|
I did have to go online for one of the drivers for the editing program, but I have not used this yet since I haven't tried to put any new home videos onto DVD. I find that it's very easy, I just hit play on the VCR and start recording on the program and the movie records to DVD while I can still do other things on the computer and watch something else on TV, as long as I hit the TV/VCR button. I have had it stop recording 2 times, not sure if it was my computer or the program, but other wise no problems. I bought this so I could transfer all my home videos and taped shows onto DVD. I thought it was very easy to install the software onto my laptop(which runs Vista). Very easy to use over all.
It's the software that's questionable.Instant DVD Recorder works, although it's limited in what it allows you to do as far as themes and menus go. The version of Studio supplied is a joke.
I can get it to crash reliably when using a certain supplied background music piece. This results in wasted time and a wasted DVD.
I have a newer Vista-based PC and downloaded the latest software "patches' from Pinnacle (330MB worth). From poor documentation(or maybe the program just doesn't do what it's supposed to do) to a poor user interface to amateurish themes, it's not worth the trouble.
The "patches" install fine and everything appears to work. Tha hardware supplied works as advertised.
Windows Movie Maker + DVD Maker works a lot better.
We both have nearly brand new computers, one w/ XP and one w/ Vista. I can't even believe they can sell this to people. one a notebook and one a desktop. But, no.
What. neither of which we could get to work w/ the Dazzle. and now we have a VHS/DVD recorder that we can record TV with. And they have no manual for this product.
EVER. This thing just simply sucks. This is by FAR the absolute worst piece of hardware I have ever used. :) I hope this helps somebody out there. This product is anything but simple. We ended up using the desktop itself and just plugging it in and using particular software that comes with Vista to record cassette tapes. So, Dazzle did absolutely nothing.
which also sucks.
We ended up buying a dual VHS/DVD player and now THAT is simple.
My husband and I are IT, Web Development people.
I want the 7 hours of my life back that I spent reading FAQ's on this thing and talking to Dazzle tech support.
so this is to say we know a bit about computers.
Please, please don't waste your time with this product.
My husband and I both agree this is the most worthless product we have ever purchased.
We took it back once and got a new one, thinking it was just a product defect.
then my agony won't be in vain.
You can install and record directly to DVD, but you can't edit without the incompatible software.The software update is available for download (1.4 GB), but mine was corrupted twice using their file manager. The version that ships does NOT have Vista compatible editing software. I downloaded directly, and that file was fine. Three days, hours of installation efforts, and still not there. And did I tell you that I am pretty good with the computer.If you have Vista, stop right now. except their own Vista FAQ points to the wrong file, so I had to download a fourth 1.4 GB file.I also had to uninstall, use a registry deletion tool, and then discover that the serial number failed.So, be very careful. And that was with support. It is not as simple as you think, especially with Vista.
I read all the reviews and am surprised there was no comment about the problem I encountered----it copied just fine but was not able to copy a two hour vhs---the max copy time onto a new dvd is 103 minutes--leaving seventeen minutes that had to be put on another dvd. Threw it away.
|
