Writing Devices

Here's a fun time-management problem. What activity are you going to give priority to: making new "recordings" (or downloading, or whatever it is you do) or "writing" all your old stuff current while simultaneously pursuing the contrast acquisition of new stuff is the kind of challenge we live for. Here are solutions to the video transfer perplex that don't cost much money. And as we all know, time is money... -Glenn Kenny & Jamie Sorcher

Digitizing Your Video Library Made Cheap and Easy

1. Sony's DVDDirect burner ($300) claims to be the first such device "capable of stand_alone, real-time DVD recording as well as computer-attached burning." We don't know about "stand_alone"; what's it gonna record, just standing there? We know, we know-they mean that it can hook up directly to a VCR or camcorder.

2. Looks like a futuristic George Foreman grill, records like a mofo. Hewlett_Packard'S DVD Movie Writer dc5000 ($249) not only enables you to transfer and preserve all your old home videos on DVD, it also features editing capabilities to enable you to delete embarrassing bits and software to help you design DVD case covers for your collected works, in the event you ever want to market them. It also works as a CD burner.

3. If the above items are too Jetsons-ish for your taste, there's always the reliable double-deck thingie. JVC's DR-MX1S ($999.95) looks more old-fashioned than it is, though-it has an 80GB hard drive in addition to what you see.

4. Panasonic's DMR-E75V ($499.95) is the company's first dual DVD recorder/VHS deck. It's designed for ease of use, featuring a "one-touch dubbing" control that gets the recording started instantly once the drives are loaded.

Source: Premiere Magazine