Can I watch a mini dv tape without a camcorder?

[flobadob]

This is probably a long shot but a few years ago we bought a mini dv camcorder from jessops but it broke within a month. We ended up buying a cheap hi8 camcorder and never bothered replacing the mini dv as the hi8 is still going strong.

I was just wondering is there any way to view the mini dv tapes we have without buying a mini dv camcorder? Probably not but worth a shot.

[ChuckFickens]

Worth a shot indeed. but the answer is, as you expected. no.

[flobadob]

Ah bagga. Ebay here I come.

[ChuckFickens]

Careful what you buy, a lot of the cameras listed as miniDV are actually the type that takes memory cards, not proper miniDV tapes.

Only £15.99 for a proper tape based one though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...s?hash=item4ceec20ab5

[flobadob]

Chuck that link you put, is that a tape one or card? I did notice what you were saying and its hard to tell which are the tape ones.

[ChuckFickens]

That's a tapes one, if you look under Item specifics it says Format: MiniDV

the card type ones say Format: MICRO SD MEMORY CARDS (or similar)

[flobadob]

It's just that sometimes I think it says mini dv but doesn't appear to take tapes. When it says mini dv does that specifically mean it takes tapes?

[pauln90]

It says mini dv in the description but only lists SD/MMC cards for capture methods. Maybe chuck is referring to another model ?

[ChuckFickens]

I actually misread the listing, sorry.

there are a few tape ones listed

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...s?hash=item3a59a3fbef

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...s?hash=item2eac47c8c3

Or depending on the quantity of tapes you have it may be cheaper to get them transfered onto DVD

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk...s?hash=item3a4ee0bfeb