Rating: 
Summary: Mini DV to DVD made easy
Review: If you are new to the DVD movie making process using a PC, like myself, the HP dc4000 is a godsend. As advertised, I was able to make a movie, albeit an unprofessional looking one, on the very first try.This was my second attempt trying to convert my Sony Mini DV TRV-22 home movies to DVD. I initially bought a generic DVD-+RW recorded and used the USB out of the Sony to make a DVD. The quality was really bad. I did some research and it turns out that the data/signal coming out of the USB port is compressed and only suitable for VCD. The Sony does have a DV port, but my PC didn't have a DV (firewire?) input. Rather than waste more time buying additional hardware, I read a review for the dc3000 and went shopping. For movies to be played back on a home system, HP recommends DVD+R discs. I burned my movies on DVD-R discs and they played fine on my really old DVD player (Onkyo DV-C601) with a single laser pickup and my newer JVC multi-player. From what I read online, 95% of all home DVD players should be able to play DVD-R? Here are the pros and cons of the HP dc4000: PRO: Easy to use and has good quality analog/digital converters (RCA style and S-Video input). Use S-Video if you have it.
PRO: Nice bundled software. I've only used Arcsoft's ShowBiz 2 for editing and burning, but I really like the product. Much better than the Sonic bundle offered with most other DVD burners.
PRO: Quite.
PRO: Works with both USB 1.1 and 2.0. CON: The external case is painted silver and parts of it are missing some paint.
CON: Unit is heavy.
CON: Made in Malaysia.
Rating: 
Summary: gives too much problem
Review: It does the work but if you're not using it you better shut it off because most of the times I restart the PC its driver causes the PC to hang. Or sometimes it doesn't wait for a restart and it says it can't get anything from the video recorder or VHS. The problem is known by HP because it gives a solution in their support site. It says to shut it off (it doesn't have an on/off button so you have to unplug it from the wall!), unplug the USB and restart the PC!
And by now you better wait for the dual layer recorders.
Rating: 
Summary: hp dc4000 vcr to dvd converter
Review: Product works but hardware and support information are not up to what we perceive to be HP standards.
Hardware issue: Small plastic door on DVD tray sometimes catches the tray on closing and is pulled out of alignment.
Support issue: Technical support information is totally superficial. There is really no product manual. ArtSoft software provided with the product has help files that are also lacking in depth.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy It
Review: The hardware is good, the software is very very bad. Even with tech support it still crashes half the time it prepares to burn a dvd (but only after it's spent a lot of time preparing the image). I'm returning it tonight.
Rating:
Summary: Laserdisc collectors note - So far, so good
Review: The Pinnacle Systems video capture device I bought last year was totally useless from day one - a dead loss. This HP unit, once it was hooked up and the software loaded, worked from the start. Eureka! Of particular interest to people who, like me, have rare or unusual items on laserdisc that may never show up on DVD, is that it will indeed capture video from a laserdisc player. I used the S-video connection for the picture and RCA connectors for the audio. This is important to know because I called HP customer support before buying mine specifically to find this out. After talking to a couple of people in what I assume is some country in the far East, and being on hold for a total of about 25 minutes, I was told that the DC4000 wouldn't work on laserdisc transfers. But something about the way they explained it suggested to me that they weren't really sure, and I suspect that the info HP supplied them to parrot back to inquiring customers didn't address the question at all and they had to improvise their (wrong) answer. Way to go, HP! Anyway, for those who are interested in this application, I can tell you that it does work. I won't suggest that a transfer of a 2 hour film is going to look quite as good as the original laserdisc source, but it does look noticeably better than a VHS copy. Also I'd say that the DC4000 is particularly worthwhile for transferring old VHS tapes, as they tend to deteriorate a little more every year that you keep them, and the two or three that I've copied look reasonably close to the original source. As I understand it, commercially produced DVDs have dual layers for twice the data capacity, as opposed to the one recording surface that recordable DVDs have, which is why they never look as good as the professionally produced product. Nevertheless, this is a very cool item to have, and I'd say that the few discs I've produced so far look better than most homebrewed discs you'd get from eBay sellers or internet entrepreneurs.
Rating: 
Summary: Never worked
Review: The unit never worked. It kept loosing the video signal and there was no way to recover. HP support had no solution. Also HP hid the customer support phone number (you won't find it any of the documentation). The email support was only marginally better. Web discussions of the product indicated that the unit has trouble overheating; I kept cool and it still crashed. The software wasn't much better--it continually hung.
I wouldn't recommend buying this unit.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent DVD WRiter....
Review: This is my first DVD-WRiter and i love it. I don't have any trouble with the software and the driver. I use it with my laptop (512mB - 60gb HD). I only recommend a lot of free space in your hard disk. I like the software too.
Excellent product. I'm passing all my Tapes (VHS) to dvd with excelent quality. Everything was perfect since the first time i installed it.
I like this because i have 4 in 1:
1- DVD-Writer (DVD+R/RW - DVD-R/RW) for data porpuse / Backup
2- Capture Device (Audio-Video)
3- I convert my analog video to digital video (DVD-VCD)
4- CD-WRITER CD-R / RW
Good for HP !
Rating:
Summary: is big
Review: this is the better dvd-writer i know is only incredible
Rating:
Summary: Bad product
Review: This is the worst product HP has ever invented. After installing a brand new product, I was able to make 2 DVD's. The software that came with it wasn't very user friendly though. And then when I made DVD copies, it got stuck 2 times. Then even with technical support, the system keeps crashing and freezing while I'm burning. Then it showed a "Code 10" which means there is a malfunction in the HP hardware and tech support even said that he expected it! So he suggested to have it exchanged. And I did. Then with the newly-opened-from-the box hardware, I was able to burn 2 dvd's and then it malfunctioned again. I already wasted several dvd-r's worth $2 each just trying to get the movie writer to work. Don't buy this. It doesn't work. The one star rating is for the 2 dvd's I burned after opening it from the box. Other than that, it's a waste of time, money, and effort!!!
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