On Fri, 28 Feb 2003 15:20:52 GMT, "ralford" <ralford@bigfoot.com> wrote:

>I agree it may not be a good reason, however the blizzard of Sony models,

>combined with a lack of information on the Sony site (www.sel.sony.com)

>certainly doesn't make it easy to follow the product lines.

The site is www.sony.com, and has been notoriously difficult

to navigate for many years (ever since I tried to find info

on Sony's first DV camcorders, the VX700 and VX1000...;-)

I just went there, and they have yet again redesigned it

(that happens about every three months, which does not help

[especially since it rarely actually is improved...;-]).

If you do manage to find the camcorders, though, the specs

make it easy to figure out what is what... On the new site,

I got to DV camcorders in two clicks! Hmmmmm..... But

then I had to figure out where to click to actually see

the DV lineup, then it took another click to see only some

of them (where are the rest...?), and to find that the specs

lists are gone unless you think to try clicking on the

description to move on to the more detailed description,

where you cannot find the specs without another search of

the page... AH!, there it is, as a tab at the top... [click],

finally! ;-). This search for the specs is even

more daunting than it was before - I wonder who is

responsible for this always-changing ever-poor Sony web

site...? ;-)

>I posted a request for a site with summary info on the Sony line several

>weeks ago and received no replies. I infer that there isn't one. Your site

>is very good, as I have stated in the past, however, I am always having to

>do a price search on a model number, followed by a few more clicks to figure

>out what the model numbers are.

>

>Of course, complaining about Sony's info is analogous to complaining about

>the weather.

Yes... The communications with "corporate" are about

equally difficult in both cases...;-)

>One question, following my rambling above, is the TRV33 intended to replace

>the TRV25/27? The trv25 looks like a great camcorder at a reasonable price,

>if it is going the way of the TRV900 I need to get one ordered soon.

>Cheers,

>Richard

This stuff changes yearly, further confusing things, and

often there are no real changes in the camcorders...

(like TRV11->TRV17->TRV18->TRV19/22, all with the same

image and sound through four model changes - but such are

the marketing pressures that lead to this...;-). If you like

the megapixel 1/4.7" CCD image (I do), then you can find it

on the TRV740, and with a better lens, on the TRV25, 27,

33, 38, and 39, and on the carried-over(!) PC101. The 1.5

megapixel CCD existed on the TRV30 and 50 and the PC115 and

120 (where it continues[?]), but the TRV70 and 80 now have

the new 2 megapixel chip... In addition, there are the

two different main 3-chip camcorders, the TRV950 (and

slightly different DVCam version) and the VX2000 (and

slightly different DVCam version). So, there are now

only 6 basic versions of Sony DV camcorders (well, maybe

7 with the bottom-end D8s...;-), but with almost any

variation or combination of features on each model one

could possibly want (except control buttons instead of

the obnoxious touch-screen...;-) Simple, really! ;-) BTW,

for the price, the TRV33 looks like a winner since it

appears to be similar to the PC101, but at a 1/3rd lower

price...