Pros:
small, easy to use, high quality, full featured, superior image, one of a kind device
Cons:
expensive, device has no handle, poor documentation (format, "dock" feature not explained), vulnerable to water
The Bottom Line:
Choose this if you are looking for a portable miniDV VCR that has a LCD screen, firewire, USB, and Memory Stick outputs. Pricey but one of kind
Overall Rating:
Author's Review
I bought this device to edit miniDV from a camera, upload miniDV to a computer via firewire. and perform VCR functions. Until now, my miniDV cam (Canon GL-1) has performed VCR and firewire functions, but I've always wanted a miniDV VCR for these functions.
This unit has features I probably won't use (memory stick, mpeg capability) since I will firewire my video to Adobe Premiere for stills or video. (Hey, Adobe/Sony: is the Premiere driver written yet? ...no software device control without it) Even though I am annoyed by having buttons on the unit face for features I won't use, I appreciate the attempt by Sony to interface with their computers. Maybe those laptops they make deserve a second look... OUCH!
So far I am greatly impressed by picture quality and ease of use. It IS BEAUTIFUL! And, this is a somewhat complex device designed so well that you don't need the manual. Really. (the manual is trash, anyway)
OK, Long story short and Bottom Line:
This is a pricey toy for me. I already have what it offers since my super cool miniDV cam will do all that albeit with a smaller, lower quality LCD screen, but with less "BS" (IMHO) Sony-proprietary connectivity. But now I can do "old-fashioned" miniDV tape-to-tape editing and I take a great burden off of my expensive DV camera for more mundane VCR-type chores.