A place to buy my new camera

jetdv wrote on 5/11/2004, 11:54 AM

Stay away from BroadwayPhoto (and MOST other NY shops). Check out the shops on www.resellerratings.com. Here's BroadwayPhoto's rankings:

4.70 Pricing of Products and Services
1.08 Likelihood of Future Purchases
2.00 Shipping and Packaging
0.28 Technical Support
0.42 Return or Replacement

These are in the range 1 - 10 with 10 being good.

riredale wrote on 5/11/2004, 11:54 AM

Put your faith in www.resellerratings.com. Many of the NYC outfits are pure bull****.

JJKizak wrote on 5/11/2004, 12:16 PM

I haven't had any problem with B & H Photo. Large selection and pretty good prices. The other outfits tend to be much higher in price or have cameras real cheap but no battery, case, lens cap, cables, and all other pertinent extras. Plus if you talk to them they might cut you some slack on the price.

JJK

BrianStanding wrote on 5/11/2004, 12:19 PM

I'd strongly recommend Full Compass Systems (www.fullcompass.com). The most knowledgable and helpful staff I've ever worked with, competitive prices, and great product support. Don't go by the prices in the catalog, as these are MSRP, not street price. You can't do online ordering, but you can call them at 800-356-5844.

Or, if you really want to order by web, try B&H (www.bhphoto.com) or Armato's (http://www.armatosvideo.com).

JohnnyRoy wrote on 5/11/2004, 12:32 PM

I have to agree with the others. Don’t buy anything from an on-line store you’ve never dealt with before without checking www.resellerratings.com first. And please support Resellerratings by adding your experiences too.

I’ve had good luck with BuyDig.com. I’ve made three purchases from them (two cameras and a DVD burner) and had no problems whatsoever. They have an 8.3 out of 10 rating on Resellerratings and have the AG-DVX100A for $3,399.00.

A quick Froogle.com search will reveal that this is a pretty good price. If you look up some of the cheaper prices from Froogle you’ll see that those merchants have very low Resellerratings.

NiceElectronics has it for $3049.99 but their rating is only 3.3 for the past 6 months with a lifetime rating of 5.5. Mostly customers complaining about calling to make sure it was in stock and finding out it wasn’t after ordering or the order taking too long. Some were perfectly happy. At least they’re not doing a “bait and switch” which is what some of the low priced sellers are doing. I have never done business with them.

The bottom line is: pay with a credit card that has a good customer protection policy. Then you can always dispute the charge and have the credit card company fight with the seller. What you have to watch out for with cameras is gray market goods. You may get a version that is not supported in your country and you'll just be stuck with it.

~jr

donp wrote on 5/11/2004, 3:35 PM

Thanks You all, I'll do by what reselleratings says, thanks.

scotty_dvc80 wrote on 5/11/2004, 3:43 PM

Reseller ratings gave I buy digital ghlowing reports and I got the serious 5 week runaround. Sir!
If you want go to DVXuser .com it is a BBS for fellow DVX100A users.. One of their sponsors is EVS @ EVSonline.com. The man I deal with their on a personal basis is RUSH. EVS is a authorized Panasonic Dealer.. Rush is top notch.. GO to DVXUSER and see what others say.. Yes B & H is a good place to shop.. why?? they send you the product..lol
EVS in California always beats their prices with perosnal service, I can deal with the same personable guy.. Give them a try..

Orcatek wrote on 5/11/2004, 6:34 PM

I too have had good look with B&H Photo in NY. They have a really good rep. I even got my copy of Vegas+DVD from them.

May not always be the cheapest, but are a good company.

johnmeyer wrote on 5/11/2004, 9:34 PM

B&H Photo.

VegasVidKid wrote on 5/11/2004, 10:52 PM

You gotta see these pics:

Look here!

Although most of the stores have professional looking Websites (often developed by the same companies), the stores themselves are mostly a joke. There are only maybe one or two legit stores in Brooklyn. You can pretty much recognize which ones they are from the pics of the stores.

B&H Photo is in Manhattan (NYC), and they are the real deal. NYC used to be the best and cheapest, but since the Internet, these Brooklyn places have given NYelectronics retailers a bad name.

Avoid BwayPhoto.com like the plague. It's amazing that places like this are allowed to operate. They are notorious for removing standard accessories and trying to sell them back to you at inflated prices, etc.

donp wrote on 5/12/2004, 6:54 AM

Thanks a lot, VegasVidKid looked at the pictures. Looks like EVS has my business for the AG DVX100a. They beat B & H out by about $30 and they seem to have a very good relationship with their customers. They should be that way with the kind of money you have to lay down for these cameras.

By the way, I Buy Digital, Mega something and I Buy Plasma had the same New York City address. There were several more on the Reseller list from NYC, including the "best pick".

flippin wrote on 5/12/2004, 5:31 PM

By coincidence I just purchased an AG-DVX100A (w/ manufacturer supplied accessories) and a Pro Titanium wide-angle lens from US1Camera--one of the New York-based internet companies.

So far the consumer ratings/descriptions have been accurate: The sales folks are high pressure--they make sure you will hear about every conceivable extra and add-on and extended warranty.

However, the price for the camcorder + accessories is $3099, lens $399. Other places, i.e., 5StarsElectronics and Express are truly into deception. Their advert prices are much lower, in the $2500 - $2800 range; however, it takes a crowbar to pry out the information that these are "just the camera" prices--no battery, no remote, no charger, no nuthin'. When that is clear, they start adding up what it costs to get what you'll need to run the camera and it's right up there with the more expensive--sometimes much more expensive--guys.

So I dealt with US1Camera this way: I sent e-mail to the sales dept informing them that I would buy from them if they verified by e-mail:

1. Product I wanted was in stock and would be shipped within 1-2 days of purchase.

2. Full price for itemized purchases was as advertised

3. They would not delay my purchase for the sake of attempted additional sales pitches.

4. They would forward the name and direct phone # of a manager-level sales rep that I could deal with if any issues came up.

Actually I e-mailed a couple of companies with the same list of demands--only US1Camera responded. So I called James at US1 (his ext. is 205) and dealt with him.

Okay, there was some double-talk and he did make me listen to some limited sales talk re: accessories, but no show-stopper stuff. I paid, he generated an order number, and the next day (actually today, this a.m.) I called him again and got a tracking number for the shipment.

So far, so good. If people are interested I'll post again when I get the camcorder.

Best regards,

Lee

johnmeyer wrote on 5/12/2004, 5:35 PM

With all these companies, you have to make sure that the merchandise comes with a USA warranty. Many of them do not, and are only covered by a third-party warranty which is probably managed by Uncle Harry who lives above one of those storefronts shown in those great pictures posted by VegasVidKid.

flippin wrote on 5/12/2004, 5:39 PM

Well, I covered that point on the phone with the US1 guy--he was busy trying to sell the 5-year extended warranty and I backed him up and asked, "Doesn't this product come with all manufacturer-supplied accessories, including the 1-year warranty?" He said yes, it comes with the manufacturer's warranty.

He could've been lying I suppose...we'll see when I get the camcorder.

flippin wrote on 5/12/2004, 5:58 PM

Real-time update: Just checked the UPS tracking number US1Camera gave me this morning--it is in their system, listed as 3-day air shipping...just as they told me it would be.

This sounds good so far, however, it hasn't arrived on my doorstep yet!

Again, anyone reading the dismal 6-months reviews of US1Camera (their longer term reviews are better, actually 2x better) would be well advised to get everything spelled out clearly in e-mail to these guys and then deal with one person (with a name and direct extension).

VegasVidKid wrote on 5/12/2004, 10:13 PM

Flippin,

I wish you luck with your purchase from US1Camera. Hopefully it will turn out okay. However, they have a bad reputation and their Website has all the tell-tale signs of a place I'd stay away from. Among other things, they don't even list their physical address. All it says is US1Camera.com New York, NY 10033. Good luck finding that! I know why... they probably operate out of a house in Brooklyn. I checked their Website registration info. The site's registered to an address on Ave S in "Kings County", which is a euphamism for "Brooklyn", and the address is not in a commercial area. I know the area because I grew up there before I moved to Los Angeles in '81. They are obviously trying to hide that for some reason.

Hopefully you'll get all the accessories and they won't try to ding you for extra "insurance". Good luck!!

PS: You know what they say about emails... They're not worth the paper they're written on. :)

flippin wrote on 5/18/2004, 11:16 AM

I promised to post an update of my personal experience with this topic--here it is:

I ordered an AG-DVX100A + manufacturer supplied access's + pro titanium wide angle lens + 5 hr battery from US1Camera on May 11. (The sales guy, James, talked me into the extra battery for $109 + free camera bag + 3-day air shipping. Okay, I wanted the extra battery anyway so I said yes.

If you look at my earlier posts in this thread you will see what strategy I used to approach my purchase from this company.

I was very anxious after reading some of the well-intentioned posts here warning me in no uncertain terms that US1Camera and similar places might rip me off. However, I was able to track the order with the UPS tracking number they supplied so I felt a little better for awhile. Then, on May 13 or 14 I noticed on US1Camera's website that they raised the price of AG-DXV100A from $3099 to $3499 and no longer listed them as "In stock". Needless to say, I was nervous again when I saw that--had they sent me something bogus so that I would have to reorder at a higher price or accept something less out of desperation? On pins and needles over the weekend, but I received the camcorder and peripherals on Monday the 17th as expected. The camcorder box appeared to be factory sealed and untampered, and the order included everything that I had intended to purchase.

Minor annoyance: the "free" camera bag is obviously a generic thing made for a typical consumer camcorder--the AG-DVX100A will not fit in it--however, this is a very minor issue given the overall good price.

So, my conclusion: I feel as though I did very well overall with US1Camera and I would order from them again--if I thought the price was right and if I were sure to thoroughly lay the groundwork with them to avoid "errors" on their part.

I felt that talking to someone with clear, firm requests in mind (several times) as well as requiring e-mail confirmation of all important points probably went a long way to insuring problem-free performance from this company. Express and 5Stars never even bothered to answer my initial e-mail inquiries so I might put them into a different category altogether.

Anyway, that's the skinny.

Best regards,

Lee