Customer Reviews

Dazzle DVD Recorder - Old Version

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I had a problem. I have 30 hours of Hi8mm camcorder video that is a history of my family and kids. I have several old video tapes, some 20 yrs old, that I fear are going to turn to dust. I needed to get those tapes on to DVD. After a few quick searches on the Internet, I came across Dazzle DVD. I read all the Amazon reviews and looked in a few other places and decided this was the product for me. And it works great! No problems at all.

Reviews on Amazon seem to be very positive or extremely negative, and most of the negative come from not getting Dazzle to work properly. I was able to install mine and use it with ease. My laptop is only a few months old, so hardware wasn't an issue. I installed each of the 3 disks, then did the next important step. The product box says Vista compatible, but you MUST go to the Pinnacle website to download the Vista drivers. I did this, installed them, then plugged the product in.

The first night, I plugged in my camcorder and then my VCR. The menu allowed me to set it up in 3 easy steps. The tapes from the VCR play right on your screen and go straight to DVD. Dazzle DVD is very easy to install, but you must download the drivers, and if your computer is older, I don't know if that will be an issue.

You can only have one recording session at a time, so if you want footage from more than one old tape burned onto a DVD, you better be quick and changing the tapes in your VCR.

Studio Software also comes with the Dazzle DVD. I've only played with this a little bit, but I was able to capture video from a VCR onto a video editing system that looked like had tons of capabilities. I then changed the 7 minuted video that was 500mb into an AVI file that was 7mb and was able to upload it on You Tube. Pretty Cool! This product is cheap and can mean the salvation to all those old VHS tapes currently rotting in your video camera. Don't hesitate. Buy this product if you want to transfer videos to DVDs.

I walked past this product several times at the at Staple where I work. I had long wanted to get a product to transfer all of my old VCR tapes over to DVD. I then finally decided to take the leap. I purchased the device; however, before opening the package, I did some reading and research. Since I am currently dual-booting XP and Vista I wanted to ensure I had the current drivers for both OSes. I went to Pinnical's web site and what do you know -- they had updated drivers. I downloaded them. I wanted to see if there was updated software. Well what do you know again? They had updated software that I again downloaded. Next I looked around to see what the ratings and customer reviews I could find on this product. I read every review I came acrossed (the good and the bad; paying particular attention to the fanbois and the ranting freaks on the fringes). The average rating (discounting the extemes at both ends) came out to be about be 2 out of 3 stars on the 3 star scales, 3.5 stars on the 5 star scales, 65% to 70% on the 0%-100% scales -- not the best ratings on a product, but definately not the worst and well within what I'd call acceptable for my needs. The harshest critizims came from users who expected more from the DVD authoring software or installation problems (that have mostly been addressed with the aforementioned updates).

I installed the updated drivers and PADDOW! It installed with no problem in both XP and in Vista. I installed the software and BUHBANG! It too installed with not a single hiccup. Then I plugged in the device and fired up my VCR then ran a test recording. It work without a hitch. From software install to making a recording all took about 5 minutes. The darn thing is foolproof.

I will say that the included software IS NOT the most robust you'll find on the consumer level. It is overly simplied and gives you little in the way of control or options. It is simple software for simple users. But I am not interested in the software in the least. I have other software for my DVD authoring. My only concern was to get my VCR tapes into digital format and the device does that with aplomb.

If you are looking for the "best" hardware and software combination and state-of-the-art technology, perhaps you should look elsewhere to spend your $15,000 to $25,000 for such equipment. However, if you are looking for a consumer-level product that performs adequately and as advertised for a good price, this is the device for you and WELL worth every penny.

Don't think about video capture cards, going into the operating system, or even opening the computer case - just turn on the power, plug Dazzle's USB plug into your usb port, and connect the colored cords on your vcr with the same colored plugs on Dazzle, install the software, and let this wonderful tool do all of the heavy lifting.

EXCELLENT quality, and they will lower the quality if you want a smaller file - like, say, if you want to back-up your vcr to a cd-r. The test for quality is time - tell it to record to 70 minutes, and your work is DONE.

I REALLY like the fact that the software is so stable, I recorded a SIX HOUR VCR tape using a 512 meg XP machine - not a moment's problem.

They also included software that makes editing these video files real easy, if you want. That is just icing on the cake.

Strong, solid, silent - the John Wayne of VCR to computer file translator tools.

As an aside, I have held onto some VCR tapes for years, one for more than a decade, hoping something like Dazzle would come along.

Prayers answered.

Just shut up and BUY it.

The Quality is EXCELLENT! Use it to go out of the Digital Cable Box Strait into the computer. Pinnacle Software is easy to use and edit with and if you have a DVD Burner, makes great menus. I have bought and returned Well Over 5 RCA Capture Devices and this is BY FAR the best. Especially for $50!!!!!! Cant BEAT It.

I purchased this product to copy to DVD programs I had saved on my Tivo. The product works very well. Teh installation can be a little tricky, I had to install the software twice to make it work. I do not have Vista, and thus did not encounter some of the problems other users have mentioned. The software included in the package is for XP, the Vista patch has to be downloaded (no big deal).

After installing I had to play a little with the preferences in order to pick up the incoming video signal. Apparently this has more to do with my low tech laptop (a cheap model). However, I imagine I am not the only one out there with a similar computer. My point is that you may need to be persistent (check the Pinnacle website)if it doesn't work at first...but when once works, it's quite nice.

The software included does more than the basics for editing your videos, though you can always upgrade if you want to get fancier. I consider the software included to be more than adequate.

I read reviews constantly, but my questions never seem to get answered. So I will try to answer the questions that I had about this item.
First, It works really well.
Second, it's easy.
Third, for the price, this is probably the best you'll get.

This item comes with the software to instantly burn DVDs. Plug this into your USB port after installing the software. Click on the Instant DVD Recorder, and use the advanced option. You get the whole menu on your screen, you pick what you want, and bam, your video is now recording right to disk.
Quality? It's fine, you're going from tape to DVD, it will still be tape quality.
Cautions: Make sure your computer/laptop isn't too old. This item NEEDS USB 2.0. Get an PMCIA adapter card if you're still running USB 1.1. Online auctions sell them cheaply.

...Because you are actually rating two separate components: the video capturing function (from a VCR or camcorder), and the DVD creation function. One works well, the other one is TERRIBLE.
First though, I'd like to make a note for Vista users. Right on the Dazzle package it says its compatible with Windows Vista, you can download the patch at Pinnacle's website. The problem is, when you go there, there are MANY patches, and its very hard to figure out which one or ones you need to download. The patches should say something like 'patch for Vista'; instead they say things like "Studio release patch". Studio Plus is the software that comes with the Dazzle recorder, but Pinnacle has other software called Studio (like Studio Ultimate). Which Studio program is the patch for? Is it for Vista? Do I need to download other patches first? Who knows? It took me an hour to figure out all the patches I needed to download to get the software to work. If you are missing one patch, it doesn't work at all. Oh, and don't look to the manual for help. There is NO paper manual with the Dazzle, only a VERY POOR and undescriptive online manual, and it doesn't help at all.
Once I finally got it installed, I tested the video capturing from my VCR. It worked great, and was easy to use. Intuitive design, you won't have a problem figuring it out. So, with my video ready to be transferred to DVD, I launched into the DVD creation software, Studio Plus.... WHAT A NIGHTMARE! This is the absolute WORST software for DVD creation. its is EXTREMELY buggy, almost to the point of being useless. It crashes often. Here are some of the problems I encountered:
- THE MENUS: When editing one of the pre-made menus (such as "Corporate Function" or "Our Wedding"), the software will tell you you can't edit it because you can only have one menu per project. Nevermind that its the ONLY menu you chose for the project. You have to just keep hitting cancel, go back in to "edit", and keep trying until it finally allows you to edit. Sometimes, the menu background will simply disappear for no reason. When this happens, you have to delete the menu and start all over. Also, its SUPPOSED to allow you to choose a thumbnail picture to be displayed for each chapter on the menu. There is even a "set thumbnail" button. The fact that IT DOESN'T EVER WORK makes you wonder why the button is there. Simple: its there to INFURIATE you. So you eventually end up with menus with black boxes for each chapter instead of thumbnails. If you are thinking of creating a menu from scratch, forget it- there is no such function included. Ok, so you FINALLY got the poor-man's menu ready to go. Time to burn the DVD!
-BURNING: The fact that only about 40% of my attempts to burn a DVD have succeeded should give you pause. 60% of the time the program crashes. Now, if you are burning at say 4X speed, an hour DVD takes about 60 minutes to burn. It usally crashes right towards the end, so now you have a useless DVD and you wasted an hour. While the video captures are still in the system, your menu you struggled to create IS NOT, so you have to recreate it all over again, then try burning it again (with the same 40% chance of success). Sounds like fun, huh???
The Dazzle does give you the option to simply burn straight to DVD from the source video (in other words, the DVD will be a straight transfer from the VHS tape- no menu, and no chapters). I tried this, and it worked perfectly, but really, who wants a DVD with no menu or chapter stops? If the video is more than 10 minutes long, you are going to want to be able to fast forward by using chapters.
Overall, the Dazzle does a great job at capturing video from a VCR or a camcorder. The software that comes with it is CRAP, and deserves a negative star rating. If not for the software, Dazzle would have gotten 5 stars from me. As it is, the 2 star rating is only because the video capturing works so great. The bottom line is- USE A DIFFERENT PROGRAM to create your DVDs. Avoid Studio Plus like the plague!!!! Shame on Pinnacle for releasing such buggy JUNK software with an otherwise great product.

Originally I bought this for an XP machine that was fried shortly thereafter. When I got my new laptop with VISTA recently I thought I'd use the Instant DVD Recorder with that. I spent two days trying to figure out just which patches I needed - the site is confusing, their product names seem to be inconsistent, and there are way too many to sort through easily. Once I picked out what I needed, each patch/update took hours on a 2.0 ghz desktop with broadband - I didn't dare try on my laptop, which is slower.

The updates and patch seemed to install correctly on the laptop, everything looked deceptively efficient, until I tried to transfer from a home-recorded tape on the vcr to a dvd, and Instant DVD Recorder software froze the video twice on two tries.

I'm thinking there might well be a setting I could alter, but that's the next story...

Ok, bad enough, but then try to get help? The manuals on line are split into chapters and download even slower than the updates. I waded through as many unhelpful windows as I could stand, then tried writing for email support. After filling out the form I was invited to create an account (no SEND button), filled out another form (still no SEND button) and got the response "There is already an account for this email address" (STILL no SEND button). Is this just Pinnacle giving me the middle digit????

I submitted a request for a password reminder and was told that tech support and two other areas required "separate" passwords. Just who are these monkeys?

So, try it, but keep the receipt and return it promptly if it doesn't work for you. I hope it does work for you, I wish it would for me, or that I could get some help.

Wow, thought it wouldn't be good, and man was i wrong. Setup was easy and only took a few minutes. No problems. After everything was installed I took it for a testrun. Turns out you can record full quality (the quality your actually watching on the television.) It's perfect. Also few for people with not much hard drive space. Don't worry about it. The editing software that comes with it will make all the space taking movies turn very small after youedit them. This product is perfect. BUYERS - DON'T BEWARE!

I purchased the Dazzle DVC90 and Pinnacle Studio Plus 10. I have a fast computer (Core2 CPU 2.13 GHz, 2 GB memory, raid drive)and the latest XP updates. There were multiple problems with Pinnacle's installs, patches, drivers. With Pinnacle's support I did numerous installs, manual software deletes, registration deletes, Windows Installer Cleanups, and uninstalls. It took me days to get the Dazzle to work. One final problem was the need to turn the sound off on the source camcorder.

The Pinnacle Studio Plus v10 software is also a disappointment. I have yet to be able to burn a DVD! I was forced to buy a $5 update just to read a common MPEG2 file. Silly! And I have entered about 6 long registration codes. Too much! And why the heck do the product designers have to use their own unique icons for opening a directory, browsing, etc? This need to be different only makes the learning curver sharper. Not too smart! Big designer egos and bad design.