The Panasonic PV-GS120 seems to be a fantastic bargain, being a cheap 3-chip camcorder with decent low-light performance, but PLEASE READ MY REVIEW BEFORE YOU BUY.</p>

I picked up a Panasonic PV-GS120 camcorder from J&R's Computer & Music World through Amazon at the beginning of May 2004, well ahead of my girlfriend's birthday the latter part of the month. She opened the present a couple of days early, so that she could film our trip during her birthday weekend. The PV-GS120 appeared to work fine, and she recorded on several tapes before delegating the task of transferring all of her video to me. (Incidentally, my girlfriend went to USC Film School.

I purchased a brand new firewire cable for my PV-GS120, and then set out to transfer video using Adobe Premiere. The Panasonic PV-GS120 camcorder never showed up in my Device Manager, so I bought yet another cable, and tried connecting the Panasonic PV-GS120 camcorder to my laptop, then to my computer at work, and then to the Macs at the Apple Store at The Grove in Los Angeles. Nobody, including the people I work with, my girlfriend's friends, the Geniuses at the http://store.apple.com/, or my friend who's a professional editor, were able to get the video to transfer, using Avid, Final Cut Pro, Windows Movie Maker, and Vegas (possibly others when I'd given up and decided to watch the television while everybody else continued trying to find the setting that would unlock the secret to video transfer with this camera).</p>

I wrote Panasonic in the middle part of June, using their form at http://www.panasonic.com/consumersupport, since they didn't have a customer service number listed at the time. They never responded. I wrote again. No response. My girlfriend wrote again, and they finally responded 3 WEEKS LATER with a FORM E-MAIL telling her that they were looking into her problem, and that they'd forward her e-mail to the appropriate department, who would then contact her. THAT NEVER HAPPENED.</p>

My girlfriend found a number to Panasonic, and called mercilessly every single day during her lunch when she didn't have appointments. She was unable to reach anybody because of the wait time. This went on for weeks, until she finally reached someone who told her that she had the wrong department. BUT she got a phone number!</p>

After spending yet more days trying to contact someone, she reached a customer service, who, after battling with my girlfriend for the better part of an hour, transferred her to a manager who told her that he'd send her a form to fill out so that they could review the situation. Never happened. This is now September.</p>

Come October, I decided to call Panasonic. I waited on hold for 42 minutes before I was able to reach a customer service representative, who then walked me through the process of setting up the firewire. I did so, and when the Panasonic PV-GS120 camcorder failed to show up on my dual Xeon Dell workstation at work, told me that I needed to take up the problem with the firewire manufacturer. I asked the customer service representative to transfer me to the next tier of customer service, who then told me that I could send the camcorder in for service, but that I was liable for labor, since the Panasonic PV-GS120 was no longer within the 90 DAY WARRANTY.</p>

That's when I registered the domain name www.panasonichorrorstories.com.</p>

The Panasonic PV-GS120 has a thick manual, but the preponderance of that manual is devoted to the digital camera feature of the Panasonic PV-GS120. There are only 3 PARAGRAPHS DEVOTED TO VIDEO TRANSFER USING FIREWIRE. Even the software that comes with the PV-GS120 is for still image transfer. My question to Panasonic is, WHY WOULD I BUY A CAMCORDER TO TAKE STILL PHOTOS??? THAT'S WHAT A DIGITAL CAMERA IS FOR!!! Plus, the resolution of the Panasonic PV-GS120 is only 1.2 MPixels, compared to most digital cameras having 5 these days.</p>

Just go a google search for panasonic complaints. This company has a horrible customer service record. What they did to me should be criminal. Of course, you may just get lucky and end up with a good camera. But if you don't, you'll NEVER have any recourse...</p>
Ryan Cammer</p>


Recommended:
No

Amount Paid (US$): 639.88
Recommended for: Budget Buyers - Best Values to Fit the Budget