Sony Handycam DCR-DVD300

My husband received the above as a Christmas gift in 2003. It worked fine
for about a year and half. We used it now and then.

I went to get it out the other day. It had not been touched about for a
month since last use, and been left on the dresser stored in the Sony bag.
When I turned it on, the black screen came on; no video. (The lens cap was
taken off first.) We could not see anything through the viewfinder or LCD
display. We tried recording, and it only recorded the black screen. We
checked the disc. We checked everything on the handycam and tried the
solutions on Sony's website for this black screen problem to no avail.

We read online that other people were experiencing a similar black screen
problem with their SONY TRV product. Basically, they babied it, used it now
and then, and then after a year or so, this black screen problem occurred.
This seems exactly our problem, too. They think it's a factory manufacturing
issue.

So, what do you think? Are we SOL? I already have contacted Sony. They gave
me the steps to try to resolve (which we already tried before e-mailing
them) and referred me to the repair site that gave a quote of $269 due to
out-of-date warranty.

TIA,
Marie