I think this is agreat product for the price. The quality of picture compared to my higher model SONY Digital-8 which I bought when they first became available in the late 90's (4 times the price of this one). I compared their quality side by side on the same monitor/TV and they are very different. On the down side wha I miss is that I have o have the LCD screen open while I reach and play the tapes in the replay mode. I find this feature frustrating. The zoom is also very quick which can work as a postive or negative. SO it takes a little of getting used to. I recommend this model as I bought it since my older one stop working and I still have many family Digitla-8 tapes that I would like to watch from time to time.