READ THIS BEFORE BUYING A DVX100a

I just wanted to share my experience with EVS because I think that it can help a lot of people. I shopped around for my new DVX100a for about a month and kept seeing all these stores with prices from $1300 to $3900 (depending on what accessories they were bundling). I did a lot of hunting on Ebay and found a place where I could get the camera, a couple of additional lenses, a tripod (but not weighted to what the DVX is), and a bunch of tapes for $2800 plus the $300 rebate. Well this was just perfect in my opinion, so I contacted the vendor, and found out they are not an authorized reseller which to me meant Grey Market!!!

Needless to say I had to go ahead and raise an additional $600. Kinda sucks, but I did call EVS got my DVX user discount (I know I don't post much, but for a long time I log in every day and read... nothings wrong with the strong silent type, right?), and it will be here Friday. I worked with Randy who was very professional, polite, and the only thing he tried to upsell me on was a filter to protect the lense (which I did buy, but he was really polite).

At the end of the day, anytime you are spending money on anything you want to deal with a place that will stand behind what they sell, that try to educate you about the product, that are honest with you, but most importantly, you want to deal with an organization that you can trust. In my opinion, EVS has earned a customer for life.

OK, not trying to preach... just really happy with the 'sales' experience I had from them.
 
I would also like to give a huge giant thank you to Rush and Tommy and all others at EVS. I got my dvx a few weeks ago and have been loving it. The service there is amazing- All of what Yankee said and more!!
I am new to this forum, but a loooong time reader and I have to say that whatever information I have ever needed, I have found on the dvxuser. The amount of knowledge that is available here is amazing. I have to thank this forum for all I have been learning and continue to learn here amongst the pros and amateurs and all those inbetween.
I hope to post more & interact with you great people soon....

Thank you all.
 
Thanks Damon, I appreciate your business, and I will relay your wonderful feedback to Tommy! :)

And welcome aboard! :cheesy:
 
svf1972 said:
I bought mine from Royal Camera for the great, low price of $1900. Before I paid for it they said I'd have it within 3 days but after I paid they said I'd get it when I get it. After about 3 weeks I broke down and gave them an extra $1000 to get the "Professional" model which would be to me two days later. The only difference in the "professional" model is that it comes with an already used Magic Bullet disc. Needless to say the camera still took another week to get to me and every accessory I got for it from them was ****. (yes, I had to get $900 worth of accessories to get the camera and they don't tell you that up front) *Stay away from Royal Camera, stay far, far away.

If you want a place that's honest and trustworthy go to http://www.bergerbrothers.com/. I live on Long Island so I go there to shop, they're a good group of people and won't sell you short.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much, because I almost purchase the camera from Royal Camera (the price is so appealing). So, I will stay away from that company.
 
I have to say thanks for this thread guys. After talking to con artists throughout the metro NYC area, I saw this thread. I called EVS and talked to Tommy. I was very happy with EVS and love the camera. EVS was the first of the places that I called that I didn't feel like I needed to bathe after talkiing to them on the phone. Tommy took lots of time to answer my questions. He also both saved me some money and got me better stuff by suggesting different filters than the ones that I had planned on buying.
 
Thank you Mike! Tommy is the best! We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing us. :thumbsup:
 
Guys....I'm probably going to purchase my cam from the EVS folks...just based upon what I've read here...but here's a new twist I discovered researching the various companies...can someone shed some light on this particular offer..? Apparently, they offer magic bullet software, free tapes, $500 rebate(?), and even Barry's book and DVD. Something about this sound fishy..?

http://buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PNAGDVX100A

Thanks,
Prof. D.
 
Does anyone know if the EVS folks also offer educational discounts? I noticed that the magic bullet software site offers this discount when buying direct.

Thanks,
Prof. D.
 
That is not correct Rasquachemedia....according to the websites the offers are not the same...there is a $524.95 difference. In my world, that's still a chunk of cash. Both have about the same high rating on resellers.com....so, I'm trying to justify the additional expense and make a decision. I've noticed that many folks purchase the MACK 4 year warranty anyway for about $250, so the warranty seems to be the same in both cases...However, I do like the fact that you guys on this forum seem to have a direct connection with EVS and get things done...but, there was that issue with the late rebate checks and invisible free tapes, books, etc...that concerns me too.

http://buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=PNAGDVX100A#accessories

http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/...=AGDVX100A&Category_Code=2A2&Product_Count=12

I'm trying hard to justify the extra $500 contribution.

The college I teach at had some monitors, editing systems, and other video equipment donated recently and now seems interested in doing more in the video/media arena...so naturally I'm very interested in purchasing something soon to better utilize these donations. If all goes well, perhaps the next round of grant writing will include much more high end video and camera systems and capabilities. It's all very exciting.

Thanks,
Prof.D.
 
You need to complete your research, Professor. :) Buydig.com is not an authorized dealer (as per Panasonic). The rebate was only recently increased to $500 and EVS has not yet updated their web site. There is only *one* rebate program offered by Panasonic U.S. Also, you may want to call Rush at EVS and find out what the DVXuser discounted price is for the DVX--again this isn't reflected on the web. Since Buydig isn't an authorized dealer, you have to be willing to accept the possibility that you'll receive a gray market camera and not be eligible for the rebate or Panasonic warranty service. In any case I'd recommend against the Mack warranty--they have a spotty track record.
 
Thanks Barry, you beat me to it. :engel017: A person would be saving $150 off our check/cash price to take a chance on a grey camera... And the same Mack warranty at EVS is $170 for DVXusers, so that's another $80.

I just wanted to address ProfD's remark "...but, there was that issue with the late rebate checks and invisible free tapes, books, etc...that concerns me too."

That has nothing to do with us. Every north american buyer is having some delays getting the freebies, whether they bought them from us or any other authorized dealer, because that is an issue with Panasonic's inventory on the giveaway items. That happens outside EVS's scope. The reason I asked my customers to email me their info is so that I can forward it to my rep at Panasonic and try to keep a timeline of when they will get their freebies.:thumbsup:
 
Rush,

First, thanks to you, Barry, and others for sharing your technical expertise and experience in this forum. It is truly an amazing site.

Do you guys deal with educational institutions? Educators? Do you offer cost incentives and discounts? Many equipment and software companies do make these offers because of product and label exposure and familiarity to students during the learning process.

Also...we are increasingly engaged in astronomy too...and I was wondering if you have heard of anyone doing planetary, lunar, etc... animations with this or similar cameras and MEADE telescopes? We currently do limited animations by stringing carefully edited photos together...referred to as stacks in astro-photography. Of course this will not be the primary use of the camera, but some of the educational videos I plan to produce involve cutaway astronomy shots.

Examples of our astronomy efforts are found at http://www.ovalskies.com

I'm hoping to make a decision on the camera by this Friday...this has been an interesting educational experience into the apparent highly competitive world of camera sales. Reminds me of the issues that medical marketers would make selling their x-ray, MRI, CT, etc... systems to my previous employer. I never tired of the never ending games these people played to make the sale.

As far as the increased $500 rebate...that's wonderful news...and Barry (FYI)...I have researched this issue every night for about 2 weeks now, scanning at least 20+ company sites, and Buy Dig was the first web site that advertised the increased amount. Perhaps the authorized companies will update their sites soon. Which reminds me... my original question was about the Buy Dig rebate scenario...I noticed no one caught that issue.

Note the following language of the Buy Dig downloadable copy of the rebate....

"Receive a $500 rebate, by mail, with the purchase of a Panasonic AG-DVX100A DV cinema camcorder. Upon qualifying for the rebate your ship-to information will be passed along to the Panasonic for processing the free tape and battery promotion."

by the way...the grammatical error in the above statement is actually on their form...I did not change or edit it in any fashion.

There is more at the bottom of their rebate form. The rebate is apparently accomplished as an 'upgrade to an existing product'.

Also...another rebate issue is a personal one...about two years ago I purchased an HP copier and it had a rebate offer as well. I purchased this through my local Office Depot store. Well, after a couple of weeks, the check arrived but the information was incorrect and could not be cashed. They had printed the wrong name on the check...so I contacted Office Depot and then HP...both said they had nothing to do with it and referred me to another company handling their rebate offers...this company said they would investigate. After a few more calls to all three companies, and getting referred back and forth, the time and effort soon negated the $$ benefit of receiving my rebate. In the end, no rebate check, no response in the mail, and no returned phone calls. So a reputable company like HP can stiff you on the rebates by referring rebate management to a contracted third party who has absolutely no incentive to honor the rebate in a timely and accurate fashion and HP can legitimately claim that they have nothing to do with it in the process. These are the games the major companies play with these rebate checks, and they have huge financial incentives to continue with this structure. So, when I read that people in this forum were having similar issues with this from Panasonic...as you can imagine..major red flags went up for me and I decided to postpone my purchase until I felt comfortable with the process and folks involved.

I've discovered that one of the advantages of offering rebates as opposed to simply discounting the price for the major electronics companies is to retain cash until the last possible moment (they earn interest on these amounts..and it does add up), and to take advantage of the fact that a sizeable percentage of customers will not endure the often common aggravation of pursuing the rebate if the process becomes too complex.

Well...have a great day guys..and thanks for this site and your willingness to help me and many others on this learning curve.

Thanks,
Prof. D.
La.
 
You're welcome ProfD, it is my pleasure and responsibility. :thumbsup: I can tell you that we deal with Colleges and Schools all the time, and have a rock solid setup for accepting PO's and turning them around in a week. please email me directly at rush@evsonline.com if you need more info.

I have asked my webmaster to update the web rebate of the DVX.
Rush.
 
AG-DVX100A in the UK

AG-DVX100A in the UK

Hi, I just wanted to know if there were any people out there who knew where the best place to buy the AG-DVX100A in the UK. I guess the US sellers would not sell a PAL version? They seem so much more expensive in the UK (and no freebies). I would appreciate any help. Thanks xx
 
Rush,

I emailed you a couple of days ago and have not heard any response. I will email you again today.

Thanks,
Prof. D.
 
Hi ProfD I responded this AM. :thumbup: Sorry, I was out friday, and we are closed on W/E's.
 
BeachCamera is offering the dvx100a for $3129.00---before the rebate and free shipping (8 days) or $5.00 shipping (4 days).

I have purchased a digital still camera from Beach before (without any problems), but has anyone dealt with them on larger purchases? Resellerratings.com gives them high marks....
 
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