I agree with R Lague. The Sony DSR-11 has been the best "low-cost" deck (compatibility-wise) for Avid XPro/XDV in my experience. However, I've heard good things out of some of the Panisonic's, such as the AG-DV1000 and 2000 (both discontinued), as well as the current AG-DV2500. Whatever you do,
STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE JVC DECKS!!!! I've used 3 of them with Avid, and they're
NIGHTMARES!!! Don't believe me? Go check out this thread:
http://www.avid.com/community/forums/Forum38/HTML/013516.html
I know it's not cool to advertise for another forum, but this is the
official Avid forum, so I think it's acceptible to do so.
The Sony DSR-11 is a great deck, but I've noticed 2 problems with it: 1) it's sluggish as hell on both capture and digital-cut. 2) The little door on the front breaks off on most of them, because Sony put el-cheapo hinges on it. These can be purchased from Sony to fix your door in the event it breaks off (mine hasn't, but most DSR-11 users I know have). To give you an idea of what decks seem to work best in XPro/XDV, check out this guide from Avid regarding DV devices:
http://www.avid.com/products/DVDeviceQual.pdf
You say you can't afford a deck? I know the feeling, because I at one time purchased a new XL-1 (almost $4 grand at the time) and didn't have the money for a deck, so I used the XL-1 heavily for a year. Then I was bummed when I had to send it to Canon and spend almost $1200 to get the entire tape assembly--including heads--replaced (Canon has really cheap tape assemblies), along with some other minor maintenance. For that cost, I could've added a few hundred dollars more and had a deck. That would've saved me unnecessary downtime, plus money spent on just getting my camera working again.
Spend the money on a deck and save your camera, or you
WILL have problems. Maybe not for a few months, maybe not for a few years, but it will happen. I promise. So start saving! :)
