• expired

Sony CyberShot DSC-HX20V Camera (20x Zoom, HD Recording, 18.2MP, 3D, Panorama) $174 (Postage $5.95)

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Hi all,
I was looking into the replacement for the HX30V from Sony which is due in April (overseas) but stumbled onto this deal at Hardly Normal. It is a very good price as the HX30V costs > $300 (locally) and the only difference is the Wifi feature (some say it is a bit flakey). For $174 (minus $5 for the WELCOME5 promotional code) I think a Sony 20x zoom camera isn't bad. It has good reviews overseas and apparently the video is full HD (1920x1080). So while waiting for the WX300 I bough one to play with.

Forgot to add that it is postage ONLY. Seems there is NO stock instore.

It says SUPERWEEKEND so I am not sure if this will be there tomorrow (monday).

For review.

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sony_cybershot_dsc_hx…

Related Stores

Harvey Norman
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closed Comments

  • Price in title please

  • Missed it by that much

  • OOps. Sorry. $174 but someone beat me to it. I am not good at this :)

    • +2

      Neil is slicker than most.

      Some know him as the first ever lemming.

  • +1

    I ordered one online to compliment my TX20, got this email :

    "We're experiencing a delay with your order. We estimate that your item(s) listed below will be ready in approximately 8 days, at which point we'll contact you."

    Hope I get it cos its alot of camera for not alot of money…..

  • It 's really good deal. I bought month ago HX30v for 316 from JB deal. HX30v wifi does not work on non-sony TVs. also wifi gets only 2mb size file that lose of quality :(

  • This seems like the perfect travelling camera for me. The downside is that it doesn't have wi-fi like the HX30V but I may just invest in an Eye-Fi memory card.

  • +1

    Thought it was very cheap in the recent $246 deal but this is a ridiculous price for a camera that's still near best-of-class in the travel zoom category. Picture quality is good for what it is (20MP on a 1/2.5" sensor) but many pixel peepers won't be able to look past the resultant smudging of fine detail. Good features like background defocus (which doesn't always work, but gives a nice DSLR-style blurry background when it does).

    Where it really kicks butt is image stabilisation in video - smoothest I've seen and pretty effective through the entire zoom range.

  • Does it take sterioscopic photo. It should have 2 lenses for real 3d.

    • It's not real 3D. I've got another Sony camera with this feature. It works by adjusting focus quickly just before taking the photo, and then saving the sharpness data of each focus level into a depth-map, which gets saved along with the photo. It's a pretty clever idea, but not very accurate. The resulting image looks a bit like a pop-up book when viewed in 3D.

  • Just realised, it also has GPS…

  • Ordered over an hour ago, still no confirmation email.

  • Really? And I thought the discounted price of $336 near the end of last year was a good deal. If only DSE would accept a price match on a 3-month old purchase…

    • Paid $399 at Myer last June (a good non-grey price at the time was $449 down from the $499-$599 retail prices). When a camera drops in price by this much in such a short time, it's usually a model that was mediocre or too quirky, but this is an interesting exception. Makes me wonder if some of the market for standalone cameras has dried up.

      • I bought HX30V for $ 369 from David Jones after price matching with JB last month. It takes really nice pictures. Zoom was really good. Only problem I found was that it takes bit too long to recharge the flash in order for it to be ready to take the next picture. I think that's normal for any non DSLRs.
        This is a great price. If I hadn't bought HX30V last month I would definitely go for this as I don't need WiFi anyway.

  • Thanks, OP.

    Bought this camera for my mother who is travelling overseas in 2 months.

    Knowing the OzBargain curse, this camera will be even cheaper before then!

  • Very happy indeed, just paid $169 to collect from my local store, with the $5 off (welcome5 which is still valid).

    Thanks OP, great little travel camera, for a bargain price.

  • -1

    Price wise alone it is a good deal for this Sony camera, however it has poor reviews on the quality of the picture (granulated/ pixelated). The Sony made lens is quite poor quality as compared to the Schneider Lens (found in some Samsung cameras).

  • Hi, I bought this camera about a month ago (pricematched at DJs for a deal DSE was having ($249ish from memory). Thought it was an awesome deal then. This camera is brilliant for a point and shoot. The quality of the pictures is excellent, and only "pixel peepers", or people who want to blow up to A0 poster size are going to get upset by image quality. I definately recommend it. At $169, you could not possibly get a better quality/feature packed camera (ok, that's a big call, but I think it's true - at the moment)

    There are two annoyances, both revolve around flash.

    1, when you take a shot that needs flash, the flash pops out of the camera right where your left finger would typically be placed. It a little annoying, but you get used to it.
    2, if you're not zoomed in at all, ie. 1x zoom, you will get "lens shadow" in the bottom right corner of your picture. (ie. the lens juts out from the camera body far enough that it casts a shadow in your pictures). it's only small (less that 2% of the photo), and usually not that noticable. You can easily avoid this by being at 1.1x zoom, but if you're in a hurry to capture a pic, you won't always remember to do this.

    Other than these issues, I couldn't flaw this camera. Great pics at distance, awesome macro shots, image stabalisation and movie quality are brilliant as well. Highly recommend!

  • Just ordered one thanks, was sad I missed the last deal but this is even better :)

    I saw this model Sony HX30V seems similar could not see difference in features but it costs much more.

    • HX30V has wi-fi

    • as doperst said, the HX30V has wifi, but I've read in to it, and it sounds crap. it basically sets itself up as a wifi access point/hotspot, and then you have to connect your wireless devices to it. It's also supposed to be fairly flakey. I'd recommend investing in an eye-fi card instead, if wifi is the kind of functionality you want in a camera. The HX20V is eye-fi "aware", so it works well.

  • Here's a small lesson in MetaPhysics.

    I eyed the HX20V when DSE had it…bought it online but no-one had stock. The I thought after seeing the TX20, well, not quite the HX20V but still, I take my son swimming every week so it would be a good one to have. Didn't buy it immediately. The next day, I called the Sony store and they told me they had the W630 for $79. My thought was well, it's tiny, 16 megapixel and the cost of 5 lunches…grabbed the last one and to be honest, when the camera gets the reading right, it's takes an awesome picture.

    So last night OB informs me the TX20 is available for $ 106! What now…ah well, you wanted it so I chuckled at myself and went to HN and bought the TX20 on backorder.

    Tonight, the HX20V pops up at a price you can't refuse, full circle.

    The lesson is that be careful what you wish for…it may all come to you.

    Anyone who needs a W630 for $70$

  • expired? still works for me.

  • +2

    Camera is currently still being offered at $174 but when added to the cart it goes up to $348. It's still Sunday here in Perth and if the deal has expired they shouldn't still be showing the $174 price.

    • Same thing happened to me. It was still "Sunday" when I attempted to add it to my cart.

  • Anyone bought a spare, and is willing to sell that spare to me?

    • -5

      Yep I'm willing to sell at $300+postage.

  • I haven't got a confirmation yet so hopefully sometime today. I have a sinking feeling that they may have sold more than they actually have and there will either be big delays or cancellations.

  • +1

    based on the above comments RE stock and confirmation, they will probably blame there lack of stock on another one of harvey norman price error, and blame professional shoppers for buying too many…

  • Fantastic camera, I have the older HX9V which has been flawless and this HX20V beats it in every respect and costs half what I paid for mine. WIN/WIN/WIN

    The only negative I can see is that I can't justify to my wife that I need to upgrade, so I'm stuck with the HX9V for awhile longer.

  • +1

    Asked live chat person about lack of confirmation email, and this was their reply: all orders have been back logged as we received over 2000 over the weekend, you will get it by today

  • -1

    Thanks OP for posting a great deal! Why did I miss out again!!!!

  • Has anyone received their confirmation email yet ? I havent :(

    • Same..

      • Same here.

        I called their online orders customer care team and they told me they are being processed but very slowly due to the weekend sale.

  • I just chatted with online chat and they said I should of received a confirmation email as soon as I paid for the camera :/,he took my details and said he would get customer support to send me one.

  • I got my confirmation just then!

    • Same here.. great :)

  • We got our confirmation that the two cameras we ordered for this price will be available for collection from our local store as soon as the store calls to tell us to collect them.

    Fingers crossed that they turn up

    Each one was ordered under a different email address, both with the $5 off welcome5. Both $169 Paypal transactions are still just pending in the account (So I guess they can still say they cannot supply them, but if they could not get them, why would they still be selling them, albeit at twice the price now, on their website?)

    • Funds are no longer pending, they have taken the payment for the cameras today, which is strange if they would not be going to supply??

  • Guys and Girls,
    I think we have been duped by Gerry again. I ordered an item online Saturday which I got instant confirmation for and then ordered this Sony camera on Sunday, no confirmation but I did get a Paypal invoice - payment has been processed and completed, not pending. After waiting for some status updates yesterday, I decided to go to the store to pick up both items at lunchtime today. Sure enough Saturdays item was ready, just no one had bothered to send out the ready to collect email. The HX20V, different matter. The store never had stock, and didn't have any for a long time. Looking on the stock lists at other stores, very, very thin on the ground and apparently the stock list isn't live and it can be upto 48hrs old. I was basically offered a couple of inferior cameras as replacements (pretty much at full RRP) or was told I could process a refund through the online store. Grabbed the number and rang the online department. The girl that answered was pretty flustered and pretty much said there was no stock, not getting any in, camera is discontinued and refunds will come eventually. Obviously wasn't happy but asked for a prompt refund. Later tonight noticed some of you were getting your email confirmations. Jumped on the instant chat on Harvey's website and started prodding about stock and cancelling my refund if they were to shipped out. Response from the rep was quote "there is unfortunately not (sic) stock for this camera and the refund is still in place" When I asked what about all the confirmations being issued, quote "they will be getting a call regarding a refund". I went onto say something about Gerry selling items that didn't exist and that making a heap off the interest while we wait for refunds, the online rep pretty much ended the discussion pretty quickly. At 7.52pm tonight I get an email order confirmation - go figure. Sorry bit long winded, but don't hold your hopes up.

    • Then why is it still available online?

      • Yeah it is still available to order online at higher price.

        I got my order confirmation email and online customer care team gave me direct number of the store that is posting my order out to speak to them for updates.

  • +1

    at least she was pretty

    badluck Joe

    • pretty x 5 ;)

      • +1

        Yeah sorry, just noticed - lots of pretty's in my post

  • I got the confirmation email (at long last) yesterday, but then today I got this:
    We're experiencing a delay with your order. We estimate that your item(s) listed below will be ready in approximately 14 days, at which point we'll contact you.

  • At least they didn't cancel the order. I haven't received that email yet.

  • Well what can I say. Hardly Normal does it again (not deliver).
    Ordered online on the weekend. Got the confirmation email and everythig. Got a call today saying no stock available as it is a discontinued model. Checked with Sony to confirm as I don't trust what HN say.

    Apparently HN are having issues with their website. They continued to say no stock in Australia. I asked what they could do for me (maybe next model (HX30V) at the same or similar price). Best they could do was $20 off (NO DEAL). They then offered an alternative product as a replacement. It was the Fuji XP50. Quick search revealed that you could get it cheaper elsewhere (ebay and the likes) and HN price was $177. I said no, give me a refund.

    I'm waiting for the same phone call for the Sony DSC-TX20.

    • I got offered the following replacements for the same cost as the HX30V the Fuji XP50 (on clearance at Officeworks for $99.00) or a Samsung ES90 (at oo.com.au for $85) and some other inferior Olympus. Told them you had to be kidding. Still waiting for my PayPal refund!

  • I haven't received a phone call yet but on what planet are these HN reps from? Offering far inferior cameras for the same price (as the HX20V), yet they can be had from OW and OO.com.au for far, far less than HN is offering. Are they blatantly being insulting, or are they just that clueless?

    It might sound overly dramatic, but if my order is cancelled, I don't think I'll ever place another order through HN again (nor buy anything in-store). I don't have confidence that any product listed on their site is actually in stock.

  • I also got a confirmation but if it's going to take too long to ship I'll probably cancel.

    Sounds like HN don't have good enough systems in place to support online shopping. No wonder all Gerry could do was complain about the Internet killing his business. A company with no idea being run by a man with no idea.

    • LOL So true…

  • +1

    Well I haven't been contacted since getting the confirmation a couple of days ago so that's weird.

    EDIT: I just contacted them through online chat and they directed me to the store that received my order (Tura Beach) and I rang them. The woman there said they had 1 camera in her store but she received 20 orders from online. She said she's been trying to contact online and sending the orders back because she doesn't think she'll get anymore and Sony apparently don't have them anymore so she pretty much said majority of the orders will be refunded.

    There's Harvey Norman for you.

    • Damn professional shoppers…

    • Well well Gerry and Sony Australia are to blame ! What a joke !

  • +1

    Yet they're still available on the website. Go figure.

    • Not anymore

  • They must have removed it since my last post.
    I still haven't been contacted since the confirmation email, until then there is still hope.

  • +1

    Just received a call fro our local HN, and they say that they are unable to supply the HX20V as is it no longer stocked in Austrailia. They have offered the HX30V in replacement for the same price ($169) and we can collect now.

    I accepted that offer. Still worked out for me, not that I will use the wi-fi this has.

    • What store offered you the HX30V ?

      • Joondalup Harvey Norman, on Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA.

        They offered it straight out on the phone from the store. I had selected pick up from Joondalup, not delivery when I purchased(Not sure if that makes any difference).

        The box for the HX30V comes with the usual (camera, battery charger, cables), but they also give you a Sony 32GB SDHC memory Card (SF-32N4 compliments of Sony) and also a $30 "mysony" evoucher card, which covers the cost of the hard or soft case with free delivery from Sony (must be spent on cybershot accessories). So the deal worked out even better (The evoucher is good for 10/12 to 03/13 inclusive, so there is only a month left of that freebie). I think this is all thrown in by Sony, not Harvey N. I do not have an updated receipt however, it is still just the last one I got from their online store for the HX20, but the guy said we will get an updated one via email for this one.

    • Hi woodvaliens,

      You ended up buying 2, right?

      If you ever feel like selling one of them, I'd be happy to buy it off you. I also live in Perth!

      Cheers,

      Boomersgold

      • Only got the one ordered under my partners name, with her paypal account, mine is through my own paypal account and pickup from the Osborne Park store (So we both got the welcome5 discount on top). If they do give me a HX30V, that is for my mum, but thanks for the offer. Clearly the stores are doing differnt things here.

  • I was offered the Panasonic TZ20 but I opted for a full refund.

  • I'm sorry that many of you got bad experiences. I'm as lucky as woodvaliens, got offered HX30. HN called my husband on Tuesday (we ordered on Sunday late afternoon/evening) telling him that they have no stock for HX20 and offered upgrade for the same price. We just picked up the camera this evening, and as woodvaliens said, it comes with 32gb sd card class 4 + $30 voucher.

    The store is HN Moore Park Supacenta Sydney.

  • Still haven't received a phone call from HN.

    No Paypal refund either.

    • Same here,no phone call…

  • I just received a call from them, They have offered the Canon Ixus 500HS, much cheaper camera, in replacement. I said NO NO NO. Now waiting for my Paypal refund. What a joke !

  • I also received a call. Said they did not have my order. I told him I got the order confirm no. He then said he will contact online order team. 5 min later, called me back and said their on-line system was down. He will contact me again in Monday, may offer a couple of options. Don't know what option they can offer. I only accept DSC-HX30V, no other.

    • I got same call from the store that took my order.

      The lady would not accept to give me the HX30V as they are a small store and received over 20 orders for the HX20V.

      She offered me other options which I did not accept.

      I am waiting to hear back from online people on what they can offer, I told them I only want the HX30V.

  • Finally got my PayPal refund today at about 2pm.
    You need to harass and ring everyday or you may be waiting a while for a refund.
    This morning they were still offering me the Samsung ES90 as a replacement.
    There is a post on it here somewhere, it was being sold by Harvey's on the weekend for $44, or $39 with the welcome5 discount.
    How crooked is that!

  • Here's what the website was showing as of Wednesday afternoon.

  • +1

    Mine was delivered today :). Hadnt received a confirmation email. When I contacted online chat yesterday they gave me all sorts of stories and offered the unacceptable alternatives (which were offered as straight swap even though they were selling them for $40 less than I had paid!!!). Turns out my order had already been shipped from Wangaratta on Wednesday so not sure why they were saying there was issue fulfilling it. Online told me they had only had 3 cameras nationally .. so I dunno how my 2 got to the top of the list. Wouldnt trust anything they say. Said they only became aware on tuesday of orders with no stock to fulfil them.

    Glad I got what I ordered - guess I am lucky even though the customer experience with them was so bad.

    • -2

      Hey nifty,

      As I said to woodvaliens, should you ever want to sell one of those, I'd be more than happy to buy it off you. I'd even be willing to pay a bit extra for it!

      Thanks in advance, buddy!

  • So those that were lucky enough to be offered the HX30V as a replacement (to the discontinued HX20V), did you guys select 'shipping' method or 'pick up at store'? Who did you negotiate with in order to get the HX30V — online team or the actual store?

    For some reason (don't judge me), my Paypal account is linked to an old email account I no longer have access to, so I'm unsure whether they've sent me any following corresponding emails. Usually, businesses send emails to the email address you signed up with (not your Paypal email address). Just goes to show you that HN like to be different rolls eyes.

    • I selected "pick up in store". The actual store who rang us on Tuesday, telling that they had no stock of HX20 and offered the upgrade to HX30. No negotiation at all. We didn't ask, they offered straight away. Less than 10 min after the call, e-mail came "ready for pick up".

      • Same for me too, they rang our home phone, and offered the HX30V without any request for it from us. They said it is the same camera, with WiFi added. I did a quick check to ensure it was not a lemon offer, and when we called them back, they said it was ready to collect straight away. The email invoice after collection still shows as the HX20V and I have asked for that to be fixed re any warranty claims. Apart from that all went well. Haven't had any luick getting their $30 ecoupon to work on Sony online, but the free Sony 32GB memory card works even with full HD 24P video capture. Great camera. Best of luck to everyone else, hope it works out for you too.

  • Well, after i got the confirmation email I got another email from a local HN store saying the order was cancelled because of stock issues etc. I email him back because he included my email in a mass email (of other customers) for all to see. Big breach of privacy. I also mentioned that I was pissed because the offers of the other cameras was not even in the same galaxy as the HX20V. He emailed back later and said he got the ok from HN Online to upgrade to the HX30V for no extra cost and the camera has been posted to me Friday :)

    • Just out of curiosity, what was the email address of the person who sent the mass email?

  • I also was upgraded to a HX30V due to no stock of the HX20V.

    This camera was ticketed at $499 and "on sale" in-store for $399.

    I saw some internal documents that shows this camera cost the store $312, and that the HX30V will be replaced by a new model in May 2013.

  • Well done to those that got upgrades. I had seven orders with HN, for various cameras, all of which were out of stock. I decided to cancel them all via a paypal dispute. I basically told them they were offering upgrades to some, down grades or nothing for others, and until they can learn to treat everyone equally I'm not interested in going ahead with any of my orders.

  • After couple of phone calls, final result is refund.Not happy at all.

  • Just picked up my HX30V after 2 days of phone calls and negotiations as the store my order went to did not want to offer the HX30V due to the price difference and they are a smaller store.

    Took 2 days to get online people to transfer my order to another store and got it done this afternoon and picked up :)

    Edit: wow just opened the box after typing that and found 32GB memory card and a $30 accessories card inside :D :D

  • +1

    Found this in my inbox this evening:

    Thank you for your online purchase of the Sony DSCHX20V,Unfortunatly stock has been exhuasted Australia wide and we are unable to fufill orders .Sony no longer manufacture this particular model.
    I do apolagise sincerely for the inconvenience and would like to offer you the following Models as a replacement:
    Cannon Ixus power shot 500
    Olympus TG-320
    and there is also a Samsung st66
    I can also offer you a full refund for this product, Please feel free to call or email me with any questions

    I've always been one of the first to make allowances for price/stock errors and not cry "bait and switch" just because someone mistyped a number, but this case appears to be a reasonable fit to Fair Trading's description if you substitute "recklessly" for "knowingly". In addition to there being no apparent limit on orders based on stock level, Harvey Norman's website was still advertising the HX20V at least three days after the deal was posted on OzB.

    They're responding to the stuffup by offering inferior rather than equivalent substitutes, whereas the ACCC suggests in this situation that:

    "If demand exceeds supply, businesses should respond quickly to ensure customers end up in essentially the same position they would have been in had stocks been adequate."

    • Received the same email today. Replied back that I want HX30V…

      • Yeah do not give up

        • Received a call from HN, seems like I'm getting HX30V! Yay!

        • Lucky. I got that same e-mail and said if they couldn't offer me the HX30V I'd prefer a refund. Haven't heard back from them yet…

        • Well, they've done the right thing in my case - they'll be subtituting a HX30V although it'll be another week or so before I receive it. Best of all it didn't involve a battle, just one polite e-mail and they seemed quite happy to oblige. Pity I can't reinstate my positive vote.

  • Made an online enquiry today about my order as i had only received an order confirmation last Tuesday and no info since, yet my credit card has been charged.

    I got a reply stating that my query had been passed onto a non metro store in WA. Im in Perth.
    So i decided to call the online centre.

    I was told i should have recieved a email saying there was no stock. I then asked why my query was passed onto a non metro based store and was told they might have stock.

    The online rep was going to call the store to see about availability and get back to me tomorrow even though they said there was no stock Aust wide.

    As like jabba the hutt above i to can make allowances for pricing/stock/typo errors. But to not mention limited stock and to keep advertising at full price after the sale is just wrong.

    I will see what the outcome is tomorrow.

  • If I did not get my HX30V I was going to tell them I would only accept 3 other models which were offering similar features to the HX20V but still inferior to them. The Panasonic Tz30 or the Sony WX100 or the Sony H90.

    The cameras that were offered are crap and much cheaper compared to the HX20V.

    Also the $30 gift card that comes with the HX30V does not work online so have to call the 1300 number provided on the card to get it done manually, I ordered the leather looking case.

  • I settled for a Canon SX260. I'm happy.

  • Well I finally emailed them today to see what is happening with my order, was told it's been processed by a HN store in NSW but I live in SA and they will ring we soon to discuss my order, I am now preparing for battle. ffs.

    • Similar situation to me. I live in QLD but order being processed in NSW. After many phone calls to the store itself (they new nothing of my order)I eventually spoke to a HN online-order rep who contacted the store and they agreed to give me an equal spec camera. Only display HX20's are left in the country, no HX30's in store so I settled for a Canon SX260 (same zoom, less pixels, better picture quality). NSW store was Armidale. Good luck.

      • Yeah, SX260 is a fine alternative. Also read it's better photo-wise but not sure it's as strong as the HX20V/30V in the video department.

        • I've read the same, HX20/30 does have better video but I know I would be unhappy with the picture quality. I have a TX20 and the image quality is pretty disappointing.

        • Got home today expecting the SX260 to be waiting for me and nothing. Contacted HN who told me it had been dispatched by registered mail on Monday. I asked for the tracking number and (no surprise to me) the camera was still sitting in the shop not sent…. I have now got a refund, no more HN for me. The Sony NEX F3 is looking tempting at Teds…..

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