi "MONO" sound until read fine print :oP. Didn't use it, can't say more.
More than I wanted 2007-12-25
I bought this camera solely to copy my HI-8 tapes on to my computer. Since then I have started using it for wild life video, my home, and my dogs. The camera exceeded my expectations.
DVD burning is easy and cheap 
2007-10-17
Like other reviewers, I bought this SONY after my old machine refused to play back my antique but loved tapes. I was shocked at all the DVD complaints I read here.
Although I like to edit tapes on my computer, its a job or two sometimes. I burn DVD easily in real time with a free-standing Sansung DVD burner that cost me 100 dollars. Its got a list of about 125 or so. At the time I bought it at Fry's, and loved it so much I got another a few weeks later. ALl you do next is get Audio and video out from the itty bitty combo plug, and then use the round rca plugs to go to the burner. Yes, a totally free standing burner. Plug it in, and go to the bathroom or what-ever. Automatic performance once started!!!! Now I also use this burner to record TV shows and such. Its like a VCR for DVD media.
I use this for several formats of video. Now I am sure there is a loss of quality, but it does an excellent job of video transfer. FAR superior to recording to VHS tape.
Good Replacement SonyTRV 138 2007-06-08
I purchased this camcorder knowing it was not digital "state of the Art". I have a Sony Hi8 camcorder vintage 1993 which no longer functions reliably in the playback mode, and I saw the TRV 138 as means to play my existing tapes and transfer them to DVD's. I found the TRV 138 to be half the size of my old unit and the batteries seem to last 3 times as long. Thus it functions well and is much handier to use. It has the fold out color viewer, my old one did not, plus some additional features such as a variety of fade modes. The only negative is my old unit recorded sound in stereo, the TRV 138 does monaural. This is not really a factor in my recording needs. I have recorded music performances and found the sound to be satisfactory
Great for the price! 2007-04-26
Well, I'm just amazed this model is still in production the way things are changing so quickly in the A/V world.
I bought mine two years ago and have recorded many hours of my children as they are growing up. This is a truly low maintenance and low cost solution for your video recording needs if you don't have a lot of money to spend on a digital set-up.
Just buy and extra after market battery or two (and they're cheap) and some inexpensive analogue tape, and start recording away!
After you climb the learning curve, of course. My one problem with this camcorder is that the controls are anything but intuitive, and they're splattered all over the unit. Be sure to read the user manual carefully before you try to use this thing, but once you've got it down you'll find this a trusty and low cost companion for your family vacations and holidays.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, the microphones aren't stereo but they're really quite good for an entry level unit.
