Black Screen on my brand new HD1 Help! at DVinfo.net

Nathan Pease · May 12th, 2006, 12:33 AM

I finally received my new HD1 from the UPS guy tonight and it seems to be broke right out of the box. When I open the flip out screen and turn it on it shows all of the on screen indicators like record time left and still shots left but it is over a black screen. I can press record and take video or still shots but when I put them in my card reader on my computer the videos and stills are just black screens. On the video I can hear the audio playing but the video is just black. It is like what you would get if you were recording with the lens cap on and no I didn’t leave the lens cap on. Also when I switch to play back mode it comes up and says system error. I have tried with two different SD cards and I get the same thing. So am I missing something here or is my unit broke?
I will try and contact Sanyo support in the morning just to make sure, but assuming my unit is broke will I be better off to send it to Sanyo for repair or try and return it to the online camera shop from NY?

Graham Jones · May 12th, 2006, 12:47 AM

"better off to send it to Sanyo for repair or try and return it to the online camera shop from NY?"

return the camera, demand replacement, refuse repair...

Bo Lorentzen · May 12th, 2006, 09:01 AM

RETURN it to the shop... promptly...! note the serial number and make sure you get another one. (smile)

Bo

www.bophoto.com/HDV

Nathan Pease · May 12th, 2006, 01:14 PM

Just spoke with Sanyo service department and they are telling me that this is a common problem with this model and to boot they will not cover is under warranty becuase of the online vendor that I purchased it through. Happy Day!

Euisung Lee · May 12th, 2006, 02:17 PM

Wait a min... Sanyo is 'NOT' covering it under warranty?? Because of what again?

So if you buy a new unit for $600 from eBay, you don't get manufacturer's 1 year warranty? hmm...

I hope you can get a replacement or your money back from that online vender.

Bo Lorentzen · May 12th, 2006, 03:07 PM

WOW... guess the next question is WHO did you buy that from....?

Im suddenly feeling much better paying full pop at Amazon.com at least they are prompt on any problems I have had with pretty much anything so far.

Sounds like the place might have purchased the units at either a discount rate from Sanyo saying that they would carry the warrenty coverage them selves.. or have setup a parrallel import which positively is not looked at with kindness from the main manufactures.

Bo

www.bophoto.com/HDV

Nathan Pease · May 13th, 2006, 12:27 AM

I wasn’t sure what the forum rules were about posting online vendors, but I want potential buyers to know what they are getting into. I bought my camera from Prestige camera out of NY. I got a good price on it and they have been fairly good to deal with so fare. I don’t want to bad mouth them to much until I can talk to them Monday and see about getting a replacement. Apparently they close at 1pm EST on Fridays. That is kind of early for those of us on the west coast.
The Sanyo rep that I talked with said that Prestige as well as some other online vendors did not carry a US warranty on the products they were selling. I have heard of this before especially from COSTCO. That is why COSTCO gives you a lifetime warranty on everything they sell. There is nothing about my camera or its packing that would indicate that it is anything other than a US version. I plan to talk to Prestige on Monday and see how the RMA process works out. If I have to go to plan B, I think I can get warranty converge through AMEX.
Has anyone else heard to this black screen problem?

Carlos Serrano · May 13th, 2006, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nathan Pease

Has anyone else heard to this black screen problem?

No, you are the first with this problem I know. I hope you solve it by the easiest way.

Euisung Lee · May 14th, 2006, 01:58 AM

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sanyo-Xacti-HD-5...QQcmdZViewItem

I found two HD1 items of ebay with the blackscreen problem. Being sold as a spare parts. I guess it's not completely uncommon.

Steve House · May 14th, 2006, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nathan Pease

Just spoke with Sanyo service department and they are telling me that this is a common problem with this model and to boot they will not cover is under warranty becuase of the online vendor that I purchased it through. Happy Day!

Welcome to the world of "grey market" vendors, sounds like you've bought from one. Grey market dealers are able to undercut authorized dealers by importing product on their own - lord only knows from where - and bypassing the regular distributor. But it's the distributor who covers the cost of warranty repairs so if the dealer didn't obtain it though official channels and you need service, you're on your own. In the long run cheapest is not necessarily the least expensive. Reputable dealers will tell you exactly what you're getting.

Graham Jones · May 14th, 2006, 05:26 PM

Nathan, read this thread entitled 'Broadway Photo, Prestige Photo, 123Warehouse, etc.' written by a supposed rep from Sanyo....

http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...02&forum_id=27

Nathan Pease · May 14th, 2006, 05:54 PM

Graham thanks for the link. I had read some reviews of prestige and had not read anything about grey market merchandise. I don't really understand grey market. Sanyo built and sold this camera for a profit and should cover it under warrenty it doesn't much matter what part of world it was supposed to be sold in. I hope I don't have any problem recieving an RMA from prestige. I will find out tomrrow.

Bo Lorentzen · May 14th, 2006, 06:18 PM

Nathan,

Typically "divisions" of a manufacture, such as Sanyo USA, will in effect "purchase" their product from the division which manufactured the camera... the price is naturally less than you and I pay. the national division in in turn providing the "varrenty" coverage, typically by having a repair facility which will fix, and service cameras and or products. or by simply replacing defect products outright. All of this is done at the national divisions expense and the cost of this is then figured into what we pay for the product.

The result of the above. is if a company is purchasing a product directly from the factory or from another national divison, other than the US division, this division might have sold overstock, or simply deliberately purchased more cameras and are selling them at sub market price because they know they will not be required to fix any of these cameras in the future... the savings is pretty much reflective of how big a percentage of the sale price is though to be required to fix these in the first place. (smile)

Therefore grey-market is sketchy at best... its NOT supported by the national division which have not been paid to support these particular units.

Bo

www.bophoto.com/HDV

Wayne Morellini · May 14th, 2006, 06:40 PM

Nathan,

Except, that the excuse will be. that because, even though it is an American model, because it bypassed the Local American subsidiary company, who have to make their own profit to pay for repairs, it is not covered. Of course this could be arranged differently to provide world wide warranty, but you can appreciate, the warranty proportion of profit in a third world country might be much lower then in the states, because wages are much lower there. It also enables local companies set their own pricing/profit margins, along the old economic lines of what the user can bare to pay.

However, I can't remember, but I think that Sanyo's pricing is fairly even handed any way.

But seriously, I think every HD camera is over priced, and a realistic price for a 5Mp digital stills with HD video is a little more than one with VGA video (especially with out legit 25fps mode) and with the problems this camera has it should be priced somewhere between $200-$400,. If you don't believe me, just wait for the $799 H264 competition that should have started to be announced last month, but has obviously hot a snag and are extensively delayed.

Kurth Bousman · May 14th, 2006, 06:59 PM

Nathan- call your credit card company today and begin a "history" of this purchase. If the company( camera) refuses to cooperate , document the refusal by recording if must , and tell your credit card company to withhold payment- they'll then begin an investigation and most times , esp. thru these type of businesses , decide in favor of the client. If you must , withhold payment to the cc , until they have given you a favorable decision. Next time , buy from a real company like Chris' sponsors. This is exactly the reason why those type of dealers should be avoided. But , still they run full page ads in the most reputable mags , as if that in itself were validation for their trustworthyness. Truth said , those said magazines should be held partially responsible for giving an air of validity to these flybynight dealers, in my humble opinion. Kurth

May 12th, 2006, 12:33 AM	#1
Nathan Pease New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 18	Black Screen on my brand new HD1 Help! I finally received my new HD1 from the UPS guy tonight and it seems to be broke right out of the box. When I open the flip out screen and turn it on it shows all of the on screen indicators like record time left and still shots left but it is over a black screen. I can press record and take video or still shots but when I put them in my card reader on my computer the videos and stills are just black screens. On the video I can hear the audio playing but the video is just black. It is like what you would get if you were recording with the lens cap on and no I didn’t leave the lens cap on. Also when I switch to play back mode it comes up and says system error. I have tried with two different SD cards and I get the same thing. So am I missing something here or is my unit broke? I will try and contact Sanyo support in the morning just to make sure, but assuming my unit is broke will I be better off to send it to Sanyo for repair or try and return it to the online camera shop from NY?

May 12th, 2006, 12:47 AM	#2
Graham Jones Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 489	"better off to send it to Sanyo for repair or try and return it to the online camera shop from NY?" return the camera, demand replacement, refuse repair... __________________ www.irishfilmmaker.com

May 14th, 2006, 05:26 PM	#11
Graham Jones Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 489	Nathan, read this thread entitled 'Broadway Photo, Prestige Photo, 123Warehouse, etc.' written by a supposed rep from Sanyo.... http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/v...02&forum_id=27 __________________ www.irishfilmmaker.com

May 12th, 2006, 09:01 AM	#3
Bo Lorentzen Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Los Angeles - California Posts: 114	RETURN it to the shop... promptly...! note the serial number and make sure you get another one. (smile) Bo www.bophoto.com/HDV

May 12th, 2006, 01:14 PM	#4
Nathan Pease New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 18	Just spoke with Sanyo service department and they are telling me that this is a common problem with this model and to boot they will not cover is under warranty becuase of the online vendor that I purchased it through. Happy Day!

May 12th, 2006, 02:17 PM	#5
Euisung Lee Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 57	Wait a min... Sanyo is 'NOT' covering it under warranty?? Because of what again? So if you buy a new unit for $600 from eBay, you don't get manufacturer's 1 year warranty? hmm... I hope you can get a replacement or your money back from that online vender.

May 12th, 2006, 03:07 PM	#6
Bo Lorentzen Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Los Angeles - California Posts: 114	WOW... guess the next question is WHO did you buy that from....? Im suddenly feeling much better paying full pop at Amazon.com at least they are prompt on any problems I have had with pretty much anything so far. Sounds like the place might have purchased the units at either a discount rate from Sanyo saying that they would carry the warrenty coverage them selves.. or have setup a parrallel import which positively is not looked at with kindness from the main manufactures. Bo www.bophoto.com/HDV

May 13th, 2006, 12:27 AM	#7
Nathan Pease New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 18	I wasn’t sure what the forum rules were about posting online vendors, but I want potential buyers to know what they are getting into. I bought my camera from Prestige camera out of NY. I got a good price on it and they have been fairly good to deal with so fare. I don’t want to bad mouth them to much until I can talk to them Monday and see about getting a replacement. Apparently they close at 1pm EST on Fridays. That is kind of early for those of us on the west coast. The Sanyo rep that I talked with said that Prestige as well as some other online vendors did not carry a US warranty on the products they were selling. I have heard of this before especially from COSTCO. That is why COSTCO gives you a lifetime warranty on everything they sell. There is nothing about my camera or its packing that would indicate that it is anything other than a US version. I plan to talk to Prestige on Monday and see how the RMA process works out. If I have to go to plan B, I think I can get warranty converge through AMEX. Has anyone else heard to this black screen problem?

May 14th, 2006, 01:58 AM	#9
Euisung Lee Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 57	http://cgi.ebay.com/Sanyo-Xacti-HD-5...QQcmdZViewItem I found two HD1 items of ebay with the blackscreen problem. Being sold as a spare parts. I guess it's not completely uncommon.

May 14th, 2006, 05:54 PM	#12
Nathan Pease New Boot Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 18	Graham thanks for the link. I had read some reviews of prestige and had not read anything about grey market merchandise. I don't really understand grey market. Sanyo built and sold this camera for a profit and should cover it under warrenty it doesn't much matter what part of world it was supposed to be sold in. I hope I don't have any problem recieving an RMA from prestige. I will find out tomrrow.

May 14th, 2006, 06:18 PM	#13
Bo Lorentzen Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Los Angeles - California Posts: 114	Nathan, Typically "divisions" of a manufacture, such as Sanyo USA, will in effect "purchase" their product from the division which manufactured the camera... the price is naturally less than you and I pay. the national division in in turn providing the "varrenty" coverage, typically by having a repair facility which will fix, and service cameras and or products. or by simply replacing defect products outright. All of this is done at the national divisions expense and the cost of this is then figured into what we pay for the product. The result of the above. is if a company is purchasing a product directly from the factory or from another national divison, other than the US division, this division might have sold overstock, or simply deliberately purchased more cameras and are selling them at sub market price because they know they will not be required to fix any of these cameras in the future... the savings is pretty much reflective of how big a percentage of the sale price is though to be required to fix these in the first place. (smile) Therefore grey-market is sketchy at best... its NOT supported by the national division which have not been paid to support these particular units. Bo www.bophoto.com/HDV

May 14th, 2006, 06:40 PM	#14
Wayne Morellini Inner Circle Join Date: May 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 2,762	Nathan, Except, that the excuse will be. that because, even though it is an American model, because it bypassed the Local American subsidiary company, who have to make their own profit to pay for repairs, it is not covered. Of course this could be arranged differently to provide world wide warranty, but you can appreciate, the warranty proportion of profit in a third world country might be much lower then in the states, because wages are much lower there. It also enables local companies set their own pricing/profit margins, along the old economic lines of what the user can bare to pay. However, I can't remember, but I think that Sanyo's pricing is fairly even handed any way. But seriously, I think every HD camera is over priced, and a realistic price for a 5Mp digital stills with HD video is a little more than one with VGA video (especially with out legit 25fps mode) and with the problems this camera has it should be priced somewhere between $200-$400,. If you don't believe me, just wait for the $799 H264 competition that should have started to be announced last month, but has obviously hot a snag and are extensively delayed.

May 14th, 2006, 06:59 PM	#15
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	Nathan- call your credit card company today and begin a "history" of this purchase. If the company( camera) refuses to cooperate , document the refusal by recording if must , and tell your credit card company to withhold payment- they'll then begin an investigation and most times , esp. thru these type of businesses , decide in favor of the client. If you must , withhold payment to the cc , until they have given you a favorable decision. Next time , buy from a real company like Chris' sponsors. This is exactly the reason why those type of dealers should be avoided. But , still they run full page ads in the most reputable mags , as if that in itself were validation for their trustworthyness. Truth said , those said magazines should be held partially responsible for giving an air of validity to these flybynight dealers, in my humble opinion. Kurth