Sony VRDMC6 DVDirect Compact Size DVD Burner with AVCHD Recording

by Sony

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 7.8 x 4.2 inches ; 2.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002EVP85K
• Item model number: VRDMC6
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (175 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #4 in Electronics > Televisions & Video > DVD Players & Recorders
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 17, 2009

Product Description

Transfer home movies and digital pictures to DVD, quickly and easily without a PC. Connect with virtually any camcorder, VCR, even DVR for recording video DVDs playable in standard DVD players. Built in slots accept the 5 most common memory cards for recording digital pictures to DVD as a slideshow or for photo storage. Record high definition AVCHD video from Sony HDD or Memory Stick Handycam camcorders to DVD playable in Blu-ray Disc compatible devices. In The Box - DVD Recorder (VRD-MC6); AC Adaptor; AC Power Cord; Warranty Card; Manual.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

345 of 347 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effortless to use, awesome product, December 18, 2009

By 

A. Boston (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Sony VRDMC6 DVDirect Compact Size DVD Burner with AVCHD Recording (Camera)

I've stopped using my old hitachi video camera(from 2001)awhile ago since I never liked dragging it out, setting it up, charging it, finding a tape or lugging it around etc. But, none the less, I still have at least 10-12 mini cassette(8mm) tapes that needed to be put on DVD, as well as some old VHS tapes too. I haven't seen any of these home movies in years because watching a VHS is aggravating(waiting for it rewind?! geez. hello old school). I was so excited to hear about this and figured it would be a great idea to finally transfer my stuff.

Out of the box, it will literally take you moments to set up and start recording. If you're taping from a VCR, make sure you plug into the line OUT on the back of the VCR.

It formats the DVD disc for you, and when you press play on your video camera(or VCR) you also hit the big main button on the DVDirect to begin recording. If there's snow in your video for more then a few seconds, it pauses recording and resumes when the video kicks back in. You can choose 5 min, 10 min or 15 minute automatic chapter inserts, so it's easy to navigate a long video. Sound is good, but only as good as it was originally. If you have crappy sound on your old video camera, it'll be crappy on DVD. I wasn't expecting it to turn my stuff HD or work miracles, so this is exactly what I wanted and expected.

The screen on the DVDirect is easy to see and tells you how long you've been recording, when it's stopped, it tells you how long is left on the DVD to record. Only a few buttons, so it's simple to stay on track and not get lost in countless options, which means it won't be hard to figure out even for someone who's not good with technology. It does record live time, so you have to have a little patience. Press play, record, and walk away. Also, amazingly simple to finalize the DVD and pop it in a player and begin watching. I also notice on the box it says you can make photo slide shows with music. Pretty cool! Definitely a great buy for anyone with tons of old VHS and mini cassettes.

224 of 225 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Non-techie figured it out and is really pleased, July 12, 2010

By 

A. Scioli (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sony VRDMC6 DVDirect Compact Size DVD Burner with AVCHD Recording (Camera)

I'm a teacher and not very technically savvy, and I am thrilled with this product. I needed to convert my vast VHS library of teaching materials to DVD format. This product is working perfectly. There are just a few points I might add that I did not see in the reviews I read. I think some are so obvious that anyone with technical experience might not have thought they needed mentioning. First, if you are trying to convert plain old VHS tapes, you'll need a VCR. I didn't have one, and I actually thought (not understanding the scale of the photo of the product) that the tapes would go IN this machine. The good news is, you only need a VCR and one cord with red, yellow and white plugs. This will not tie up your TV. You play the tape into the converter. The converter has a small screen that lets you see where in the tape the converter is "reading". The other really cool part is that you can "edit" out parts of your VHS tapes you don't want (in my case, commercials embedded in videos). You just hit the pause button to skip those parts. The one thing mentioned in earlier reviews that I would just like to reiterate is that you need to change the recording quality setting from HQ to SP. This will give you 2 hours of video on each disc, as opposed to just over 1 hour and 20 or so minutes. Finally, you should buy DVD-R type DVDs. I lost some time trying to figure out the difference between DVD+r and DVD-R.

This is a great product and there really isn't anything quite like it on the market!

205 of 206 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great gadget, but understand what it can and can't do, August 30, 2010

By 

MW (Miramar, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sony VRDMC6 DVDirect Compact Size DVD Burner with AVCHD Recording (Camera)

Okay, I'm a bit of a gadget junky. Not only did I buy this DVD burner, but I also own a similar device made by Canon, the DW-100, which you can find here: Canon DW-100 DVD Burner for Canon Hard Drive & Flash Memory Camcorders + Accessory Kit as well as one made by Panasonic, the VW-BN1, which is no longer sold on Amazon. Why do I have these two? Because I have Canon and Panasonic HD camcorders and these devices offer a very easy way to transfer HD footage straight to a single or dual layer DVD. So, you ask, why did I buy a third...especially when I don't have a Sony camcorder? Because neither the Panasonic nor the Canon device will allow me to take footage that I shot in HD and transfer it to disc in SD format. This Sony unit does.

I have several relatives that do not own HD equipment and the only way to send them our family video is to put it in SD format. This Sony VRD-MC6 makes that transfer simple and painless. So far I have transferred about 12 discs. The other two devices mentioned above ONLY have connections for their respective camcorders and will only produce DVDs in the same format as recorded. With the composite connections on this Sony unit, you can pretty much take ANY HD player that has a composite out connection, connect it to this unit, and burn it to disc in SD format. So simple.

Things to note:

1. Nice little screen so that you can see what you are recording...none of the others have that.
2. HD footage recorded to dual layer will just about fit (in SD) on a single layer disc on this unit...with about five minutes on average that you'll have left that won't go on.
3. Interestingly, the Canon and Panasonic devices will only record dual layer discs in the DVD-R DL format, which are very hard to find. This device will record in the DVD+R DL format, which are fairly abundant. It will NOT accept DVD-R DL, but it will accept single layer DVD-R blank discs.
4. The size is compact enough to travel with, and it works on 110 as well as 240 volts. It does not have a "brick" at the plug, but it does have one mid-way through the cord (which converts the voltage, just like most camcorders). The Panasonic burner is wafer thin, and oddly, the Canon burner is ridiculously huge.
5. Remember that it will NOT record in HD for any camcorder except the Sony Handycam camcorders, but will record anything that can output via composite cables in the SD format.
6. Keep in mind that it does not "copy discs." Whatever is on the screen is what is being recorded. If, for example, you have a menu at the start of a disc that allows you to select a file to play, all this unit will do is record that screen until you start to play the video...thus the menu screen on the disc you create is pretty much useless.

It really is too bad that Panasonic or Canon did not allow this same input of composite cables (SD) as a recording option. Now, I burn from either of my camcorders via their respective device as HD and then I play the HD disc on my BD player and output it into this Sony burner to record an SD copy for the relatives. A little cumbersome, but for me it's less hassle than doing it all via the PC.

One last note: I bought a refurbished unit with an extended warranty, and even with the warranty included it was far cheaper than what the new ones cost. Most prices I saw for the brand new versions at the time of my purchase were way over what I was willing to spend. However, if I actually owned a Sony camcorder that would transfer HD video for burning I'd probably think otherwise.

I hope this review helped!