Only one month and I busted my HC1. It'll cost me $500 to repair. It's still worth it. However, it would seem that parts for this model are hard to get, and have been placed on back order. Without a date for when they will be available. Not that I care for the long wait because it's a consumer division model, but not having parts is a sure sign of obsolesence, and it's a much often replaced component. (Mine was forced damage, but the failed part had to do with the tape transport, it would stick or pause slightly even when new. This last mishap it stopped altogether).

I'm not sure why the hold up or if it's a specific HC1 component that's not found on the A1U's which are still in production.

How long is the typical wait for Sony consumer repairs? Four weeks? Four Months? Any stories?

It took me about four weeks to repair the tape mechanism. They also had "parts on order".

It could be a good solution also to find a friend in Manilla (Philippines ) and to ship him the cam.

I had a similar problem with a SONY camcorder. The french SONY service asked me 650 Euros (800 dols) to repair.
Then a/ I bought a new (non sony) camcorder. It was probably a mistake, because
b/ I gave my crippled sony to a Philippino friend. He brought it back to MAnilla, had it serviced in a day or so by the local official sony center , and enjoyed a perfect camcorder for 5 (FIVE!) dollars....

Pierre, sounds like you were 'very generous'.

I have a couple more weeks yet before I get on the horn and find an alternate solution. Fortunately it's not holding up any production (other than home movies, etc.), it's a family cam. However, it's another reason to pay a little more to get onboard Sony's pro level support for paying gigs.

Pierre, sounds like you were 'very generous'.

.
Indeed my "friend" was actually my son ...