Dazzle DVD Recorder [OLD VERSION]

I have a newer Vista-based PC and downloaded the latest software "patches' from Pinnacle (330MB worth!). The "patches" install fine and everything appears to work. Tha hardware supplied works as advertised. It's the software that's questionable.

Instant DVD Recorder works, although it's limited in what it allows you to do as far as themes and menus go. I can get it to crash reliably when using a certain supplied background music piece. This results in wasted time and a wasted DVD. The version of Studio supplied is a joke. From poor documentation(or maybe the program just doesn't do what it's supposed to do) to a poor user interface to amateurish themes, it's not worth the trouble. Windows Movie Maker + DVD Maker works a lot better.

My husband and I are IT, Web Development people.... so this is to say we know a bit about computers... This is by FAR the absolute worst piece of hardware I have ever used.... EVER!!! My husband and I both agree this is the most worthless product we have ever purchased! I can't even believe they can sell this to people!! We took it back once and got a new one, thinking it was just a product defect. But, no. This thing just simply sucks! Please, please don't waste your time with this product!!!! I want the 7 hours of my life back that I spent reading FAQ's on this thing and talking to Dazzle tech support... which also sucks. And they have no manual for this product. What? This product is anything but simple. We both have nearly brand new computers, one w/ XP and one w/ Vista... one a notebook and one a desktop... neither of which we could get to work w/ the Dazzle! We ended up buying a dual VHS/DVD player and now THAT is simple! We ended up using the desktop itself and just plugging it in and using particular software that comes with Vista to record cassette tapes. So, Dazzle did absolutely nothing... and now we have a VHS/DVD recorder that we can record TV with!! :) I hope this helps somebody out there... then my agony won't be in vain.

Three days, hours of installation efforts, and still not there! And that was with support. And did I tell you that I am pretty good with the computer?

If you have Vista, stop right now! The version that ships does NOT have Vista compatible editing software. You can install and record directly to DVD, but you can't edit without the incompatible software.

The software update is available for download (1.4 GB), but mine was corrupted twice using their file manager. I downloaded directly, and that file was fine. . . except their own Vista FAQ points to the wrong file, so I had to download a fourth 1.4 GB file.

I also had to uninstall, use a registry deletion tool, and then discover that the serial number failed.

So, be very careful! It is not as simple as you think, especially with Vista!

I read all the reviews and am surprised there was no comment about the problem I encountered----it copied just fine but was not able to copy a two hour vhs---the max copy time onto a new dvd is 103 minutes--leaving seventeen minutes that had to be put on another dvd. Threw it away.

It works pretty much as advertized, although the bundled software is difficult and almost impossible to use. The dazzle works fine.