Dazzle DVD Recorder [OLD VERSION]

The main reason I got the Dazzle DVD recorder was to copy my VHS tapes to DVD. Mostly I have instructional videos and a few old videos from a trip. So far, I guess the Dazzle is doing what it says it does, but not without causing a lot of frustration first. I had problems installing both the Instant DVD Recorder software, and Pinnacle Studio. Instant DVD froze twice, and I had to restart the computer both times. Pinnacle Studio also froze twice. The 2nd time I was trying to install it froze when it appeared to be almost finished, it said it was configuring the software. After about 10 minutes I had to ctrl alt delete and close it. But it must have finished installing cause it was on my computer and working.

The first thing I tried to do with it was try using Studio to edit some mini DV home movies that I want to put on DVD. My camcorder instructions say it can be connected to the computer with a USB cable, but Pinnacle Studio couldn't detect the camcorder and says it must be connected with a firewire cable. I don't have one of those, so I went looking for the S-video cable to hook it up through the Dazzle. Tore the house apart looking for it, but couldn't find it, so I can't comment on how well it works with that. I decided to try VHS to DVD using Studio. The video it recorded was choppy and the sound was garbled. I thought maybe the VHS tape was bad, so I tried a different one. Same as the first.

I couldn't figure out what the problem was with Pinnacle Studio, so I tried the Instant DVD software to do the transfer. I recorded 5 minutes of a VHS tape (I didn't want to waste my time if it was going to be garbled too), it recorded fine.

So it seems after finally getting the software installed it does the bare minimum I wanted out of it, record VHS to DVD, but it seems I won't be doing any editing with the software.

Problem with loading program. Had to get online driver to make it work. Still can't figure how to use the advanced and bonus feature CDs. Would have been better had there been written instructions. But it does work for copying VHS to DVD. Apparantly doesn't copy DVD to DVD so have to make copies off the VHS

Pinnacle's Dazzle DVD Recorder product is pretty good. It captures video just fine from a DVR (the only way I've tried it). However, their software consistently messes up the output captured on HD. The audio, IF present, is out of synch with the video. Pinnacle's tech support is limited in their knowledge of this problem. The version 10.0 MUST be upgraded to version 10.8 before it will work with Vista. While the upgrade s/w is available on their website, it is very difficult to find out which s/w to download and install on your PC, and in which order. It took me 2 eight-hour days to get it right, and then recording from a DVR simply never did work right.

I got the Dazzle to convert several home movies from S-VHS to DVD. The Dazzle was very simple to connect and start capturing. The software that came with the device was not as nice. The direct-to-disk works well, but you can only capture one movie to the disk and it closes it. It would be nice if you could leave the DVD open and burn multiple movies to it. The Pinnacle Quick Start is okay, but it requires several patches to run on Vista, where it still doesn't behave well.

I recently purchased this item. I just got it in the mail today. The video playback quality is so bad you can't even see what you recorded. When I opened the package one of the discs were cracked too. I do not reccomend purchasing this item. Go for something a little more expensive, because if you buy this, you are just throwing your money away.