Great camera -- better than many newer cameras with digital hard drives as it can record up to an hour or more without changing a tape. It is still digital -- just recorded on digital tape. I like the fact that it has microphone and headphone jacks. Often the built-in mike picks up too much street noise, so a microphone will help a lot when recording in noisy situations (when you want to hear only the speaker). The camera I first had for seven years about. Took a lot of abuse and kept on working. After dropping it, I needed a replacement and bought a used one which works fine.
This is a good camera, and I may have been expecting it to do more than it was capable of. I edited tapes, employing PCM audio, on a professional linear editor, the Sony EVO-9700. I was hoping the TRV-230, being digital, could play back the PCM audio I had edited; it did not. The camcorder plays ambient audio properly, but maybe there is something I did wrong in editing which prevented a PCM playback.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is a great cameral overall, and has pretty much every feature a normal video operator could ask for. Never had anything but success. The Odigital format this camera provides is definitely the way to go, and having the tapes as well makes it good because on the go you don't have to worry about a full hard drive or expensive memory sticks, you just pop in another tape.
I have a similar model that is no longer operational. The cost to repair the camcorder would exceed it's value. Therefore, I purchased the SONY DCR TRV230 camcorder to play the video tapes I have previoulsy recorded and to transfer the contents to DVDs. I have used the purchased camcorder and it functions accordingly. Hopefully, the new camcorder will not encounter the problems I had with my old camcorder.
Thank you for selling me this camera It came in very good condition... I have been transferring my Hi 8 tapes Without any problem... no price on restoring my memories... forever greatful...
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Refurbished
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