Nice device, but poor support

I bought the GV-D1000 to use as a spooler for non-linear editing, and it worked fine for about a year. Then I made the mistake of changing tapes in the middle of a capturing session, which apparently greatly offended the Sony's firmware. The machine still has power, but what allow use of any of the controls, including tape eject and the reset button. That's when I learned the only way to get these things repaired is to send them back to Sony (in my case, three states away!), and Sony won't even look at them for less that $175. Sony's customer support is LOUSY; I've not even found someone to answer my e-mails, much less to take a phone call about what probably is a simple problem. I liked the Video Walkman, but I wouldn't pay a thousand dollars for ANYTHING from Sony again.