Sony DVDirect VRD-MC3 2.5 in. DVD Recorder

I got this as a Christmas present to transfer my collection of home movies on DVD and Hi8 tapes to DVD so they would be easier to watch and edit. I have the capability to do this on one of my PCs, but it is somewhat painful as there are 3 steps involved (read from CD, encode as MPEG, and burn DVD). There is software that will do it in one step, but it still requires me to go to my PC to change tapes and disks, etc. The nice thing about this is that you can set it up anywhere. I put it on a small table in my dining room so I would remember to change disks and tapes as I walked by. As a result, I have already transferred more than half my collection of tapes. This about 5 times the number I previously transferred using a PC, so the ability to place it centrally was a big win to me.

Here is how a recording session works when hooked up to a DVD tape. Insert blank DVD into the drive. If it is a +R disk it asks if you want to format it for DV or S-Video input or for use with a USB-based camcorder interface. You answer the question and it formats the disk. This takes a few seconds. For DVD-R and DVD+R DL it doesn't support some of the advanced USB recording modes, so it formats the disk direction. Next, connect the DV camcorder to the VRD-MC3 using a firewire cable (it is a little irritating that this wasn't included). Turn the camcorder to VCR mode and press the record button on the VRD-MC3. It will rewind the camcorder, put it into playback, and start recording the DVD. If it fills the entire disk it will finalize and eject it. If not, it will simply stop recording and leave the disk in the drive. If you press stop on the camcorder, it will stop recording the DVD. While recording the output of the camcorder is displayed on the LCD display on the VRD-MC3. If you press the eject button, it will ask you whether you want to finalize the disk. If you do, you won't be able to add more video. However, if you don't, the disk isn't playable on a DVD player (or a computer).

The downside of this is that it is more difficult to edit. MPEG isn't the best format for editing, having them on DVD sure makes skipping through the tapes to see what is there a lot easier. Another downside is that the chaptering feature is relatively rudimentary compared to what is available with PC-based transfer. With a PC and a mini-DV camcorder the software can recognize scenes and create chapter points. This device won't do that (at least not that I know of). It may do this with a Sony camera that has a USB interface, but mine doesn't so I haven't tested this.

I have recorded from both S-Video inputs from my Hi8 tapes using a Sony GV-D200 Hi8 Video Walkman (my Hi8 camera died so I bought this to read the tapes), and from a Sony mini-DV camcorder with IEEE-1394/i.Link. The latter is more convenient because pressing record on the VRD-MC3 initiates rewind and starts play at the same time it starts recording on the DVD. With the S-Video input you must manually start and stop the recording by pressing a button on the VRD-MC3. I have used DVD-R, DVD+R, and DVD+R DL tapes. I had trouble with the first DVD+R DL disk I tried to record, but update firmware to the latest and the second one seems to have worked fine. Update: I have had a lot of trouble with Memorex 2.4x DVD+R DL Media, but no trouble with Sony Media. Video quality seems good at HQ. I tried recording at SP (gives twice as much time per DVD), and noticed some motion artifacts in a recording that included water. There are some advanced recording modes when you have a recorder with a USB interface, but I don't have one so haven't tried these.

Update: As I gain experience, there are a few minor nuisances that I want to comment. First, inserting DVD+R single layer media requires selecting the way you want to format the media, either for DV input or USB input. So, if you are only recording with a DV input, then using DVD-R media bypasses this. It isn't a big deal, but does take some waiting for the disk to load then waiting for the disk to format. Perhaps Sony could fix this in firmware by having an option to always format the media one way or the other. The second annoyance is related to DVD+R DL media: it simply takes a long time to format the disk and, at the end, to finalize it. The final irritation is related to this: in DVD+R-DL mode the disk doesn't finalize even if it records to the end of the disk. It doesn't ask whether you want to finalize it until you try to eject it. Because finalizing takes a while, this is a little painful. I don't see a reason not to finalize the disk as soon as it is full. I believe it works this way for other media.

You can connect this to a computer using a a USB cable. You must enable the PC mode through the menu. In this mode you can use it as an external DVD burner. I haven't tried this mode except to upgrade the firmware.

In summary, I have found this very easy to use. There are a few minor weaknesses, and if you want maximum control then you should probably transfer using a PC. However, for simplicity and the ability to do this anywhere, this is great. I give it the highest rating because it does what it is supposed to, does it well, and has served as the catalyst for me to transfer my home video collection to DVDs.