To burn video onto a DVD disc, you first have to get the video from your old VHS, 8mm or Hi-8 tapes onto your PC. If you own a digital video (DV) camcorder, you can connect it to your VCR, play your old tapes and record the video onto DV tapes, and then upload the video to your PC or Mac via an IEEE-1394 interface (also known as "FireWire" and "I.Link," which is standard on the latest PCs and Macintoshes). From here, assuming that you have the right software and a DVD burner, you may edit the video on your PC or Mac and then burn it onto a DVD disc.

If you don't own a DV camcorder, you can use an analog to digital video converter such as ADS Technologies' competent DVD Xpress. This external box connects to a PC via its USB (USB-2) or Firewire ports and converts video from a VCR or older camcorder into a digital format that may be edited and burned onto a DVD.

Seemingly a solution to fill a definite need is HP's DVD Movie Writer dc5000. This external drive combines the functions of a DVD burner with a video converter to accept video from VCRs and older camcorders and burn them onto DVD discs. The $249 device costs more than a stand-alone DVD burner, but includes a built-in video converter. On paper, it looks as if the device can save you time, allowing you to play a video on your VCR or camcorder and burn it onto a DVD disc.

The dc5000 comes in a stylish, modern-looking case that is approximately the size of a medium-size hardcover book. When you look closely at the device, you'll discover that the housing simply holds a conventional 16x DVD±R drive, the kind that mounts in a PC (the drive is also a 40x CD-R drive). The housing also provides ports to connect to RCA video and S-Video cables from a VCR or camcorder.

You simply take the dc5000 out of its box, connect it to power, attach a USB cable to the drive and to your PC, install the accompanying CD software, and you're pretty much ready to go. In our evaluation, the drive easily installed on our test PC. Something to note, the drive only works with Windows XP or Windows 2000. So if you are running an older version of Windows, you're out of luck. Also, while the drive will work with a USB1 port, it really wants a faster USB2 port.

To easily transfer video, there's a "transfer" button on the drive that initiates the entire process. Simply press the button and a wizard appears on your PC and walks you through the process of designating a duration, and it prompts you to start your video and begin recording. This transfer function simplifies a process that can be confusing to novices.

The dc5000 drive does not write video to a DVD disc in real time as it captures video. It converts and records the video to a PC's hard drive, and once the video capture is complete, it writes to the DVD disc, which takes awhile. A general rule of thumb, you'll need about 2.5 GB of hard drive space for each hour of video that you record.

The drive comes with decent software. The Muvee autoProducer program offers basic video-editing features and automatically edits video in various styles to resemble those from music videos and more. The more useful ArcSoft ShowBiz Editor offers traditional, low-end video-editing features.

The dc5000 does make the somewhat complicated process of capturing video and writing it to a DVD disc easier. In use, however, we encountered some problems when the drive would write to a disc and then kick out of the process, rendering the disc useless. In our testing, the drive was a bit touchy. And while the cost of blank DVD discs continues to come down, we hate tossing ruined fifty-cent discs into the trash. If you consider purchasing the HP Movie Writer dc5000, we hope that you encounter fewer problems than we did.

Wayne N. Kawamoto
Managing Editor, Daytrum

video-editing - HP DVD Movie Writer dc5000