Decent as a video to DVD MPEG2 converter

I read the review by VicWang and share the disappointment for DivX users. This unit has a terrible problem with re-compression due to the crappy DVD Creator 2 software doing endless re-rendering every time. They promise to fix this, but users will have to wait.

I only have a simple need which is conversion of VHS into DVD to save my tapes into DVD formnat and get rid of these bulky things from my shelves. And for this purpose, I think it's kind of OK?

First, the direct to disc feature is good. I can capture and burn a DVD in real time. As soon as the capturing is done, I also have the DVD ready to play. The only bad thing is the crappy looking menu that WinDVD Creator 2 creates for me.

To fix this problem I read on and decide to try using a DVD-RW or DVD+RW for this direct to disc capture. Then I could edit the menu directly on this rewritable DVD without re-rendering. I doubted this would work looking at the endless re-rendering problem. So I had a go at it. I was disappointed to learn that the only customisation that it allows me to do is to change the background/theme of the menu and rename the chapter. All other authoring features are not supported. The position of the buttons cannot be moved. It only helps the menu to look a little less crappy.

I am very impressed with the quality of the picture after the DVD is built. That means this unit could have been a great product if there are better software for it.

I will need to look for another software that can do better menu and combine the DVD MPEG2 files to make a new DVD without rerendering.