Curious to see if anyone had feedback on using the new Sony HDV-M10U deck? I have Xpress Pro and need to buy something that will play my miniDV tapes (shot in 24p on the panasonic AGX100) in the meantime and on HDV in the future. From what I've gathered, here are the pros and cons of each:

Pros of Sony HDV:
Supports Sony HDV 1080i format
Plays back 720p format
LCD monitor
Will play the 1080p tapes of the future?

Cons:
No RS422 Control
No Component Out
Only records in 1080i HDV (no 720p)
No Digital out? (for monitoring or playing HDV signal)
No timecode display (the manual says it's there on the LCD)
No XLR in/out
Does not play large-size DV tapes

JVC BR-HD50U
Pros:
Timecode display/generator
Plays large/small DV tapes
HDMI out for monitoring
BNC connections
RS-422 control

Cons:
Only records in 720p HDV
No component in
No LCD monitor
Is JVC reliable?
Will not play the 1080p tapes of the future?

I'm interested to see if these facts are correct, and what everyone recommends.

thanks!

The deck you buy is tied to the camera you buy. Sony's HDV deck is only partially compatible with JVC's HDV recordings, and JVC's HDV deck is only partially compatible with Sony's HDV recordings. Specifically, you cannot digitize the other company's footage.

While both decks claim to play the other's footage, that doesn't include playing it through firewire to your editing station. It only means they'll play back the footage through the analog video outputs.

If you want to edit and digitize the footage, and if you want to be able to clone tapes firewire-to-firewire between your camera and deck, you will need the deck that's made by the manufacturer of the camera you're using.

This kind of opens up a whole new format war doesn't it? We will have the 720 people and the 1080 people. Producers who want to deal with it all will now have to buy two decks instead of one.

"While both decks claim to play the other's footage, that doesn't include playing it through firewire to your editing station. It only means they'll play back the footage through the analog video outputs."

I talked to a Sony product specialist yesterday and he claimed that their deck will play the 720p signal as HDV through their component and firewire signals. I have yet to confirm anything from JVC that says the same, namely that their deck will play the 1080i signal through component and firewire outputs.

I want to buy a deck to playback/record miniDV tapes, and if I'm spending the money, I want to make sure it's forward compatible...but this is too confusing. On the Avid forums I hear many people dissing the Sony deck as just an FX-1 tape mechanism in a box. Basically it's a DSR-11 with the ability to see timecode on an LCD monitor.

Just talked to JVC and he said the BRHD50U will NOT play the 1080i tapes that Sony produces on HDV. He said you will have problems with them.

I think that pretty much solidifies my feeling that I'll probably wait to buy a deck until someone comes out with one that will play and record both 720p and 1080i, has RS422 control, has component in AND out, and has XLR audio.

Jeremy