Source for Sony accessories? Aftermarket batteries?

[DougH 270]

Are there any online sources for replacement Sony accessories aside from paying waaaaaay to much from Sony?

I need a docking station from my Sony PC350 and the only ones I can seem to find on ebay are shipping from China.

What about batteries? Are the Sony models the best quality, or are there some aftermarket models that are tried and true?

Thanks!

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[PhreeZone 20]

I picked up after market batteries from eBay for my HC3. The hour long ones cost me 4.99 plus shipping of 3.50 each and the 2.5 hour one cost me 7.99 plus 3.50 shipping. They work great. I did buy one that the camera would not reconize though. It was sent back for a full refund. Go Aftermarket, save lots of $

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[DougH 270]

Any chance of the really cheap ones hurting the camera itself?

"The restraining order says you're only allowed to touch me in freefall"
=P

[beowulf 1]

I bought a cheapo battery at Frys and it didn't last near as long as the Sony brand batteries. What brand did you buy?

[mr2mk1g 10]

I've got a PC350 also, and I've had a very mixed experience with buying accessories.

I've bought two batteries from Amazon (uk). The first was a standard NP-FF51, listed as a Sony and clearly the item which turned up was a genuine Sony. It cost me... I can't remember exactly but it was peanuts - like, £10 or so delivered. It works perfectly.

A few months later I bought a NP-FF70, again from Amazon UK, which gives bout 2 hours worth of filming time. This was again listed as a Sony item and cost about £20 delivered.

It turned up last month and was obviously not a genuine Sony item despite being clearly advertised as such (including photos).. The battery itself was obviously trying to pass itself off as a genuine Sony item, though the packaging was a non-branded blister pack and the sticker on the back of the battery fell off within about 30 secs of opening the packaging.

I left the guy feedback noting that the item was a fake, notwithstanding the clear Sony advertising in his listing. In response, he threatened to sue me! I politely told him, in a long e-mail laying out all the salient points, to... well, basically I told him to get fucked and sue me if he liked... though I also asked that he note my professional address and that he should ensure any proceedings were served there... which is of course a law firm. (I was quite happy that legally I was in the right, and it is kinda my job to know about that sort of stuff).

He got fucked.

To be fair to the guy, whilst obviously a fake, the battery works fine and gives exactly the same performance as the genuine FF70 battery I own. I've not been using it for that long, but I've not experienced any problems at all with it. My wider experience would tend to suggest however that you're likely to find issues with a fake battery, especially in cold conditions, which the genuine item might have withstood. That said, my recent experience is that in the case of the battery I just bought – it makes no difference whatsoever. Who knows though if that's going to change with time.

Oh, and If you check the other live threads at the mo you'll see another by me and will see why I'm also looking for a PC350 docking station. I've found a couple on e-bay - one in the UK which I'm probably going to be buying as it's slightly cheaper than my other options, another bunch in China (which, from your post, I guess you've probably already found), from a seller called (quite aptly really) digitlsky2008 and can be yours for about $45 delivered - for example here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-DCRA-C111-DCRA-C110-FOR-SONY-DCR-PC350-DCR-PC330_W0QQitemZ150145175417QQihZ005QQcategoryZ43439QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

My advice to you re batteries is to look for a genuine Sony battery on e-bay or Amazon. You should be able to find one for peanuts. I've bought a few genuine Sony batteries from those sites for bugger all and only got "burnt" once... and as I said, even then, the battery has turned out fine so far.