Review on SONY VRD VC10 DVDirect External Recorder by Amicz Kakaruk

Sony clearly tried to create a great hybrid product, but it didn't achieve the goal. This product is NOT ready for prime time sale. First the good stuff - it looks good; Solidly built; and if you just want to record TV shows, old VHS or 8mm tapes, or download a program from TiVO, this will do. In "Offline" mode, it is easy to use. Now for the problems: 1. In "offline" mode there is no way to keep track of what you are recording - not in relation to this record. You need to run another output from the source device (VCR, Tivo, etc.) to the TV. This may or may not be easy for you. It cost me a $50 device to do it.2. Unlike real entertainment center DVD recorders, this drive does not have a remote control. A real annoyance when trying to start and stop home video tape to DVD conversion - like I did.3. You don't have the option to name the tracks you record offline. The disc just calls them TITLE1, TITLE2, and so on. And the DVD navigation menu is pretty bad too.4. The problems are exacerbated in "Computer" mode. My Windows XP computer does not recognize this device as a DVD drive. It is visible as "inaccessible" CD drive! The Nero software that comes with the Sony drive recognizes the device and writes to it. But that means you're stuck with Nero. Sorry, but Nero isn't nearly as good as the Adobe Premiere Elements I'm using. And Adobe Premiere Elements (the only best-selling DVD production software) does not recognize this drive. So you cannot easily play or burn DVDs from this device on your computer if you are not using Nero.5 software. Sony's user manual says almost nothing about the Nero software. They expect you to read Nero's papers. And Nero's docs are not very well written. Do you understand it? It is not possible to play or record on this device in computer mode without Nero, but Sony encourages you to contact Nero to deal with this software!6. Since the device has just come out, the Sony website and their support is not very helpful. Bottom line - not ready for prime time. I'm going to return mine and buy two separate discs - one for the entertainment center and one for the computer. Yes, it will cost about $100-$150 more, but at least for today they will work. This disc will be a good product if Sony fixes the above issues.