How to Get a Good Deal and Avoid Scams
May 13 '01
The Bottom Line Don't get caught up with all the little nick-nacks. Get a camcorder that has only the features you need. Also don't buy from small online shops.
There are two steps to purchasing a camcorder: purchasing it, and then buying it. I'll cover purchasing first.
A good thing to do is to create a budget. This may not seem that important if you have an idea of the camcorder that you want, but it becomes very easy to get caught up with all the little features, and then hype yourself up into buying the more expensive model. In order to create a budget, you may want to buy a camcorder magazine, or read some reviews. The good thing about magazines is that they have both reviews and lots of adds that actually give you prices.
Next you'll have to do a little bit more heavy reasearch. Find out exactly what features you are looking for. Some of the major features are as follows:
LCD Screen Size: Decide how large of an LCD you need. Do you need color or will you be not using it that much. Most Digital Cams come with LCD screens.
Viewfinder: Do you need a color viewfinder or is black and white ok (you may want to go with black and white if you are only going to be using the LCD).
Battery Life: How long do you need the battery to last. Don't take the manufacturers word on this one. Read some reviews or talk to some people. Don't buy anything below 45 min.).
Camcorder Size: If you don't care about size you may be better off with a digital8 cam, but you can get "palm sized" camcorders if you go with MiniDV.
Still Capture: Many digital camcorders can double as digital cameras. Is this something that you are looking for?
Other Possible Features:
Built in light
On-camcorder effects
Bunndled Software
Anti-shake system
Amount of Optical Zoom
Firewire (1394) Out
S-Video Out
There are many other features that camcorders will have. It would be a good idea to go somewhere and talk to a sales person about what you need (don't let him push you to buy anything though).
Another question is whether or not you will want to be editing video on your computer. If you do want to do this, you will need to look for a cam with a Firewire, iLink, or 1394 port. Those are all the same thing, 1394 being the standard name and Firewire and iLink being Apple and Sony's names for it respectively.
The final thing to consider is brand. In my opinion Sony and Cannon are the most respectable brands. They make the highest quality equipment, but you are also paying a premium for the name. By purchasing something from JVC, Panasonic, or Hitachi you could almost cut the damage to your wallet in half while getting most of the same hardware. It's up to you in the end.
Next step to consider is where to buy. The answer is the internet. Even if your one of the people who say, "I would never buy off of the internet," is not buying off the net worth $500? That's how much you can save. To start, find the MSRP on your cam. Then go the the local electronics store and find there price. Now you have an idea of what you are looking at. Next, go to a website like DealTime.com or PriceWatch.com, and fide the cheapest price on your camcorder. There should be a significant difference.
Now I wouldn't suggest that you buy off the first website you find. There are hundreds of scams on the net. Below I will go into the details of some of them:
This is the one that bugs me the most. The product is advertised on their website at a bargan price, hurndreds less then other places. It seems to good to be true. It is: They have probably taken out one of the major parts of the camcorder, such as the battery, the battery charger, or something else that is almost vital for use. They then mark this up so high that in the end you have to pay more then the other sites.
Another way that online retailers make money is by doing this (only the small ones). They don't actually have a warehouse. They wait until you have placed your order and then pick one up from another source. They are then able to lower the price for you because they can never overstock something. The item can take months to get to you. A good way to tell if it is a really small company that you are purchasing from is buy calling them twice, on two seperate days. If you get the same guy I wouldn't suggest buying from them.
Another way they can rip the unsuspecting consumer off is buy selling the camcorder cheap, but then marking up extra batteries, tapes, tripods and other gear. You can get around this by buying accessories at another store.
In the end, you want to find a reputable online store to buy from. There are some websites that rate stores. Go to a newsgroup and ask around for a good place to buy. Also, you might try putting up a little extra cash and buying from a non-speacialty company like buy.com, or 800.com.
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