There is currently a known issue with many of the Sony Camcorders. This is being called the "black screen of death".

What happens is that the camera works great for 1-2 years then the CCD goes out like a light. The camera will not take video again.

Sony is evasive if not downright deceitful about this issue when you call tech support. The fact is Sony does not stand behind their product. If this happens to you, Sony will not own the defect and you will be out hundreds of dollars.

There is a lengthy thread on CNET on this issue. Search for Sony black screen.

Wishing you luck in the purchase of your (not Sony) video camera,
Scott

When my 12-year-old Hi8 Sony went out on me recently I started shopping around. I had narrowed my search to the miniDV HC90 or the DVD403 model. I was leaning towards the HC90 simply because I liked the longer recording option that tape offers and the fact that both offer a 16:9 aspect ratio. I have a 70-inch HDTV and wanted something to fill the screen. However, the $900 price of those cameras was causing me to consider the new HD Sony camcorder with its $1900 price. I really wasn't ready financially to make such a big leap and wasn't too thrilled with the idea of spending $900 while knowing eventually I'd still want the HD when I was able to drop the bucks.

Thankfully I stumbled upon this TRV480 model. Not only is this Digital8 model compatible with the Hi8 tapes I already own, but it also includes a 16:9 aspect ratio recording option which was essential for me. Best of all, the $350 price made me very comfortable using this camera as a stepping stone until I am ready for the move to HD.

I paid over $1,000 for the old Hi8 and was curious to see how this $350 camera could possibly stack up. There are definitely some short-cuts taken. No automatic lens cap for instance. But the touch-screen LCD was an unexpected plus. The biggest challenge was transferring movies to the PC for burning to DVD. I had been using a Pinnacle PCTV to capture video from the old camera with an S-video output and an audio cable from the camera's headphone jack. (There is no S-video output on this camera nor is there a headphone output.) As another reviewer pointed out correctly, the software provided by SONY is basically useless you own a Vaio. Furthermore when trying to capture video with Sonic RecordNow using the supplied USB cable, I was getting video but no audio. Purchasing a $30 IEEE 1394 cable did the trick. I can now transfer video from camera to PC without using the Pinnacle video capture hardware. The Sonic software works fine for this purpose.

I was very surprised at the quality of the picture on my 70" TV with the 16:9 aspect ratio. Granted, it's nowhere near HDTV but this camera exceeded my expectations and the video quality is at least as good as my old camera, maybe even better. For $350 and for what I wanted out of this camera, I could not be more satisfied.

New recordings seem to be of very good quality. Also very pleased with ability to play & convert to digital, my old Video 8 and Hi-8 tapes. Sound quality is good but true test awaits a visit to an auto race track. No serious complaints so far. If I had a choice, prefer all manual controls over programming. Overall, an excellent machine.

I grabbed this camcorder so I could convert 8mm videos over to DVD. This is the only one on the market I found that would play back 8mm and Hi8 tapes. It does it through the firewire so transferring to DVD was cake. Nice zoom, steadyshot is decent, battery life is pretty impressive, the digital camera part is useless but it is there if you want to play with it.

If you're looking to make that digital transition from your old 8mm, this one gives you the best of both worlds at an affordable price. This camcorder allows you to digitize all of your old analog tapes. I figured that with all of the additional features it has compared to the TRV280, it was worth 50 more bucks to go with the TRV480.

But if you plan on converting your stack of 8mms, you'd better give yourself some time. Capturing video and burning a "VCD" is a slow process. Depending on the speed of your computer it will probably take several hours per tape. So far I have only tried it with the provided USB cable. I would consider going with another cable and maybe even some other software. I've only had the camera for a couple of days, and so far all I have used it for is converting. I'll update this review in the near future.

This is my third Sony digital 8 camcorder (yeah, I know...dropped one and the other fell into the river while filming kayaking).

I keep coming back because: 1) I love the format: digital 8 tapes that are compatible with regular 8mm tapes. You have most all advantages of digital, and I can play/review all the years of tape I recorded on standard 8mm. Additionally, while digital 8mm tape may not have all the resolution of other digital formats, its file size is much smaller when tranferred to the computer (and I find the resolution to be fine). 2) Sony has done a nice job with the concept and improved it with each subsequent model.

This model's biggest change is the 'touch screen' menu. The menu shows on the lcd screen and you touch your way through the options. It's handy and responsive -- it also leaves a lot of fingerprints on the lcd.

One of my favorite features is search. It will quickly take you to the end of the recording on the tape so you can pick up right where you left off after reviewing previous scenes. With the remote control, you also have access to date search. It's very nice to press a button several times and be taken right to the scene you wanted.

The camera has a nice feel in your hand. It's easy to hold and keep steady. The one caveat here -- and it's probably my biggest complaint about the camera -- is the location and feel of the zoom control. While the camera's designed so your hand is at the side while holding for filming, the zoom control is on the top. It's almost impossible to work the control smoothly while holding the camera in a regular grip. It's hard to believe they found this placement acceptable while designing the unit. This most recent iteration has a somewhat improved zoom control switch, but the placement is the same and just as awkward to use.

Unit has a small filming light that's helpful in a few situations, but not for major night/dark situation filming. It does have 'night shot' mode, if you don't mind watching everything in a green tint. Also includes a 'backlight' button to compensate for backlit subjects.

Camera accepts a standard Sony memory stick which you can use to capture stills (either directly through the camera, or from film you've already recorded) and short mp3 snipets (depending on how big a memory stick you use). I make standard 4x6 still prints from shots taken with the camera and they look decent (though not what you'd get with a high res digital still camera).

Camera has a lot of editing type features (like adding titles), though I prefer to read the tapes into the computer and do my editing with Adobe Elements or Microsoft Movie Maker. Attaching the camera to a computer via firewire cable (not included with camera) makes everyting incredibly easy. If you simply want to download stills or MP3s you've recorded on the memory stick, you can attach to the computer via the included USB cable.

Basically, if you're novice to semi-advanced video maker, it would be very hard to beat this camera in terms of quality, features, and ease of use.

I have not even recorded 4 full tapes and am already having problems.
On Thanksgiving I got the camera out and started recording. About 2 minutes into recording I got a message telling me to reinsert the tape. I did just that but still got the same message. I tried 4 new tapes but it still didn't work. After about a half an hour of trying to figure out what was wrong I got a whole new message telling me the head was dirty and needed cleaned. I had no head cleaning tape because I had only used the camera about 5 times. 5 Times and the head is already dirty, what a pain plus since it was Thanksgiving where was I suppose to get a head cleaner?
I have been to darn near every store in my area and have yet to find a head cleaner. I know I can get one online but I do not now, nor will I ever buy things online.
I have 1 more store to try.
I have a Hitachi VHS camcorder that I purchased in Germany back in 91' and it still works plus I used to use it as a VCR for about a year. Looks like I will go back to using that big ole thing instead.

My old 8mm Sony Handycam from the 80s recently died and I am glad that I bought this camcorder. The DCR-TRV480 is great because it is able to read all my old 8mm tapes. If you have a Mac, you will love it. With iMovie and iDVD all you have to do is connect the camcorder to a firewire port and click import, it's that easy. Then just add chapter markers and click on the iDVD button within iMovie and iDVD opens and starts encoding the video. Depending upon your processor speed, your DVD will be done in an hour or two.

This camcorder also has another great feature which allows you to connect an analog VCR to the camcorder. Now you can transfer your old VHS tapes to DVD.

I bought this model to replace the old sony Hi8 that sustained some damage on a recent trip so I wouldn't have to switch formats. I do like it but found several drawbacks. 1) tapes load from the bottom. Really a pain when filming from a tripod, which I do more than I realized. 2) The date and time are either always on or always off and you have to navigate several screens to make it appear/disappear. And this can only be done from the touch screen. I like that the date/time are automatically imprinted digitally on the film, but only want to be reminded occasionally and not constantly have it displayed. 3) The light is fairly useless, but the night shot makes it almost completely unnecessary. 4) Steady shot doesn't seem to do much. 5) Side screen shows color but the view finder is black and white.

On the flip side, it is very easy to handle, side screen is nice and I like that the playback has adaquate sound with the built in speaker. You can't beat taking your own digital pictures and mini movies via the memory stick. It is so much easier to get a good picture when you can forward and reverse your tape to find the best shot.
I was a little disappointed at first, but do like it.
Bernie

Some of the reviews here may give the impression that the Sony TRV-480 is not capable of easy capture to a computer for burning to a DVD. This is not correct. Although the documentation is admittedly a bit confusing, the Digital-8 actually works exactly like a miniDV camcorder - the only difference is the size of the tape (thus giving a somewhat larger camera). If you don't already have it, you should definitely plan to add a firewire card to your computer. I bought a firewire card for ten dollars;,it came bundled with a camcorder cable and some editing software. Once you have a firewire connection, you can capture with Microsoft Movie Maker or any other editing software and the camera can be controlled from the software, just like a miniDV. You can then proceed to author your DVDs using whatever software you choose.

I have found this camera to be decent value for money, expecially if you have a stock of 8mm or Hi8 tapes that you want to be able to watch and convert to digital - and at the same time move on to digital recording. An advantage is that you can use the old 8mm tapes, which are quite cheap, and get the same digital quality you would get on a miniDV camera. I don't think there is any difference between using the 8mm or the Hi8 tapes.

My favorite feature of the 480 is the touch screen. I bought a little touch pen for like a dollar and it works great, no fingerprints. The menus are really convenient, and some of the features have multiple paths in case your having trouble finding them. The only problem i have with my handycam is there is so many features the manual doesn't explain what everything does, so I had to play around with my camera to figure a lot of that out . That is just the more complicated features though, for normal use the handycam is very user friendly. Its's small, the picture quality is excelent, and with a memory card the still shot feature is very cool. You can use the handycams zoom with your still shots so it makes it a very practical digital camera.

After a lot of research I bought this camcorder for my Dad.The only glitch was a missing remote control.Although everything about this camcorder are great and all but the reason I decided to write a review was twofold.Firstly, I would like to highly appreciate Crutchfield.com who is the retailer in this case.Their customer service is awesome and I will highly recommend this retailer because I think good customer service is the mainstay of comfortable and satisfactory online purchases.
Secondly ,I would also like to comment on Sony, that their customer service was not very nice,they want to charge me for the missing part and being rude about it.And Crutchfield on the other hand is going to reimburse me for whatever Sony will charge.

Great features and great technology but as usual with Sony, it's junk. Sony products just don't last. I had mine for one year. Needs video head now. 264 dollars to repair. Previous Sony camcorder stopped ejecting tapes after one year. 185 dollars to repair. If you buy Sony, you better get the extended warranty. Dealers won't stand behind what they sell if it's out of warranty. They know it's junk. I have learned my lesson. No more Sony products.

I am still discovering the many incredible features of this camera. From the touch LCD screen to the excellent picture, I am wonderfully surprized how much I LOVE this camcorder!! I would do it all over again!

I have tried to use as many features of my camera as i can so that I can make sure that I have gotten my money's worth from the purchase and i have much in the way of unexplored territory left with my camera. This is a fine example of a high quality Sony product that is certainly worth the higher price tag that you find on it. The features included make for convenient video editing on your pc with excellent picture quality and sound in a very lightweight package that, for me, is just the right size and weight. If you do not want to go with the high definition or hard drive camcorder expense and technology yet but want about as good as it can get with Digital8, this is perhaps one of the best choices out there. I looked for several months before choosing this one and would certainly hope that others look around extensively as well since this is certainly no drop in the bucket for most people. It does very well for our family needs at special occasions and gatherings, kids' games, and trips.

The connection that lets you transfer video to a computer is now broken after 2 years. Very disappointed in the quality of this product.

I bought the TRV480 a little over a year ago and once again started getting the C:31:22 and C:21:00 errors same as I had gotten on my previous Hi8 TRV120. Apparently, a problem with the moisture sensor (I live in dry, non-humid California). Being out of warranty, it's $141.00 flat rate to ship out and get repaired. This is inexcusable to have the same kind of problem within 5 years on two different Sony products. Never again. I bought this camera to digitize my old Hi8 tapes. Problem was I kept taking new movies with it...and have a backlog of new tapes. Now it's either eBay time or bend over and pay Sony $141.00 to digitize those tapes. When the camera is working it's fine. But, for new filming, I will look elsewhere for my next camcorder--likely a Canon or Panasonic but never again with Sony.

The sellers here at amazon are gouging the customers. Though I believe in selling what the market can bear, they are gouging and the customer should shop around. You can get 1/2 the price of the cameras on Ebay. in fact I suspect these sellers are buying from ebay and selling twice the price on Amazon. For those of us like myself wanting to transfer your hi8 videos you are better off seeking a merchandiser who sells the Sony videomans like the walkmans, they are mini vcrs that will do the same as this camera, and you will be able to transfer your hi8's to DVD and you can do so for 1/2 the price they are selling here.