JVC HRDVS3U Mini-DV/S-VHS Combo, Silver
Wouldn't buy it again
I would never buy this product again, and would never recommend it to anyone who desires a &quot;professional&quot; look from his or her work or who has a semi-professional workflow.<br />* Importing video from the HR-DVS3U into Final Cut Pro produces video that is full of audio and video (especially video) artifacts that are definitely not present in the source tape.<br />* The MiniDV deck will not take input from Final Cut Pro; i.e. there is no &quot;printing to video,&quot; or even playback to video. After spending nearly $1000 on this deck, I still have to put my edited video on tape using the Canon XL-1 as my recording deck.<br />* The deck does not serve as an analog-to-digital mediator between an external source, or even its SVHS deck, and Final Cut Pro. In order to capture video from an analog source, you have to 1) record it to SVHS, 2) dub the SVHS to MiniDV, and 3) capture from MiniDV using the FireWire out to your computer. This is a process, that, with most MiniDV decks, you can complete with only one step (step 3) because the FireWire output has a switch that allows you to deliver to the computer informatioin that it converts from an auxiliary input device. I understand that this product is far less expensive than most other DVD decks, but it is obviously capable of analog-to-digital conversion because it is possible to go directly from SVHS to MiniDV. How much of a stretch would it be to allow conversion from an auxiliary source, or to allow real-time data streaming from the analog-to-digital device through the FireWire to the computer, rather than to necessitate real-time duplication to MiniDV as a precursor? If I am wrong about how much this upgrade would cost, I'd say it's worth the extra expense to pay an extra $1000-$1500 to save yourself the headaches, if that is possible.<br />* Two months after receiving this deck, I tried for the first time to dub from MiniDV to SVHS. The MiniDV would begin to play, and immediately stop and display a blue screen instructing me to use a cleaner cassette. I had used the deck less than six times prior to this.<br />* The controls, the remote, and the display are hopelessly chintsy.<br />It hurts to think that, for many of us, this deck is the only affordable option. I plan to send my deck back now that I have read the above reviews and realize that I have a good case to make. I've remained anonymous on this post 'cause you never know who reads.