Why so cheap?

OhMyGosh wrote on 1/8/2008, 10:44 AM
Any idea why this is so much cheaper than anywhere else? I have been thinking about this camera for a long time, and at this price I could certainly go for it. Free shipping, case, tripod........seems to be too good to be true. I understand some of these 'cheaper' websites sell 'foreign' models of the camera?? Not sure what that would be, or how to tell. Any help would be appreciated. Cin

http://www.expecam.com/products.asp?product_id=14282&engine=everyprice

Comments

Tim L wrote on 1/8/2008, 1:38 PM
Apparently "Expecam" is the same business as USA Photo Nation and a few other names:
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/USA_Photo_Nation

On a scale of 0 to 10 for overall customer satisfaction, their customers have rated them at 0.68.

Here's your best friend before you order anything online:
http://www.resellerratings.com/

Look at the middle section -- "Store Ratings" -- and enter the store name or website in the box that says "Enter store name". Or browse by selecting the letters to the right of that box.

By the way, Canon has just announced the HV-30 -- a slight update to the HV-20. Now includes 30p (30 frames progressive), is all black, and has an improved LCD screen. But most everything else (imager, lens, features) is unchanged from the HV-20. Should be available by the end of February.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Move-Over-HV20-Here-Comes-the-Canon-HV30-34020.htm

Tim L
4eyes wrote on 1/8/2008, 1:45 PM
OhmyGosh,
Read this:
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/294/ripoff0294048.htm

I've been in some of these stores.
michaelt wrote on 1/8/2008, 1:48 PM
I was looking for this camera myself, and went through this site and a few others with similar too-good-to-be-true prices. These are the things that I find important:

1) "Contact Us" section - does it have a clear address where this company is located?
2) If you manage to find their address, locate their record on www.bbb.com and check it out.
3) Even if their record is not unsatisfactory (which is rare), I would still prefer to pay extra to someone else who carries "BBBOnline" logo on their web-site. Clicking on that logo lets you instantly check how long this company was a member of BBB, how many complaints that had received and resolved.

I don't even bother otherwise. Normally that $449 item will be out-of-stock, or "just sold the last one" immediately after, of course, you decline their offer to buy overpriced accessories or an extended warranty or something similar. Also, if you call them to cancel the order they will be as rude to you as possible, and make you wonder if that credit card given while placing an order should be canceled all together.

4eyes wrote on 1/8/2008, 2:10 PM
B&H Photo has the HV20 for $679.95 free shipping.
They are reputable. I've been there, quite an amazing high tech store.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
OhMyGosh wrote on 1/8/2008, 10:47 PM
Oh My Gosh!!! I can't thank everyone enough for saving me from a huge mistake ( ) I can't believe people would do business like that, what a shame :/ I guess it confirms the ole saying 'if it seems too good to be true....it is.' Thank you for all the good links, they helped a lot. The bhphoto looks pretty good, or I may wait until the HV-30 comes out just to take a look at it and compare. Big thanks again for all your help. Cin
OhMyGosh wrote on 1/10/2008, 9:58 AM
Went to Canon and did a side by side comparison between the hv20 and hv30. Have to be honest, not sure I'm smart enough to tell the difference between them :/ Looks pretty much the same to me, other than the color. Maybe once the hv30 comes out, the price will drop even farther on the hv20? When they refer to the 'shutter speed' on a camcorder, are they referring to the still image portion of the camera? And why are there so few HD camcorders with more than 10X optical zoom? Alot of my stuff has to be done at a distance. Thanks. Cin
Tim L wrote on 1/10/2008, 10:22 AM
I'm pretty sure the HV30 is *replacing* the HV20. It could be that the remaining HV20's will be cheaper than the HV30 when it comes out, but I would guess that eventually the HV30 will settle down into the current HV20 street price.

The HV30 adds support for 30p recording, which should work well with encoding for the web (wmv, flash, youtube, etc.), which is typically 15fps or maybe 30fps. 30p will eliminate interlaced artifacts.

HV30 also has some kind of new-and-improved LCD screen, and support for a bigger battery pack, though i see people on hv20.com commenting that they already use that battery with their HV-20's.

All-in-all, its just a minor update to the HV20, though I myself do prefer the look of the black HV30 over the silver/gray HV20. (but I don't have either one...)

Tim L
Lawson wrote on 1/12/2008, 1:15 AM
Here is a .

Lawson