Review on SONY VRD VC10 DVDirect External Recorder by Mike Modesto

I have to admit I was a bit scared at first to step into the world of DVD recording and authoring. With all these formats, I was confused. And if you're like me, you have lots of old VHS tapes of your favorite shows taking up valuable shelf space in your living room. They also weigh a lot when you need to move them. But with the Sony DVDirect VRD-VC10, getting rid of the clutter on my videotapes was fun and easy. As a stand alone recorder, all choices and options are available through the well thought out front panel and display. Connect your video player or camera to the back of your device, click record and launch the VCR player. That's all. When the recording is complete, press a few buttons to finalize and eject the disc. I particularly like the "Auto-Play" feature, which automatically plays your DVD when it's inserted into the DVD player. The Sony device also automatically formats blank DVDs, which is nice. head function. Your DVD player can still find these chapters manually, you just don't see them in the DVD start menu. As a standalone recorder, the device is limited to the "+R” (or "+RW”) format. If you need "-R" for your DVD players, consider the newer VRD-VC20, which is compatible with both formats. Strangely, the DVD+R discs I burned wouldn't play on my old Sony VAIO desktop computer, but they worked fine on my Toshiba laptop and Samsung DVD player. Many modern DVD players read the "+R" format, so you need to find out what format your hardware requires. A DVD ripped from a VHS cassette in standard playback mode (within 2 hours of recording) showed little color loss. from the original tape. In my opinion, the overall copy quality is very good. Sony also records in 1 hour high quality mode and 6 hour playback mode. The recording looks a little better in high quality mode, but there is some pixelation and gaps due to the large amount of data being written to the disc. A Sony tech support rep recommended using SP mode solely because of these random HQ mode errors. As a standalone device, the VC-10 only records from analog inputs. If you want to go straight from a mini DV camcorder to a Sony, get the newer VC-20. When connected to a computer, the device works with Nero 6 burning software, which offers many ways to use the DVD burner, including CD ripping and video disc formats. On the other hand, when I tried to copy a tape from my Sony miniDV camcorder, I got the 'Recording not allowed' message mentioned by other reviewers. I called Sony tech support and they told me that the VC10 has problems with some digital camcorders (including Sony models!) even when using the analog composite inputs of a Sony DVD recorder. The support rep suggested that I swap out the VC10 for a newer VC20 that supports the DV format. This bug doesn't seem to be mentioned in any of the promotional text you see for the VC10, but it can prevent you from using the device with a video camera. Overall, I like this device for its simplicity and ease of use. Sony has a good idea with the DVDirect and the price isn't much higher than other external drives. The Quick Start Guide that comes with the device is simple and easy to understand. I was able to start copying my old videotapes within minutes of taking the Sony out of the box. If you're looking for a DVD recorder that plugs into your computer and can also be used to copy VCR and camcorder tapes, this is the model you should seriously consider. However, if you have a digital video camera, choose the VC20. well-being and natural understanding.)