Why it's a good idea to read reviews before purchasing...
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From http://www.cnet.com.au/camcorders/camcorders/0,239035915,339271611,00.htm
Normally, my product reviews begin with a discussion of, well, the product. In this case, however, the fact that the Sony Handycam HDR-UX1 is quite a nice camcorder seems completely beside the point.
What is the point? Let's start with the two warnings on Sony's support site:
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video are not compatible and should not be used with standard- or high-definition DVD players/recorders. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video should not be used in computers with packet-writing software installed. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
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This is typical of Sony going down the proprietary route. Proprietary video formats, proprietary software applications, UMD, BluRay, Sony Memory Sticks, MiniDisk I could go on.
Didn't Sony once release an MP3 player that didn't actually play MP3's, they used some proprietary format, and you had to convert all your existing MP3's into this format before they would play on the player.
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I remember the head of the local community access center telling me to be careful what DV tapes I used in the DV video camera. Apparently, mixing brands might destroy the tape or even the camera. That was quite a while ago though, so hopefully that's not true anymore.
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[quote user="Sunday Ironfoot"]
This is typical of Sony going down the proprietary route. Proprietary video formats, proprietary software applications, UMD, BluRay, Sony Memory Sticks, MiniDisk I could go on.
Didn't Sony once release an MP3 player that didn't actually play MP3's, they used some proprietary format, and you had to convert all your existing MP3's into this format before they would play on the player.
[/quote]
No. It wasnt once. It wasn't even twice. It was all of them! Until two years ago they only played sony's own ATRAC3-format.
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[quote user="Sunday Ironfoot"]
This is typical of Sony going down the
proprietary route. Proprietary video formats, proprietary software
applications, UMD, BluRay, Sony Memory Sticks, MiniDisk I could go on.[/quote]
MiniDisk, lol. All the quality of VHS combined with all the popularity of Betamax.
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[quote user="Sunday Ironfoot"]This is typical of Sony going down the proprietary route. Proprietary video formats, proprietary software applications, UMD, BluRay, Sony Memory Sticks, MiniDisk I could go on.[/quote]Sony played a large role in 3 1/2 inch floppies, audio CDs, and DVDs. And there are many other members of the Blu-ray Disc Association besides Sony. If Blu-ray fails, it will not be due to being a Sony proprietary format.
I'd certainly be surprised if AVCHD doesn't fail almost entirely though.
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[quote user="donazea"]
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video are not compatible and should not be used with standard- or high-definition DVD players/recorders. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video should not be used in computers with packet-writing software installed. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
[/quote]Doesn't that rule out just about every DVD-playing device currently on the market? It seems to me that the only things compatible with this are DVD-ROM drives and (maybe) Blu-Ray.
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[quote user="mirandir"][quote user="Sunday Ironfoot"]
This is typical of Sony going down the proprietary route. Proprietary video formats, proprietary software applications, UMD, BluRay, Sony Memory Sticks, MiniDisk I could go on.
Didn't Sony once release an MP3 player that didn't actually play MP3's, they used some proprietary format, and you had to convert all your existing MP3's into this format before they would play on the player.
[/quote]
No. It wasnt once. It wasn't even twice. It was all of them! Until two years ago they only played sony's own ATRAC3-format.
[/quote]
You may be right about their solid state players, but I have a handheld Sony CD player that's several years old and plays (from pretty much any CD media) Audio CD format, MP3 format, and ATRAC format. It works great, but I feel icky using it because it's Sony. :^)
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[quote user="Carnildo"][quote user="donazea"]
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video are not compatible and should not be used with standard- or high-definition DVD players/recorders. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
"DVD discs containing AVCHD-formatted video should not be used in computers with packet-writing software installed. The disc may fail to eject or all the contents of the disc may be erased without warning."
[/quote]Doesn't that rule out just about every DVD-playing device currently on the market? It seems to me that the only things compatible with this are DVD-ROM drives and (maybe) Blu-Ray.[/quote]
Reading further down the article, not even the current crop of Blu-rays (dunno about the PS3, I assume it would be okay).
What made me go WTF wasn't so much the proprietary angle, but the discs being erased without warning.
