Sony GV-D200 Digital 8mm Portable Video Recorder

Of the many reasons one might purchase this item, I bought it for just one. To transfer my Hi8 & 8mm home video to a hard drive before my tapes deteriorated any more. With its built in Time Base Corrector ( TBC ) and Digital Noise Reduction ( DNR ) I was able to output a DV signal "FROM THE DECK" and get ( in my opinion ) the highest quality transfer available.There are other options available to do these transfers. One is to buy a Digital 8 camcorder that will output your analog tapes to DV. However, I'm not aware of any of these cameras being built anymore so you would need to buy a used camera. Many people go this route with excellent results. It certainly is a cheaper option than buying the Sony deck but you are buying a used product and can't be sure of it's condition. I bought the more expensive NEW deck choosing to pay for peace of mind. Either way you go you can sell your transfer deck or camcorder once you've finished your project and recoup some of the original expense. Another route is a transfer service which has the potential to be very expensive. My research into this tells me most services would not be using equipment of any higher quality than the Sony or even the camcorder option. Those few that do use hi end transfer decks are using older machines since they haven't built new ones for some time now. Even if they are well maintained and up to spec they will be outputting an analog signal before going through an Analog to Digital converter. I'm not sure quality wise they could do any better than the Sony and again it could be quite expensive.If there was a down side to the Sony it would be you can not view the menu from your computer. You must use an extra monitor for that. I did not find this a big deal. Also, it seems every time you put in a new tape you have to turn off the deck for about 5 seconds for the computer to recognize it. Again, once you figure it out it's not a big deal. Other than that it was real easy to use. I spent a lot of time researching this. I transferred almost 1 terabyte worth of video. I was very happy with the deck. Some of these tapes were 20 years old and although some gave me trouble I was able to transfer every bit of footage. I did purchase a Sony dry type head cleaner and used it. About $30.00. I hope my research and review helps someone out there. Thanks, Steve.

I highly recommend I and N Electronics. Norman Madjlessi delivered this product as promised, and I am very happy with his work. I need a device to view old 8mm analog and 8mm digital videotapes. This 8mm technology is antiquated and no longer offered as new. I am very skeptical of used devices. However, after reading I and N's "Product Details" section, my worries were assuaged, and, now that I have tested what they delivered, I want to commend them for giving me what I need. Even though the price was a bit high, it was worth it. These technicians know how to replace the most important components and deliver a device that is good as new - even though the window on the use of this technology is closing. I can now watch videos of my kids from 30 years ago. So, thank you, Norman. Thanks also to Amazon for providing this merchandise. Along with the delivery of the device, Norman provided a set of very useful tips for maintenance. He wrote a thank you note by hand, and he also provided his phone number. He goes the extra mile to assure customer happiness. And I am very happy to see my children on my TV screen now - at the same high quality in which I recorded them 30 years ago. Due to Norman's wisdom and hard work, the videos play beautifully with no dropouts, no blur, no problems with video or audio. My sons are also grateful to you, Norman, because now, when they have children, they will be able to show them videos of their own childhood. For that, we are very grateful to you. Please keep up the great work.A side note that has nothing to do with I and N's successful delivery - I did have to buy an S-Video to HDMI converter and male-to-male connections, but the costs were negligible. I and N delivered the heart of the system wonderfully. In my opinion, they are very trustworthy.

The price of this unit was astronomical. It's nothing special. Doesn't even have an LCD/LED screen to tell you what it's doing, so if you're using FireWire and not an old school composite connection, you have no menus or counter or on screen info. I had to have it though because my $150 Digital8 camera wouldn't play 1/3 of my tapes (audio track just dropped!), but this player played everything perfectly so that I was able to digitize the tapes.Note, this player uses the original DV spec. This means the audio and video tracks are NOT synced digitally as they are transferred to your computer. The initial DV files will look fine, but if you try to cut/splice/reorganize the one huge original file into smaller, dated clips, the longer the clip is the more the audio and video are out of sync by the end. It's a flaw in the DV spec (now remedied in newer versions of the format).

I got this 8mm Video Walkman to play my old 8MM tapes when my 14 year-old Sony Camcorder finally stopped playing back with good quality. The Video Walkman VCR is very nice, and is a quality product. It plays the old Video 8 tapes very well, and allowed me to do video capture of my legacy tape collection. Sound and picture quality are excellent. It's just too bad they didn't have a less expensive unit, as I really don't intend to use if for digital tape recording. I only needed it to play back my old video 8 tapes. If you need to rescue an old tape collection because your old camcorder is no longer working - this unit will do the job nicely. However be prepared to pay a premium for the priviledge.

I like the quality of the picture. The tapes are from 1992 and 1993. The device is easy to use. I wish it came with its battery and video cables. But it is not big deal. In order to convert and save the old taps, I highly recommend to purchase ClearClick Video to Digital Converter 2.0 (Second Generation) - Record Video from VCR's, VHS Tapes, AV, RCA, Hi8, Camcorder, DVD, Gaming Systems.

I continue to use it today. Have allot of Taps that are 15years old, and the camera I had the play back was really bad. I now have something the Grand kids can see of thier parents.