This review is a long time in the making. Quick summary - I had ordered this over Christmas, it was delivered 3 times when I wasn’t home and sent back to Sony. It took forever to get a refund…I finally got my device from SonyStyle. Not all their fault, but whatever. I sort of made out in the end because all SonyStyle purchases on the Sony Visa now give 10 to 1 points giving me about $30 towards another Sony purchase (PSP).
This is the third of three reviews I will be posting on Sony DVD players (and 2 recorders).
Sony DVP-NS575P - Set-top DVD Player Click Here
Sony VRDVC10 - Direct DVD Recorder/Player
Sony DRU-710A- Internal Dual Layer DVD Recorder/Player Click Here
Overview:
Generally, converting TV/Camcorder video to DVD is a sort of pain…you need a firewire port - video editing software…loads of time, tons of HDD space, etc, etc, etc. I have everything to do all these things except time and patience. I have litterally 100+ hours of MiniDV tape that I have no interest in acutally putting on DVD because of the process. This device is hailed as a one stop shop to putting those directly on DVD. Of course, you can’t edit the video (you can do that later I guess) its just a straight copy to DVD. Even better, you can do this to any RCA/S-Video input. As an added bonus, you can hook this up to a USB 2.0 port and it will become a writable DVD/CD drive for your PC.
Specs:
[quote author=“sonystyle”]
Specifications • STAND-ALONE OPERATION
• SUPPORTED MEDIA
DVD+R, DVD+R DL (Double Layer), DVD+RW
• DVD RECORDING MODE
DVD+VR
• SUPPORTED VIDEO FORMAT
MPEG2
• AUTOMATIC CHAPTERING
5, 10 or 15 minutes
• RECORDING TIMES
HQ (single layer: 1 hour, double layer: 2 hours)
SP (single layer: 2 hours, double layer: 4 hours)
SLP (single layer: 6 hours, double layer: 12 hours)
• SUPPORTED SOUND FORMAT
Dolby® Digital (AC3)
• INPUTS
Composite video (yellow RCA jack) x 1
S-Video x 1
Analog audio 2ch (red and white RCA jacks)
• COMPUTER-ATTACHED OPERATION
• SUPPORTED MEDIA TYPES & SPEEDS
DVD+R DL: 2.4X CLV (max.) writing*
DVD+R: 16X CAV (max.) writing**
DVD+RW: 4X CLV (max.) rewriting**
DVD-R: 8X Z-CLV (max.) writing**
DVD-RW: 4X CLV (max.) rewriting**
DVD-ROM reading (single layer): 16X CAV (max.)
DVD-ROM reading (dual layer): 8X CAV (max.)
CD-R: 48X P-CAV (max.) writing**
CD-RW: 24X Z-CLV (max.) rewriting**
CD-ROM: 48X CAV (max) reading
• INTERFACE
Hi-Speed USB 2.0
(USB 1.1 compatible at slower speeds)
• OS SUPPORT
Compatible with Microsoft Windows® 2000 / Windows XP.
• BURST DATA TRANSFER RATE
Hi-Speed USB 2.0: 480 Mbit/s max
• RANDOM ACCESS TIME
140 ms (CD-ROM), 135 ms (DVD-ROM)
• BUFFER MEMORY
8 MB
• BUFFER UNDER-RUN ERROR PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY
Sony Power-Burn conformed
• SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Pentium® III 800 MHz or faster (or equivalent) CPU minimum.
Pentium IV 1.6GHz or faster (or equivalent)
CPU is recommended for real time video authoring/editing
256 MB of RAM
10GB of hard disk space.
Windows® 2000 or Windows® XP Home or Professional
• OTHER SPECIFICATIONS
• DIMENSIONS (W x H x D)
6.46†x 2.6†x 9.21â€ÂÂ
• WEIGHT
1.2Lb
• POWER CONSUMPTION
3.0A, +12V DC
• PACKAGE CONTENTS
External VRD-VC10 DVD Recorder
NeroVision Expressâ„¢ DVD video editing & authoring software
Neroâ„¢ Burning ROM SE CD/DVD mastering software
Ahead InCDâ„¢ drive letter recording software
Neroâ„¢ ShowtimeTM soft DVD player software
Neroâ„¢ BackitUpTM backup software
AC Adapter & USB cable
User’s Manual & Quick Start Guide
• WARRANTY
One Year Limited
What’s included:
1. The device
2. Roxio software
3. Manuals
4. USB Cable
5. A/C adapter
Pictures:
First Impressions:
When I first opened the box I was impressed by the quality of the product…it seemed too nice for $299.99. It wasn’t too heavy, it wasn’t too bulky…it just seemed to fit with a home theater system. I don’t see this as a portable DVD burner for your notebook…in that case it’s huge. The buttons on the face were sleek and the display is just the right size. When I was digging through the box I noticed they did not include RCA or S-Video cables…I find that odd since it’s really aimed for the camcorder to DVD and they don’t give you the cables to do it.
The next odd thing I noticed is the power button is located on the back…it’s the same as a PS2 power switch. Essentially that means that if you put it in your entertainment center you can’t turn it on and off or you need to pull it out to do so. I would have thought they would have put some sort of power/standby button up front.
Actual use:
I have no plans to use this as a portable/computer DVD recorder so I hooked it up to my DVR using my S-Video cable. The display is a nice indiglo backlight and very easy to read. It tells you if a signal is present, which quality you are recording at and the time (either remaining or used, your choice). There is also a status bar on the bottom of the display.
For my first test I decided to put in a cheap DVD-R. This is when I figured out my first complaint…it only accepts DVD+R and DVD+RW when in standalone mode. Apparently I never noticed that in the specs and didn’t pay attention when Groovy mentioned it. Luckily the 100 DVD-Rs (Sony 8x) that I bought last week are still sealed and I was able to exchange them for +Rs. Phew. I am not a fan of +Rs so I had none lying around. My test DVD was a Sony 8x DVD+R that I used after the exchange. I had 3 Simpsons episodes on my DVR and I decided to put those to DVD. The first 2 I did in SLP (worst quality, 6 hours) and the last one I did in SP (mid quality 2 hours). I did not test HQ because it only yeilds 1 hour on a single layer disc and I know I won’t use it if I can’t put 1 movie on it.
I like that you can switch quality between recordings on the same DVD. You can set the device to automatically make chapters for you…default is 5 minutes. Everytime you stop recording and start again, a new title is made.
When you put the disc in the device takes about 1 minute to initialize it, after that it’s ready to go. There are 2 ways to start recording…hit record (duh) or use Sync. Sync starts and stops when a signal is present. Unfortunately it works via signal and not changing signal. The reason I mention this is that I paused my DVR at the begining of the episode…put sync on and hit play. The VRDVC10 never started recording. So I did it the old fashion way, hit play on the DVR and record on the VC10. After 30 mins I hit stop on my DVR and hit stop on the VC10. After hitting stop it takes about another 30 seconds - 1 minute to be ready to record again. As I said before I did this three times.
I had plenty of space left on the DVD when I was done. I hit eject and it asked me if I wanted to finalize…I said no. You cannot play the DVD in a set-top nor computer without finalizing. I wasn’t too happy about this, but whatever…I put it back in, finalized it. I am not sure if its because the disc had a lot of space left or its just normal, but the finalization took around 5 minutes, and I am not kidding. I seriously thought it froze or something. The display said it was going and the light was blinking but I never thought it would take that long. Once it was finished (finally) I went to my set-top to see my creation.
The DVD player goes to the root menu which shows 3 small thumbnails (one for each Simpsons episode) and it gives you basic info like quality. You can use the remote for your DVD player to pick your episode and just hit enter or play. I found very little lag if any from the menu to the actual playing of the show. I personally found the quality of the SLP episodes to be acceptable. It’s nowhere near DVD quality but from a reasonable distance, it’s ok. I did notice a difference between SLP and SP (less artifacts). For movies I will use SP, for TV shows I will use SLP. When the price of DL discs drop I guess I can use HQ for movies (then you get 2 hours). The auto chapters worked fine…I skipped a chapter and went back, nothing went wrong.
Final Thoughts:
It works as promised…it’s really easy to create DVDs and they look good enough. I wouldn’t think twice about purchasing this again…I know it will get a ton of use from me. I think this would have been a better value if it played DVDs as well. This way it could replace one full unit in your entertainment center…or at least double as a portable DVD player, not just recorder. My cons might look bigger then the pros…most of them are just wishes, not problems with the unit itself.
Pro:
Simple to use
Good looking - quality + style
Quiet
Speedy (new discs and in between recordings)
Flexable quality switches on the same DVD
Con:
Only + format for standalone
No power switch up front
Must finalize the +R to play
Long finalization time
No DVI or Component input
No DVD player (stand-alone)
No RCA or S-Video Cables included
