Sony Walkman® Digital8â„¢ GV-D200 Digital 8 TM VCR

Pros: Portable. Plays standard 8mm tapes. DV -> Analog or Analog -> DV conversion.
Cons: Expensive. No display. Unknown tape transport reliability.

Now that I'm getting into digital video, I wanted to be able to save digital 8 tapes onto my PC for editing without adding wear and tear on my camcorder's fragile looking tape transport, then be able to transfer the edited video to VHS or digital 8. I...

Pros: Small, easy to use, great quality
Cons: Expensive to buy, complicated to repair

First let me state that I work at a company that converts many media types to DVD/CD/VHS so I have had experience with dozens of these units(NTSC and PAL). The GV-D200 is the best unit we have for playing back Digital 8mm and Hi8 tapes. The quality ...

Pros: Compact, high quality and useful DV component.
Cons: Somewhat expensive. You can get by using an old camcorder for playback.

I've owned this unit for about a year now.

It is a component of a digital editing suite. It captures all 3 types of 8mm video cassettes. IMHO, if you are a serious video editor (for clients) this is an essential tool.

I've captured all 3 formats, and the image quality is superb. The captured footage yields excellent DVD-video or can be transferred to other formats.

The remote control is necessary to turn on and off the date/time stamp on the video material, and the frame counter.

Pros: Very flexible, lots of uses, portable, outputs all formats to firewire devices
Cons: expensive

This unit is very nice. it reads all of the 8mm cassettes. it readily hooks up to a computer via firewire to digitally record 8mm, Hi-8, and Digital8. With a unit like this, you dont need a analog capture card or some sort of external Analog-Digital converter.

this is the cheaper (ha!) model without a LCD viewscreen. my needs for captureing tapes to my computer or DVD recorder via firewire do not require a screen.

i've never done this, but it is also a portable unit powered by the same batteries that power my old Hi-8 camera. very flexible. you pay for what you get.

i've been using it about twice per month for the last year to capture and edit old home movies.