On the last weekend one crew member managed to pull the tripod over by picking up the preview monitor. After the first shock I decided to finish shooting and it looks like the damage is not too bad. I have to get a new quick-release for the tripod, the HDMI-cable is broken and the display on the Canon is skewed, it doesn't close properly.

Of course I want to send the camera to Canon for them to check it, but it's out of guarantee and I'm not sure I get the money for repairs back from the crew members insurance. Is there another way to see if there is damage on the inside?

I'm sure that Canon will look it over for a fee. You might want to do some random shooting and see if all of the functions work. Exercise all the controls and actions multiple times to get a good feel for what might be wrong. You won't get the same feeling of comfort as having Canon test it, but you won't unless Canon make the external and internal repairs.

My guideline to repair or replace is if the repair costs 50% of the replacement cost, buy a new one. With the HV30 now available in the US for $600, anything over $300 for repairs would be right out for me. Plus the HV30 has some nice features over the HV20.

Thanks for the tip. I found a place on the Canon website where I could send it in. They take 36€ for having a look at it.

Well, it needs to work until the end of the month anyway, I think after that I will know if it needs to be repaired or it is just a cosmetic problem.

Keep that as a warrior copy and get a new HV20 for $400 referb at Tigerdirect. I mean, you can check to see whether your old one is working right now... pop a tape in, record, capture on a computer. If it's working, I'd say it's too cheap to get a new one these days to get any cosmetic repair. And then any real repair will be close to the price range of the referb...