New Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5 Review

With analog technologies moving to digital, you're probably cringing at the prospect of your entire VHS collection crumbling over time. Buying and installing a capture card— as well as figuring out how to use your PC to convert these tapes to digital format, is way complicated—but there's a superb alternative.




The Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5 ($229 direct) is the easiest way to convert your entire VHS collection (as well as video from your camcorder and photos from your digital camera) into DVD format, with one click of a button. All of this is done without the use of a PC, and you can see what's being recorded on its 2.5-inch LCD screen. It's worthy of an Editors' Choice, just like its predecessor, the VRD-MC1, though this new model is unique in the market.

Those seeing the DVDirect for the first time might not guess what it does, because it doesn't look like any conventional external optical drive. It sits flat like a standalone DVD player. In fact, one might think it was a portable DVD player with its 2.5-inch LCD screen situated in the center. Sony has actually made the VRD-MC5's screen half an inch bigger than the VRD-MC1's, making it similar in size to the electronic viewfinders found in the back of point-and-shoot digital cameras—except the quality of the DVDirect's screen is much better. (It won't be too long before Sony puts in a screen twice as a large, given the way LCD prices have dropped.) The buttons are pretty straightforward. The big red button lets you record photos or videos with just one touch. The arrow keys help navigate the menu, which you can get to by pressing the Return button. The Stop button is self-explanatory.

Although the VRD-MC5 is a great tool for capturing video from a camcorder, its main draw lies in converting old VHS tapes into DVD's. You'll need an A/V cable—either a red, white, and yellow or S-Video cable—to connect the DVDirect to your VCR. (Sorry, this cable doesn't come with the VRD-MC5—you have to buy it separately). When you hit the Play button on your VCR, the VRD-MC5 will automatically stream video onto its own LCD screen. You can record or stop recording at any point during the feed. You can also set up an automatic timer in the menu screen. The process is similar with a camcorder, though you will need to buy an additional cable (FireWire or USB) for data transfer. The VRD-MC5 also supports high-definition camcorders like the Sony HDR-HC3 HDV 1080i Handycam, which uses Sony's proprietary AVC HD format. It doesn't support other HD camcorder formats, though.

The selection menu has grown since the previous version, so there are several things you can do to enhance the DVD experience. First, make sure you pick the right quality mode. You can choose from five quality recording modes (HP, HSP, SP, LP, SLP) that range in recording time from 1 hour in the HP (high-quality play) mode to 6 hours in SLP (super long play) mode. For maximizing DVD space without compromising video quality, I suggest using the SP mode (2 hours). Bear in mind, these times are for 4.7GB single-layer DVDs; the amount of content you can load doubles with 8.4GB dual-layer DVDs. Sony adds four basic title menus with different colors and styles that you can choose from, although you can't add transitions, special effects, or anything fancy. This is on-the-fly recording—you'll have to use professional video-editing tools on a PC for sophisticated tasks. Speaking of PCs, Sony removed the DVDirect's capability to connect to a PC and a USB printer, which it used in previous versions, so it's now a standalone device. That also means you can't use it as an external USB DVD burner for your PC. The lone USB port is for connecting USB camcorders only. As with previous versions, you can't connect this device to your TV because it lacks video output ports, and you can't play a DVD from, say, Blockbuster or Netflix on the LCD screen—not that you'd want to, anyway.

The VRD-MC5 has three multimedia card slots that support Memory Stick Duo, MS, SD, xD, and CompactFlash formats. You can view your photos as thumbnails on the LCD screen, with up to six thumbnails per screen, or one at a time if you want larger images. You can then pick and choose which ones to burn onto a DVD, or just burn everything from the flash card. Creating a slide show that works with a DVD player and incorporates an MP3 musical track is as easy as clicking the selection on the menu. After the burn is done, you can preview the finished product on the LCD screen. One pet peeve of mine is that the VRD-MC5 doesn't burn CD formats, so you'll have to use DVD media even if you want to burn only several photos.

Sony doesn't provide any specifications for the DVD drive used in the VRD-MC5 because you can't connect it to a PC anyway, so it's really only one speed—which burns at a good clip. I was able to dub 2 hours' worth of camcorder footage, with a number of 10-minute chapters and a title menu, in 25 minutes. Burning 120 photos from my SD card, with slide show and music, took roughly 10 minutes. As stated earlier, it doesn't come with any cables as the previous versions did, and it doesn't bundle burning software like Nero 7.0 (which is a moot point since, as I've said, you can't connect this to a PC).

The Sony DVDirect VRD-MC5 is the easiest way to transfer video from a VCR or a camcorder, or photos from a camera, to a DVD, taking only a matter of minutes to do it. It lacks some functions the previous versions had, such as a USB port that connects to a PC or printer. Also, the accessories aren't as impressive without the data cables and software bundle that the previous iteration had. But that's how Sony was able to bring the price down to $229, from the VRD-MC1's list price of $299, and it's a tremendous bargain considering what you can do with it. If you have camcorder tapes piling up or you're worried about your old VHS collection turning to dust, the DVDirect VRD-MC5 can easily make your memories digital.




SOURCE: pcmag.com