Once I get my tr5, will I be able to burn (and edit) my DV tapes on DVD using my tr5 (and then watch them on a regular DVD player) ? Somewhere I read that there’s only a DV- format and that the speed is 2X - what does that mean in practice?

Yes, you should be able to import your DV tapes and burn them back out to DVD-Rs. The burner only burns at 2X max for DVD-Rs but that’s fine and they should have a fairly decent chance of being compatible with modern DVD players (supposedly 90-95% success).

The only catch is having the right software to edit your video and burn it. I suspect the TR5s may come with software otherwise you may need to pick up third party software.

[EDIT]
Well, it looks like it comes with Click to DVD which should cover your basic needs.

It’ll take around 30 mins :(  to burn a full DVD-R disc. I was hoping that they’d at least consider a 4x DVD+R drive. I cant understand why they didnt go with one :?

The main reason why is that there are no 9.5mm 4x capable DVD burners on the market. The TR requires 9.5mm optical drives which are lighter and allow slimmer designs. Hopefully we’ll see some in the future. Most notebooks use 12.5mm optical drives.

...and when they do introduce one, you could expect the price of the notebook to go up by another 500…just a guess knowing the way Sony is.

My TR3AP3 came with Sony’s DVGate Plus software (which my older RZ10 desktop also had installed).  I have used the software a lot to capture DV video and then edit and burn it to DVDs.  The TR also has Click To DVD software installed, which is very basic but usable.  I would look at Adobe® Premiere® Pro for a more advanced editing program.  It is a slow process once you start burning.  Be ready to start it and go do something else for a while.

How’s that possible? I thought the TR5 was the first model with a DVD burner?

oh no, the TR3AP3 was the first model with the DVD burner

oh no, the TR3AP3 was the first model with the DVD burner

Yep…