Customer Reviews

JVC HRDVS3U Mini-DV/S-VHS Combo, Silver

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

They will however, blame it on sony and canon and insist they are right. I was told to go buy JVC camcorders to make it work right. I use a TRV 900 and a Canon XL1s , my tapes play fine out of cameras but i cant use JVC deck to do anything mini dv because it introduces glitches and dropped frames into video.
They know this is a problem and dont have any solutions for it. When I call they come up with ways to tell me Im using the product wrong. They have had my deck and sample tapes I provided them for over a month and havent decided what to do.

I would never buy this product again, and would never recommend it to anyone who desires a "professional" look from his or her work or who has a semi-professional workflow.

* Importing video from the HR-DVS3U into Final Cut Pro produces video that is full of audio and video (especially video) artifacts that are definitely not present in the source tape.

* The MiniDV deck will not take input from Final Cut Pro; i.e. there is no "printing to video," or even playback to video. After spending nearly $1000 on this deck, I still have to put my edited video on tape using the Canon XL-1 as my recording deck.

* The deck does not serve as an analog-to-digital mediator between an external source, or even its SVHS deck, and Final Cut Pro. In order to capture video from an analog source, you have to 1) record it to SVHS, 2) dub the SVHS to MiniDV, and 3) capture from MiniDV using the FireWire out to your computer. This is a process, that, with most MiniDV decks, you can complete with only one step (step 3) because the FireWire output has a switch that allows you to deliver to the computer informatioin that it converts from an auxiliary input device. I understand that this product is far less expensive than most other DVD decks, but it is obviously capable of analog-to-digital conversion because it is possible to go directly from SVHS to MiniDV. How much of a stretch would it be to allow conversion from an auxiliary source, or to allow real-time data streaming from the analog-to-digital device through the FireWire to the computer, rather than to necessitate real-time duplication to MiniDV as a precursor? If I am wrong about how much this upgrade would cost, I'd say it's worth the extra expense to pay an extra $1000-$1500 to save yourself the headaches, if that is possible.

* Two months after receiving this deck, I tried for the first time to dub from MiniDV to SVHS. The MiniDV would begin to play, and immediately stop and display a blue screen instructing me to use a cleaner cassette. I had used the deck less than six times prior to this.

* The controls, the remote, and the display are hopelessly chintsy.

It hurts to think that, for many of us, this deck is the only affordable option. I plan to send my deck back now that I have read the above reviews and realize that I have a good case to make. I've remained anonymous on this post 'cause you never know who reads.

I would never buy this product again, and would never recommend it to anyone who desires a "professional" look from his or her work or who has a semi-professional workflow.

* Importing video from the HR-DVS3U into Final Cut Pro produces video that is full of audio and video (especially video) artifacts that are definitely not present in the source tape.

* The MiniDV deck will not take input from Final Cut Pro; i.e. there is no "printing to video," or even playback to video. After spending nearly $1000 on this deck, I still have to put my edited video on tape using the Canon XL-1 as my recording deck.

* The deck does not serve as an analog-to-digital mediator between an external source, or even its SVHS deck, and Final Cut Pro. In order to capture video from an analog source, you have to 1) record it to SVHS, 2) dub the SVHS to MiniDV, and 3) capture from MiniDV using the FireWire out to your computer. This is a process, that, with most MiniDV decks, you can complete with only one step (step 3) because the FireWire output has a switch that allows you to deliver to the computer informatioin that it converts from an auxiliary input device. I understand that this product is far less expensive than most other DVD decks, but it is obviously capable of analog-to-digital conversion because it is possible to go directly from SVHS to MiniDV. How much of a stretch would it be to allow conversion from an auxiliary source, or to allow real-time data streaming from the analog-to-digital device through the FireWire to the computer, rather than to necessitate real-time duplication to MiniDV as a precursor? If I am wrong about how much this upgrade would cost, I'd say it's worth the extra expense to pay an extra $1000-$1500 to save yourself the headaches, if that is possible.

* Two months after receiving this deck, I tried for the first time to dub from MiniDV to SVHS. The MiniDV would begin to play, and immediately stop and display a blue screen instructing me to use a cleaner cassette. I had used the deck less than six times prior to this.

* The controls, the remote, and the display are hopelessly chintsy.

It hurts to think that, for many of us, this deck is the only affordable option. I plan to send my deck back now that I have read the above reviews and realize that I have a good case to make. I've remained anonymous on this post 'cause you never know who reads.

There appears to be a comptatibility issue between the Sony MiniDV format and the JVC miniDV format. This is coming directly from the technicans at JVC. I purchased this JVC HR-DVS3U unit so I could edit the miniDV tapes from my Sony TRV-20 camcorder. But when I play a tape (which has been recorded on my Sony camcorder) on the JVC deck through the firewire output to either my computer or back to my camcorder, the JVC unit displays a error code U:01 and the video from the firewire output is all distorted.

This unit is a piece of garbage. Save your money.
1) It will not play tapes shot with a Canon camcorder.
Imagine cutting a picture horizontally in 1/4" strips and moving the first strip to the left, the next strip to the right, next to the left, etc.. Artifacts is putting it mildly.
2) The firewire into a Canoups capture card simply does not work.
3) The firewire port is very poorly placed
4) The remote did not display an on screen menu
5) The controls on the unit are _very_ cheaply made.

I had to return the unit for a store credit on a web purchase.
I would not even give this thing to someone as a free gift.

The HRDVS3U is a dream to use - I have so far converted 30 old analog tapes to mini dv and then will go back and forth between my mac and the mini dvs to cut imovies. Dubbing back and forth between VHS and Mini DV is simple and works great. The documentation is adequate but not great - make sure you pull down the right hand door to find the "start" button, which I use everytime I dub a tape. The jog shuttle control is a little chincy but it has held up so far. Authorized resellers have this machine at 1100 and up - grey market can be had for 2-300 less, but be smart and pay for the peace of mind when using an authorized retailer.

I bought this deck to work with Final Cut Pro. After finally figuring out to set the input to "F1", I had no problems using this deck with a G4 or a G5 and Final Cut Pro 3 and FCP 4, and also iMovie. To capture from the analog inputs, or from (S)VHS, you need to switch Final Cut Pro to "Uncontrollable Firewire Device", because the VHS side does not do time code, not would I expect VITC from a deck at this price. Other reviewers have cited numerous quality problems, but with light ususage, I have never seen these problems. If you are a serious video editor doing a lot of tape transfer, you need an industrial grade VCR, like the Sony DSR-45A DVCAM VCR. If you are a part time editor, say doing 1 or 2 videos a month, this is the perfect solution. Also, be sure not to break your timecode on your tapes when recording your videos, otherwise capturing can be a pain (just record 5 seconds after your final take, and if you have to power off the camera, rewind a couple of seconds). I had no problems capturing tapes from any Camera, although I usually used Sony.

i shoot miniDV on a CanonXL1, and this deck just won't play the tapes without introducing artifacts every 45 seconds or so.

on the other hand, it makes a great parking block for my Audi, albeit an expensive one.

i would NOT buy this product if you aquire images on Canon or Sony cameras, as (by all indications) it'll perform as well as President Bush articulates (ie: it won't).

Great, prompt delivery and exactly what I needed with the convenience of having VHS and mini-dv camera functionality. Only drawback is that it wasn't "near-new" as claimed since I had to clean the heads, thereby had to purchase cleaning kits. Anyway, I would give it a "5-star" deal.

There are random glitches on mini-dv playback. I've seen people call these "artifacts". They're random mosaic shapes, spots, and sometimes audio "chinks" that are usually only visible for brief moments when you pause and press forward or back. They shouldn't happen while playing a tape.

Because of this, I can only log and capture in the rare instance that they don't occur (or if I can squeeze off a brief enough shot between glitches). And pre-editing anything of considerable length is impossible. Even when the deck goes through periods of apparently being "glitch free", I still have to watch with the eyes of a hawk and listen very closely for glitches and then start all over again if I spot one. After nearly 2 years of experimenting, the best I can figure is that the deck tends to be most glitchless when one or more of the following conditions are met:

A) when the temperature is cold (but not freezing),
B) when I haven't used the deck at all for at least 1 month,
C) when I've just finished recording over a blank tape,
D) when using a variety of different brands of cleaning cassettes multiple times through, or
E) when the tape has just come back from a repair shop (but it's only a matter of days before the glitch returns like before I brought it in).

B and E are the most likely to give you a glitch free period, but will NOT last. Plus, it requires an arbitrary sacrifice of time, which is not replaceable. Plus, you wouldn't want to be duped into paying money for a repair that's doomed to fail.

Then after that, I'd say C is somewhat helpful, but not much.

Then A.

And then finally D works rarely.


Does any of this sound like something anyone should have to worry about from a so-called "professional" deck? That's why it's a disgrace. The JVC brand of deck has to be the bottom-most junk of the videomaking world (and I only say that as a substitute for harder words that would probably cause this review not to be approved). I spent $400 on this "junk". To some of us, that isn't the kind of money that can be messed around with.