I just went to the Sony webpage that details their rebates and the rebate for these two camcorders has new start/end dates:

Start Date: 4/1/2005
End Date: 9/30/2005

So the "Rebate expires 31 March 2005" thing was just hype? Or did they reduce the retail price that much and this is now another several hundred off?

Sony Rebates (https://www.rebate-zone.com/default.asp?PN=SY0012) : Then select "Review Current Promotions"