Has anyone else heard about this:

http://www.humanvalues.net/hdv/#m35

The claim is: "On November 14, 2007, Sony announced new tri-mode DV/DVCAM/HDV VCRs that support 4-channel audio and will play back not only Sony/Canon 1080i HDV but also JVC 720p HDV. The HVR-M35 series VCRs also support playback of Canon's 24F and 25F formats. These VCRs have an HD-SDI/SDI output jack and they can handle both Mini (small) and Standard (large) size tape cassettes."

This is the Sony release

http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/b2b/broadcast_production/pro_audio_video/release/32117.html
http://www.sony.co.uk/res/attachment/file/81/1193315642481.pdf
Ron Evans

I was wondering about this when I first heard of the M35 announcement. Sure would like to get confirmation from somebody who has actually played back a Canon HDV cassette recorded in Frame mode from this Sony deck...

Looks a lot like the trusty old DSR-11 except with a lot more pushy, turny, fashy things.
BTW - was the DSR-11 the greatest inexpensive deck ever made? That thing was a freakin tank. It'd run all day, every day, for a long, long time. Lets hope these new decks are built as well as that thing was.

We tried the little JVC dv deck that was slightly less expensive, but that thing was poop in comparison. Didn't even last a whole year. If we hadn't retired our old DSR-11 it'd still be running. God I love inexpensive gear that just works. Don't get me started singing the praises of my old VX... same basic concept.

I'm with Chris. I'd like to se or hear of a practical demonstration. I guess we'll have to wait until Feb. to find out.

Still using my DSR-11 and love it, but I'll have to upgrade soon.

I love my Canon XHA1... I recently shot a project 24F and everything looks great... I decided to buy a deck and I got Sony's HVR-M15 and quickly found out that it doesn't playback 24F or 30F! Very irritating. So I figured... I can shoot 1080 60i on my next project..... so I popped the tape out of the camera and put it in the M15 and the tape doesn't play.... it skips, plays, the frame freezes for a couple of seconds then plays, skips, freezes, then plays... etc. I then decided to test this with a brand new tape and it did the same thing... then I decided to just dub the tape from the A1 to the deck... which I did. The dubbed tape in the deck played back fine, but when I put it in the A1 to see if it would play back I got zilch....... a blue screen, no picture!!! So I got 2 brand new pieces of equipment that are in compatible! I WAS JUST WONDERING WHY A COMPANY LIKE SONY WOULD MAKE EQUIPMENT... THAT DOESN'T PLAYBACK 24F (OR P) WHEN EVERY SINGLE FILMMAKER AND ASPIRING FILMMAKER IS SHOOTING 24 FRAMES!? Oh yea... I know Sony has a new deck... the 35U that costs 3x as much as the 15U... over $5 grand! I think that I will be sending my deck back for a refund!

Why doesn't Canon just make a deck?

Canon does make decks, they just like to stick lenses on them! ;)

Yeah, I LOVE my DSR11. Only cheap thing about it is the tiny little door hinge pins. Other than that, a solid piece of deck.