PopularDigital.com - Want To Buy A Camcorder For Cheap? Sorry, It Doesn't Work This Way.
Written: Oct 15 '01
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The Bottom Line
I’ll let you be the judge if you should go to PopularDigital.com ...
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| Full Review |
My attempt to buy a digital camcorder at PopularDigital.com was quite unsuccessful. Not only I was unable to get the product that, according to their web site, was “In Stock”, I also had to supply my credit curd number, a bunch of other information and waste my time waiting for the product to arrive.
This review is going to be short. I am not going to explain in smallest detail how much I hate this company. But I am going to describe what happened and let you be the judge of how good (or bad) the PopularDigital.com is.
The Product
My objective was to get the Sony DCR-TRV120, which was being replaced by new models – TRV130 with less features and TRV230. Because of the release of new models, the price of TRV120 got low and, taking into account the fact that it cost less than TRV130 (which doesn’t have a lot of features TRV120 has), it was definitely time to buy.
I used to think that you can just use a price comparison web site and then buy a product from the web site that has the lowest price. Silly me. The companies that list lowest prices try to charge $20-60 for shipping, make you buy “accessories” you don’t need and might sell you “gray” products – products imported unofficially with no US warranty.
Web Site
Their web site is reasonably fast, but I don’t like the color scheme. If you go to the “Policies” section, you will find that the returns are subject to 15% restocking fee. The shipping rates are not mentioned.
You can still see TRV120 on their web site, although I seriously doubt they have it or ever will. The only way to find out the shipping price is to put the item in the “cart”. For TRV120 ($582), the shipping is $30 for UPS ground, overnight would be $65.
Bummer
I completed the checkout process and was waiting for my camcorder to arrive, but after 2 days I got a call (at 7am, which wasn’t cool at all). The guy on the other end asked me why I didn’t order any accessories. “Like what?” - I asked. He told me that TRV120 comes with a 8Mb MemoryStick and with no charger and that the battery is non-rechargeable. So I should buy a charger and a battery from them.
Have you ever heard of a camcorder that comes with non-rechargeable batteries and no charger? That was a funny part number one. A funny part number two was the fact that their own web site says that the camcorder comes with an AC adaptor and a NP-F330 battery.
A funny part number three is the fact that the TRV120 does not support MemoryStick – the still pictures must be stored on the tape.
I wanted to believe that he made a mistake, but he was persistent and insisted that the camcorder comes with no charger and non-rechargeable battery. When I refused to buy accessories, he “checked his computer” and told me they have no TRV120s and don’t expect them any time soon.
So I got my camcorder from 800.com. No delays, no phone calls and no sales pitch. Fast inexpensive shipping, tracking info provided. And they had 10% that week:-)
Conclusion
I’ll let you be the judge if you should go to PopularDigital.com in search for a digital camcorder, DVD player or something else. But I know my opinion – the answer is ”No”.
Recommended:
No
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About the Author
Location: California
Reviews written: 912
Trusted by: 538 members
About Me: I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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