REVISED REVIEW OF PANASONIC AG-DV2000 DECK:

Mike, Lawrenceville NJ
Tue, 4 Jul 2000 00:14:47 EDT

I decided on this deck for several reasons - its reasonable cost ($1899 from
B&H), its ability to do insert edits (an important factor for me), and, it
plays and records on both minidv AND full size dv tapes.

The first deck I received from B&H was defective.  It chewed up and destroyed
two full size dv tapes ($25.00 each).  I called B&H and they agreed to a
return with no problems.  They even replaced the two dv tapes that had been
destroyed.

I've had the replacement deck for a couple of weeks now, have done a couple
of editing projects on it, and it works fine in every respect.  It is a lot
of deck for the money.  It plays the minidv tapes that I record on my Sony
TRV900 perfectly at both SP and LP speeds, and the two-hour recording
capability of the full size dv tapes is a nice feature to have when you need
it.  It can be controlled by my Adobe Premiere/Mac G3 setup for capturing and
recording output, and on-screen display shows hrs, mins, secs & frames, althou
gh the front panel display on the deck only shows hrs, mins & secs.  It's got
a very solid feel and seems solidly built.  I'm already starting to think
about getting another to take advantage of the editing capabilities that
setup would offer.

The only complaint I have is about the instruction manual.  It's a shame that
they provide a good deck with vague instructions on how to use it.  Also -
it's not a problem, just an observation - that the composite video out
terminal uses a BNC connector which is not supplied with the deck.  A trip to
Radio Shack and a couple of bucks will get you the adaptor you need to use a
standard RCA cable for this, but I was kind of surprised to see a BNC
connector on a deck at this level.

No problems at all so far.  I don't see how anyone could possibly get a
better dv deck for $1899.

Mike
Lawrenceville NJ