Digital8 horizontal banding & sound dropping out on playback

[dave @ stejonda]

My trusty Sony TRV730e Digital8 camcorder has just started to play up.
The picture is divided by several thick black horizontal bands and the
sound drops in/out continuously.

I've run a head-cleaning tape through but this has had no effect. The
problem occurs on both the just-recorded and older tapes.

What could be the reason please? Is an economic repair likely to be
possible?

I have a large collection of recordings which I have always intended to
transfer to DvD/DivX before upgrading the cam' to a DvD recording model
but I really need a faster PC to do this.

If repair is not appropriate then should I buy another Digital8 cam?
Is there another way of transferring? Are Digital8 cams available for
hire?

 

[NSM]

I have a large collection of recordings which I have always intended to
transfer to DvD/DivX before upgrading the cam' to a DvD recording model
but I really need a faster PC to do this.

Why? Some of the cheaper capture cards work OK with a PII 200 MHz.

N

 

[dave @ stejonda]

Why? Some of the cheaper capture cards work OK with a PII 200 MHz.

i. the last time I did I had lots of dropped frames
ii. DivX encoding takes a very long time

Anyway this is moot since I currently have no working camcorder to play
them on.