2004-09-06

Conspicuous Proconsumption

Here it is, the Panasonic PV-GS400, the new top-of-the-line prosumer camcorder. Got to give it a thorough run through at Fry's Electronics today, and it's very solid. Everything I expected from reading the reviews. Great manual control and not hard to figure out.

In case you guys are interested, you can find some actual footage shot using this model on this DV.com forum post. Prices are starting to really drop, too. Hopefully, street price from a decent retailer will be around $1200 a month from now, when I can buy.

6 comments:

Jeremy said...

I recommend INS Digital. They have a great rating (5 check marks; you can't get any higher) and good feedback on customer service and delivery speed. Plus, they have a price lower than what you wished for. Do it now.

Jeremy said...

Here's an even better price: $1099.99. You really need to start using NexTag.

Joshua Provost said...

Here's the thing, you just can't trust the cheapest guys. Read their feedback. After the purchase they will pretend to reject your card and have you call them. Then they will try to sell you accessories, and if you don't buy enough of them, they'll refuse to sell you the primary item at the advertised price.

Here's another thing, most don't actually have any stock, they have stuff drop shipped from distributors. Meaning, they cannot gaurantee delivery, and it may take weeks.

And still another, they charge over $60 for ground shipping.

Why do some of them have high feedback ratings? Because they spend their downtime giving themselves positive feedback. If they can't keep up with the negative, they close up shop, virtually speaking, and open a new store with a new name. The gimmicks stay the same.

Where are 90% of these e-tailers located? Brooklyn, NY. Den of depravity. You wan't to avoid talking to these guys on the phone. If you don't buy their accessories, they'll give you a big FU!

Oh, and the worst of them open the boxes, part out the accessories, and try to sell them back to you. THe low price is the base unit only, and they get you in the end.

Caveat emptor. Mayala!

Jeremy said...

Excellent work!

Were you trying to say "Malaya?"

Joshua Provost said...

Ah, yes, I am. I'm fine in English, but aparantly I'm dyslexic in Chinese.

I picked up some Chinese books and I'm working through it. It's difficult because it's a tonal language, and that doesn't come though well in a book.

However, I will be able to translate some of Sans Hands into phonetic Chinese. You might call it Pinyin.

Oh, and it's really "mada a". Malaya can be our invented Chinese word.

Joshua Provost said...

Well, it's only been two weeks, but it's down below $1200 from a trusted seller, so here goes...