I received the Sony VC30 model for Christmas, and enchanged it for the MC3 to get the color screen (and glad I did). I was a bit leary after reading the reviews here, but I've just finished converting our entire collection of home movies from VHS, 8mm, hi8 and miniDV tapes to DVD.

I've used only Sony brand, single-layer blanks (both +R and -R, but +R seems to yield better playback) and have had no problems. I've made close to 200 DVDs with only two "coasters" that would not finalize after recording. I've done most of my recording on the SP mode, putting two hours on a DVD. After testing different settings, I couldn't tell any difference (viewed on 55" and 32" TVs) between the HQ and SP settings for my older videos (some 25 years old), but could definitely tell on the newer recordings, especially those with a lot of motion (such as water skiing and other sports). So for those, I chose only the HQ setting.

All recording is done in real time, and there have been... Read more

I bought this item at Costco since I wanted to transfer my old 8mm Video camcorder tapes into a digital format using DVD. I didn't want to load any new software on my PC and was intrigued by the ability of this device to be used without a PC.

The best feature on this device is that it's easy to use. I had no problem formatting and recording to my 4.6gig R+ DVD's. I also
liked the fact that it can record from many different devices (memory sticks, Hard disk drive Camcorders, etc...)

I found the recording time to be slow-- taking 1 hour to record an entire 4.6gig DVD. But I believe this is a function of my 8mm Video camcorder and not the VRDMC3 recorder (I can't figure out how any marketing person can name a device "VRDMC3 DVDirect DVD Recorder")

I found the viewing screen on the VRDMC3 to be small. I would prefer to see a larger image. The devices touts that you can create could "Titles" and "Chapters" on your DVDs. Titles and Chapters allow you... Read more

This is really a nice multi-function unit. Very versatile.

- Standalone backup of your memory cards.

- DVD reader/ writer for your computer.

- DVD recorder from TV/DVD's/VCR tapes/Camcorders.

Nero 'essentials' DVD editing software is cumbersome to use and lacking many functions compared to the full version of Nero. Need to invest in the full suite of editing software. I picked up the first unit i could find. Seems to be a little glitchy (random freezing) when copying from camcorders using i.link. Preview screen is decent although audio and video outputs for playback and recording monitoring would have been a great feature. More choices for DVD menus would also be nice.

I bought this unit instead of a seperate DVD burner for my computer and a DVD recorder for my home AV system. The bonus is the stand-alone copying of memory cards. I recommend it but it could be better.