Sony - DCR-HC30 Camcorder Review

I researched this purchase a great deal, and I am very satisfied with the features, including Carl Zeiss lens, good optical zoom, pretty good color and video quality.  But soon after I received this item, I started to have problems.  I started to see messages advising me that the heads needed cleaning, ever though I had just purchased the unit.  I started to see lines across the screen, and other digital artifacts (i.e., junk) on playback.

If I had been smart, I would have seen this as a warning sign, and returned it.  Instead, I cleaned the heads, and everything worked fine again -- until just after my warranty expiration. Fortunately, there was a recall that allowed me to return the unit for warranty service.  But even after this service (and one more attempt at repair by Sony), I still have the same problems intermittently, and now I have a continuous, annoying "Lens cover closed" message even when the lens cover is open.  (Just annoying; no practical consequences.)  This unreliability is annoying, and even stressful, when one has little kids and those missed moments feel quite precious.

 I've tried to get Sony to view this as a lemon and just send me another, but they refuse.  Actually, they have some sort of final appeal to their executive offices that I can make, but I refuse to spend another minute doing more paperwork for this.  I am sure, based on their poor service to date, they'd deny it in any case.

Time was, Sony was the gold standard on product features, quality and service.  Now, they're just another consumer electronics company, and have probably ceded their mantle to Samsung.  What a waste.

 I think this has been my last Sony electronic purchase.