Pan DMR-EH55 >$1000 on eBay!

[garyjo]

Could not believe the latest eBay sales of Pan DMR-EH55 (200 gb) units at >$1000. They were selling for $420 in early December. Are these foolish buyers? Or, are these machines really that good?

[next]

It is basic economics - supply and demand. And in this case I do not believe they are Tulips. Scholars of history may appreciate this.

edit - A bit of clarification. Tulips value crashed because they could be easily reproduced. Advances in genetics surprised even the speculators. DVD recorders with an HDD appear to be running to the end of their life cycle. No genetics to the rescue in this case. Now it is called profit and loss.

[garyjo]

Supply and demand determine price. Agreed.
That obviously explains the >$1000 prices for Pan EH55s on eBay.

Why haven't Pio DVR640s begun running up in price on eBay?
Last Pio 640 sale on eBay ended tonight at $404.

Pioneer has told all authorized dealers there are no more Pio640s in their warehouses.

On Fri, Elec Warehouse, an authorized internet dealer, told me they had over 300 orders, and no supply. I had an order for 2 units. Which won't be filled.

CDW, another Pio640 authorized dealer, told me they have orders for 61 units, but only expect 4 on 3/26. Leaving 57 unhappy customers. My "backup order" for 2 pio 640s will not be filled.

[next]

Not sure. But if it is like the EH55 I would bet that the Pio 640 would be soon to follow. Although there have been some problems with the 640 that have been well reported. Maybe the purists don't like the 640?

[garyjo]

You may be right.
Seems reasonable to expect Pio 640s to begin rapidly increasing in price.

Per eBay pricing (as of tonight)....
I do not see why a Pio 640 is "only" worth $404 vs a Pan EH55 (200 gb) >$1000.

Is the Pan EH55 really that much better?

[nlec]

Are these SD units without any HD capability at all?

[garyjo]

The Pan EH55 has HDMI output at 720p or 1080i.
The Pio 640 does not.

Are these SD units without any HD capability at all?

[lordsmurf]

There are always a few people on eBay who will drive up auctions to idiot-level pricing. But you'll also find, in many cases, that auction closing do not equate to actual payments. It's actually quite common.

[garyjo]

First sale >$1000 was $1050 on 2/21.
On Mar 9, seller thanked buyer for prompt payment. (see url)

http://myworld.ebay.com/prosopon-pros/

There are always a few people on eBay who will drive up auctions to idiot-level pricing. But you'll also find, in many cases, that auction closing do not equate to actual payments. It's actually quite common.

[lordsmurf]

IN that case, it's just somebody with more money than sense. Lot of that on eBay too. Remember the Virgin Mary grilled cheese that sold for thousands of dollars? What a dumbass.

[NiteLite]

The last few online places that had the Pio 640 jacked up the price above retail before running out. B&H went up about $60 on it's last few. Others did about the same.
I dont know of the problems w/ the 640 referenced to in another post above. I really like the unit and was going to buy another. That's what I get for putting it off. But when they went they went out fast.
Either way I wouldn't pay $1000. for one. I guess sometimes money is not an issue.
NL

[nixie]

Remember the Virgin Mary grilled cheese that sold for thousands of dollars? What a dumbass.

Looks like a Casino bought that one. That should bring in more customers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4034787.stm

'One seller is even offering a "Virgin Mary" sandwich toaster - though the item description includes the caveat that the item "may or may not reproduce the Virgin Mary image".'

Considering the problems with recent recorders, they should have a caveat "This recorder may or may not work."

[gshelley61]

Odd. eBay pricing on pre-owned Toshiba HDD units has been steadily going down. Under $200 lately for XS34 and a little over $200 for XS35.

I wouldn't panic about the availability of HDD equipped DVD recorders. There are plenty of them around on the used and store return market. There are a number of "code free / region free" machines on the international market, too.

Panasonic is releasing three new upconverting HDD models with digital tuners in Japan this April, including one with a 1TB hard drive capacity. I would bet there will a couple of US models eventually.

[garyjo]

Maybe its the "right combination" of all their PQ features that makes a PQ difference?
That makes the Pan DMR-EH55 so desirable?

Maybe their 12 bit DAC processing actually makes a difference in PQ?
(I don't recall 12 bit DAC procesing in the Sony GX7 and other Sony
DVRs making much of a PQ difference.)

Check out the PQ feature set discussion below.
Marketing hype?
Or, did the PQ feature set of the DMR-EH55 really get it right?

http://panasonic.co.jp/pavc/global/diga/usa/eh55/high_picture_quality.html


Update:
Another eBay sale for $1009 (see 3/9 entry), with prompt payment by buyer!
http://myworld.ebay.com/steebun/

...it's just somebody with more money than sense.