OK, as ya'll have no doubt read, the DV ports in both my cameras are dead. The cameras still work fine.

After Jeff Donald brought up the possibility that they were damaged by a faulty cable I discussed the probability with some friends of mine that are computer engineers. They said it was very likely that this is the case, and could also have been caused by the Firewire card (ADS PYRO!!!) as well.

Now, having discovered this, I must unleash my furious vengence on the $#&@$ #$(@&#^'s that are resposible for this.

Now, besides myself, and I don't think it was caused by my incompetance (could be though). That leaves the people that built and sold me the computer, and the manufacturers of the hardware involved.

What would you guys do in this case? I'm not going to sue ADS as they probably have lawyers that would eat me alive. I don't think I could prove 100% that it was their fault anyway, plus I have also returned their card (when I thought it was the card at fault). I still have the cable though. Can I take out my legal rage on the computer store? Should I go have a talk with them and explain that I'm looking for blood and they can fix my cameras now, or pay in court later?
Let me know what you think.

was it the pyro ?
was it the cable ?

was it a loose wire or circuit board in the canon ? blown fuse ?

once you track down the source .. you then complain to store that sold cable/pyro to you & manufacturer...

in the future when buying a camera consider buying a extended service contract/warranty as it would PAY for this repair !!!

I'll have to buy a new miniDV camera and try to fry it to find out exactly what is doing it. Most likely the cable? I'm going to go to the computer store this week and tell them I'm pissed.

As far as extendeded warrenties go... KEN, HEY KEN, WHERE ARE YOU??? ;)
I bought both my cameras used, no warrenty. Actually, there was a 1 month warrenty on one of them, but that's long up.

Let me just say Dylan I really feel for you. In video production the only feeling worse than getting your gear stolen is having it broken by forces beyond your control. I hope you can find justice, though that's always hard to do when you can't pin blame on one faulty component or manufacturer.

I have insurence on my camera. So if things like this should happen
they will pay for my repairs. But that doesn't help you much now
ofcourse. Try informing with Canon how much the repair costs
will be. How did you find out the ports are fried?

I doubt it will be worth the bother. Its going to cost you big bucks and lots of time. Since you are under Canadian law, you may have remedies unavailable in the US.

You will also need to identify the defective component. Until that happens you will go nowhere with this. For me, I also had a problem with the firewire connector on the XL-1 (broken pins + $200). So be aware your problem may lie with Canon.

It will be difficult suing companies outside Canada. That may limit you severely in you ability to recover these expenses. They may just merely choose to ignore you.

Keep everyone informed of where the defect was found.