Sony DVDirect DVD Recorder VRDMC5

Okay I love this item for what it can NOW do for me and how EASILY it finally ended up doing it. I gave it four instead of five stars because of what I had to DO to get it to work the way I needed it to.

I have fourteen years wedding, holidays and 3 children worth of Video Cassettes ranging from 1994 Sony, HG120, NTSC, Video 8 tapes TO 2008 Sony, Hi8MP Digital 8 tapes.

My old camera was a Sony and the current camera is also a Sony: Steady Shot Digital 8, Model DCR-TRV460.

The Sony VRD MC5 DV Direct DVID Recorder I have can, and NOW DOES, burn DVDs from my Sony Handycam with both types of tapes via a Sony DV Direct Cable. However it did not, out of the box, purchased in December 2007, burn my old tape formats to DVD with Audio. The Audio was gone and I could not get it to burn!

I had to waste about ten DVDs trying to figure out what the heck I did wrong. I scoured the manual, I bought two types of DVDs, looked here on Amazon, went to the Sony site. NOTHING on WHY the audio was missing!

When I finally found a way to contact Sony live chat did not work and I could not get anyone on the phone via email they went back and forth with me in email telling me that the Software Version on the Recorder had to be updated. They gave me a link that I could not find by navigating the site on my own, thus needing their intervention. I found the download, and followed directions, I tried burning the file to CD in many different ways and STILL the software would not upgrade! They never called me or gave me a number, it took days to try to figure out what was happening and they finally told me how to call someone.

I did it again while I was on the phone with them. Still the Recorder did not recognize the CD I was burning or the file I downloaded from the site. They made me call back, I was transferred twice, someone took my info and it took from 1/11/08 to 1/22/08 to get a CD that they burned at Sony and shipped to me.

I just came up today, followed the very same directions just with their CD and the software upgraded without a hitch. I just burned a tape from 1994 and the audio is there!!

After spending three years and more than $700 in software for my computer, a DVD Burner for my computer and finally a standalone Sony VHS/Camera player and VHS/DVD burner but none, and I do mean NONE of them were able to do the job. Even the standalone unit never consistenly burned quality DVDs from the Camera and you had to tie up your tv for hours while it burned to DVD only for the "finalization" of it to not "take" so you had an empty DVD which was not R/W. Waste of time!

Please note that I am a technical person so not ignorant. I am just short on time so I wanted something that would get all my old moves onto DVD with a PHD Push Here Dummy functionality and the Sony VRD MC5 device did it.

The struggles, aggravation, wasted time it took me to get to today were worth it but PUH-LEASE Sony. Get a grip and put the information out there. Be proactive! Make it available! Communicate! Tell the vendors that sell your product what they are going to have to tell their shoppers do to get it to work. Update your manual. Whatever you have to do no consumer should have to hunt like I did for weeks to try to find a way to fix something Sony knew about when they shipped the devices.

I wanted to transfer all my old VCR tapes and camcorder tapes of my daughter from years and years ago. I absolutely couldn't believe how easy it was to use. The LCD screen makes it really simple to see what you are recording. Not a lot of buttons to confuse a person. I've hook the VCR up to it and away it goes. I'll be glad when I'm all done with this project, but I 'll know all my memories are safely stored on DVDs. (So much cheaper than taking them to a camera shop!)I would definitely buy this model with the LCD screen as opposed to the previous model which did not have a screen. It's really helpful. Naturally, Amazon is awesome. Click the button, order it, and next thing you know, it's at your front door.

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This just arrived and if you are considering purchasing this item know that notwithstanding the description above this burner does not connect to a computer via USB port. Amazon says they got the description from Sony. Sony says Amazon has it wrong but confirms that it is not designed for a computer connection like their previous models.

I'm sure it will work fine as a stand-alone burner but I was disappointed that there was an explicit representation made in the description that is not accurate.

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I bought this Sony DVD recorder a few weeks ago to transfer 10 years of family VHS, 8mm video, and mini DV to DVD's so I could then use Adobe Premiere Elements for editing, etc. I'm about halfway through the conversion process, and it's going like a breeze. Out of about 40 DVD's burned I've only had one get rejected with a "cannot record" message. The resulting files on the DVD are chopped into 1GB MPEG files that are recognized when I add them to the Premiere editor. Prior to trying the Sony I could find no information about what file format the DVD's would have...so I took a chance, and got lucky. The DVD files have an extension of VOB. I looked this up and it's just an MPEG2 video file...so that's why Adobe has no problem with it. It's great way to copy your family videos to DVD, and have the peace of mind that they will not be gone forever if your old VHS and 8 mm camcorders die. It would be a shame to have to buy an old format machine just to see (or eventually copy) your old media.

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It works great when you play your video from a camcorder to create a DVD. Be aware that if you create a slideshow with photos (from your digital cameras card) it can take quite a few hours depending on the amount of pictures on your card.For example I made up a DVD containing 1600 images and it took about 6 hrs to complete.

Great looking item with video display, very easy to set up and a small foot print.