Over the last month my VX-1000 would send a signal to my PC occasionally indicating it turned off. Then if I wiggled the wire the signal would come back up. Then it just stopped working all together. Whats that mean? Is the port blown. Secondly I don't want to repair it. It would cost $500+ to do so. The cam still works. Should I just get a small cheap $200 Mini DV cam for importing exporting via firewire?

Over the last month my VX-1000 would send a signal to my PC occasionally indicating it turned off. Then if I wiggled the wire the signal would come back up. Then it just stopped working all together. Whats that mean? Is the port blown. Secondly I don't want to repair it. It would cost $500+ to do so. The cam still works. Should I just get a small cheap $200 Mini DV cam for importing exporting via firewire?

In a word, yes. All the cheap cam has to do is pass the 0's and 1's on the computer, and any DV cam should be able to do so. I have used a Sharp cheapy to transfer my VX2000 video for years, with no problems.

First thought is to try a new cable.