JVC GR-DVF31 Digital Camcorder with 3" TFT LCD Display

Mr.
I bought a Camera two years ago JVC DVF31 that I have used so far without problem. One month ago it began to have a problem that doesn't already allow me neither to reproduce a tape. When putting a tape in the videocamera it leaves me a legend: "different formated type! ". At the beginning this problem began to make it intermittently and it was solved taking out and putting again the same tape into the camera.
Now already it makes it permanently and it doesn't allow me to use it.
In the JVC official service of Argentina they answered me almost without to revise it that the problem is the motherboard and an the cost of repair [was a lot of money]!!!!!
This legend that appears in the finder "different formated type! " it cannot be for another cause? Help me.
I don't want to leave this camera like old museum piece and to think that it was a very bad purchase.
Excuse my not well written English.

I love this camera and am thrilled that I bought it. There may be newer and sweeter gadgets out there nowadays since I bought mine back in 7/2000, but this still more than gets it done. Based on the ... ticket price on this site (as of 7/2002), it leads me to believe that this is still a very respected camera (can be found less expensive elsewhere, by the way).

If there is one knock against it, it's the fact that the software package doesn't allow you to make mpeg movies straight from camera to PC. I believe there are 3rd party software titles that you can buy ... and get this accomplished.

All in all: great video and great sound. I tape my school's basketball games on this camera, and I have wowed the coaching staff on more than one occasion with the clarity of the pictures. And, trust me - when you are trying to stat a game, clarity is priority one. You will love it!

This was our first video camera, and it does a great job. Light, easy to use and to handle, good pictures, good zoom. The only flaw is that, to put it on AC power (e.g., if you want to watch movies on it), you have to remove the battery to get access to the outlet. Aside from that, a darned good camera, and I'd recommend it to friends.

I read a couple of reviews where the JVC camera was not mac compatible, but i have had no trouble using it . I purchased a Evergreen tech. pci firewire (works for mac, apple 2.5 firewire drivers installed,system9.0.4) card for my powertowerpro 200 w/g3 and am using imovie2. the camera works great so far.

Before I bought this camera I did a lot of research and found this one to have the most features for the price. The camera itself works really well and met my expectations. The once big drawback is the software that comes with it. JVC calls this camera a "cybercam" which implies compatibility with your computer. In its promotional material, JVC indicates that the camera comes with "sophisticated software." One of the reasons I bought the camera was to download and edit video clips on my computer. When I received the camera, I found that you can only download still pictures with the software JVC provides and cannot download streaming video.

The JVC website recommends a $99 software package from Pinnacle systems to download video clips. I ordered this software, but discovered that in order for it to work, you need to add a different PCI chip to your computer. This was dismaying since I was forced to take the back off of my computer to add the chip and because the chip was a downgrade from the new PCI chip that came with my computer. After much work, I still have not been able to capture and edit videos on my computer - Kind of a bummer for a product taht calls itself a "cybercam."