Comments on: Sony DCRTRV240 Digital8 Camcorder 2.5″ LCD with USB Streaming

By: R. Iser

R. Iser — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:59:22 +0000

I have had two Sony camcorders in the past 12 years. The first one lasted 10 and the second fell way short at only 2. I tested out a Sharp 151u and a JVC GR-SXM740U both were bombs. Sharps video playback was less then poor and JVC had the worst sound quality ever. I was going to stay away from Sony this time but I found myself back at their doorstep.

The Sony TRV240 is the most amazing camcorder I have ever seen. After about 30 minutes of reading I had this camcorder pumping out digital video and sound quality like never before. There are so many features and it just so happens that we will end up useing most of them. The firewire port and usb are super. I was able to record TV and old movie home movies right onto the camcorder thru the A/V port and then feed them into I Movie on my Mac. The result is some super footage. I did however purchase a 4 year warranty on this machine. That way I can have piece of mind for the next four years. I dont think anyone will be disapointed with this camcorder. It has made me feel like a video editing pro. Movies and still shots will never be the same in this house.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: J. Hill

J. Hill — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 06:14:31 +0000

My second Sony camcorder. Much better than my older one.
Excellent manual, explains all items clearly.
Amazon has a good deal on the Sony EZ Editor which is well
worth the money…. The Vivitar free gift is a
gift of a very nice canvas bag and tripod. Does not have the “stick memory”. Really not needed in my opinion.
A combination that’s worth buying.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: M. Reiber

M. Reiber — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 04:04:15 +0000

This is an extremely versatile bit of technology, with a lot of very clever features. It’s backward compatible with Hi-8, and has a useful digital pass-through capability that makes it invaluable in editing other video sources.

I simply don’t understand the complaints regarding battery life, tape loading, or low light performance. At this price point, and considering the competition, Sony is way ahead of the game.

Two suggestion for all users:

1) Spring [$$$] for a UV or skylight filter to spare the lens.

2) Spend [$$$] for a Firewire card to take advantage of the i-Link port. You can edit video like a pro, record it back onto Digital 8, or even push it back out to any VCR.

If you want to be a professional, get a professional camera, for about [$$$]. If you want to have fun, get this camera and spend the rest on a vacation to try it out!
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Wendel

Wendel — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:31:01 +0000

This camera works just fine; and despite having a few too many bells and whistles for my taste, the picture is as good as my trusty eight year old Sony camcorder that died last summer. BUT!!!… Be aware that the USB streaming capability that is touted as a selling point is absolutely useless. The USB’s connection is slow enough that it’s impossible to get anything other than jerky, dark, over-compressed video with tons of dropped frames and terrible sound.
The SOLUTION though, is simple if you have a reasonably new computer with plenty of muscle: … I picked up an i.link / FireWire card with a video rendering chipset built in that gives me the decent quality video for burning VCD’s that I expected. USB bad. FireWire good, camera good. ‘Nuf said.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 00:37:15 +0000

whoefully disapointed with the quality of the video coming from the usb connection. the analogue outs are much much better. so here we have a situation where the analogue is better than the digital out.

plan on buying a video capture card in order to get decent video to your pc.
Rating: 3 / 5