151 - - 152

G

GRIMWORX

Well-known member
Hey guys

Im all but ready to pull the trigger on my next cam. The only thing is I have found a good deal on a hmc 152...


Now i dont see any reason why I would have problems with this in the uk... but if any of you more experienced guys can tell me otherwise before I make a huge mistake, that would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers guys
 
It would probably work, but it won't have warranty coverage in the UK and it won't have the PAL/NTSC switchability that the 151 has.
 
It says it should have a 1 years manufacturers warranty....

And just working in pal is fine for me luckily.

Ive done alot of research, and i cant find any differences...in fact the shop I would purchase it from states on their website 'There is no difference between the 151 and 152'. I know that to not be true on the switchability front however, so was wondering if they had got other facts wrong.


Cheers
 
GRIMWORX said:
It says it should have a 1 years manufacturers warranty....
Click to expand...
Yes, but that warranty will only be good in the country it was sold in. Not in the UK. You might have to ship it to Australia or Singapore for warranty service.

The only difference between the 151 and the 152, as far as I know, is that the 152 is PAL-only and the 151 is switchable. And the 151 is only sold in Europe, and the 152 is sold in PAL territories other than Europe, and the warranty will be determined by the unit's designated market.
 
thanks i will look into this some more.

The camera is brand new and from a uk company... so hopefully it would be covered. I will have to email and ask.
 
If it's a 152, there is no possible way that it will have a UK warranty.

That was really the whole point of them assigning different model numbers in the first place, is to differentiate the territories. A 152 cannot legitimately be sold in the UK by an authorized reseller, it can only be a gray-market unit, with no warranty coverage in the UK.
 
It doesn't matter what the website says.

The 152 will have a 12-month manufacturer's warranty, but it will NOT be honored in the UK. No ifs, ands, or buts. The 152 is sold and serviced in southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. ProVisual is probably importing them from Singapore.

There is only one guarantee that you will receive on this unit, and that is that the warranty will NOT be honored by Panasonic UK/Europe.

If you buy the 151, you will have warranty coverage in the UK. If you buy a 152, you will not. Guaranteed.
 
thanks for the help mate, its much appreciated.

I guess I have to make the choice between paying around £500 more for a 1 year warranty, or not.

Not the easiest of desicions. Now I know anything can happen - but how reliable are these cameras? Is it to be expected i may run into problems within a year?

IMO with most electronic products the standard warranty is a waste of time - they all seem to last a year before breaking anyway!
 
GRIMWORX said:
thanks for the help mate, its much appreciated.

I guess I have to make the choice between paying around £500 more for a 1 year warranty, or not.

Not the easiest of desicions. Now I know anything can happen - but how reliable are these cameras? Is it to be expected i may run into problems within a year?

IMO with most electronic products the standard warranty is a waste of time - they all seem to last a year before breaking anyway!
Click to expand...

Actually that would be a 3 year warranty for for a legit HMC. At least that is the case for the North American HMC151.
 
Yep, register it and you get three years of warranty coverage.

The other thing you get with the 151 is PAL/NTSC switchability. The 152 doesn't have that.
 
Also, pop Panasonic an email. They should be able to point you to legit suppliers. Actually they have a list online I believe.

I really wish they would include you book Barry. Would have saved me some money. :D
 
Ask them to do so. Send a request to your Panasonic representatives.

I especially wish that territories outside the US would include it, because shipping delays and customs can inconvenience the customer, whereas if the country's local Panasonic division would just bundle it in the box then the customer would have it right when they need it! :D
 
GRIMWORX said:
thanks for the help mate, its much appreciated.

I guess I have to make the choice between paying around £500 more for a 1 year warranty, or not.
Click to expand...


The term used in the US for this type of thing is "grey market", where products from the same manufacturer, but sold in 'other' regions by other distribution means, are brought into the potential buyer's region.

One can wonder why there isn't a 'global' warrenty, but that's how the companies work it. I suppose one 'reason' is for example, PAL is not used in the US, outside of some pretty limited situations. So, the US Panasonic warrenty repair depots are not setup probably to even evaluate a returned PAL camera(*). Or, are not stocked with replacement parts. Same is true for PAL regions and returning an NTSC device...

Even in the case of the PAL/NTSC of Europe vs. the PAL-Only elsewhere... probably a set of jumpers are not installed... or perhaps firmware on a chip, etc... so the devices are 'different'...

What I have seen in the US for sellers of Grey Market devices is an offer of a separate service company for the unit. So, if it fails, one has to send it in for 'return/repair' to that company, rather than say, Panasonic, in the case of the HMC151 or 152 if the buyer is in the US.

So, sure you 'save' a few on the initial price, but there's that uncomfortable feeling that if something is wrong... it will be a hassle to deal with... and as insurance goes, sometimes you pay for the 'surity'...

In the case of camera gear, computer gear, other 'high price' items... I tend to pay the 'premium' for having that surity. There's nothing more disppointing than having a piece of new equipment 'fail'... than having a failed piece of expensive new equipment and no warrenty, or having to wrangle over it...

*I don't know the details, but some companies may ship out a 'replacement' from a stock of 'remanufactured' devices, rather than 'repair' your very device. So an 'out of region' device would require that a replacement be shipped from 'out of region' as well, and that would impact the estimate of the costs involved in 'offering' the warrenty.
 
Barry_Green said:
Ask them to do so. Send a request to your Panasonic representatives.

I especially wish that territories outside the US would include it, because shipping delays and customs can inconvenience the customer, whereas if the country's local Panasonic division would just bundle it in the box then the customer would have it right when they need it! :D
Click to expand...


That's one of the reasons why I didn't go with the grey market option when I bought my DVX100A... the legitimate offering included your book...
 
The Panasonic Europe warrantly includes 5 day turnaround collect & return, with a replacement cam to use if the repair takes longer. Pansonic won't honour a guaranteee on a " grey import", not brought in through their distributor (Holdan in the UK). For this reason I bought from Siren Technology, who will demo the camera and have an actual office you can go to if there's a problem , unlike most grey importers (I believe including the one mentioned). You might save in the short term but what if....... Plus will you get Edius neo? I woiuldn't risk it.
 
this is what the shop emailed me back on the subject.... thoughts?


Hi Scott

You are correct about the 152. If something were to go wrong with the
camcorder you are covered by an international warranty. We would handle the
matter on your behalf and arrange for it to be repaired by an authorised
Panasonic Repair Centre.

Regards

Customer Services
Pro Visual Direct
www.provisualdirect.co.uk
 
Which means they'll be shipping it back to Singapore for the repair. Which is polite on their part, saves you some hassle, but it still will mean at least a week before you get it back. Ask 'em what the turnaround time is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top