Two years ago I got a Samsung SCD-23 for Christmas. I ran about 8 or 10 tapes through it and it did a decent job of capturing typical home movie footage. Late last Fall it started flickering while I was recording something and then the next time I used it the thing just showed a distorted black image in the viewfinder and wasn't usable. I assumed somebody had dropped it. The warranty had run out, and the cost to repair it would be more than it was worth so I moved on. I bought a new camcorder a month or so ago and just got around to listing the old one on eBay (for parts.. the battery, charger, external viewfinder, etc were all like new). Well.. what I found there was a large number of SCD-23s with the same symptoms. Some sold for over $90 (for parts??)..

So I started digging around and found quite a few folks who are very irate with Samsung over how they've handled the problems with the SCD-23. From what I can gather there was a bad batch of CCD units from Sony that were used by many different electronics companys between 2003 and 2005. Folks online are claiming that the SCD23s that were sold during that time used those bad CCDs but I'm still not 100% convinced of this since I can't find the SCD23 listed on any of the press releases about the bad CCDs. According to the reports I've read (and my personal experience) the CCD units go bad after 10-15hrs of recording. For typical home video users like myself this means we used the units for a couple of years and then *poof* they quit working.

I also found quite a few places where folks claimed that they called Samsung, gave their stories, and were told a recall was in effect and issued a replacement. They gave the name of the company handling the returns (CVE) and other details. So I called Samsung to report that I had one of the defective units. Their response?

Send us $150 and we'll send you a refurbished one.

The main reason people are upset is other major makers also bought those same CCD units and when the defects were found they promptly issued a recall and swapped out the bad cameras and camcorders for refurbs or better units. If Samsung had issued a recall when the defects were found then my camera would still have been under warranty. Now that the defects are showing up Samsung is claiming they aren't liable because the warranty period has ended. Convenient, yes?

Canon, Fujifilm, Konica Minolta, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Ricoh, and Sony have already agreed to repair the problem free of charge, including shipping, regardless of warranty status. Samsung is the ONLY remaining major camcorder manufacturer who has not yet issued a recall/free repair offer. (source)
The fix (for those who don't believe Samsung will every make this right) is fairly inexpensive if you're one to take stuff apart and do your own fixing. It's a $62 CCD unit (read more here).

Here's another interesting tidbit I found in one of the eBay ads for a defective unit
To address this problem, while in record mode, standby... point camera at bright light bulb at close distance ... It may take a few minutes but the camera should start working again..
I tried this.. stuck it a couple of inches from a bright halogen, zoomed in and out, turned the "Easy IQ" on and off, etc... and .. it actually worked. I'm not sure for how long it will work though.
[updated to add.. after turning my SCD-23 on/off about 6-8 times over the course of the evening it quit working again. Held it up to a bright light and it works again]