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I purchased this product with the idea of converting my old camcorder tapes to DVD. This product was promoted as being "the next best thing to sliced bread" and so easy to use. Well I am here to tell you, it was a long and painful process to finally get the project completed and here is why:
The Showbiz software (used for the video editing) is mediocre at best and definitely has room for improvement. There is no instruction manual or resource available to guide you through editing for the first time. You are left to try and figure it out for yourself.
HP support was another huge frustration. In my first attempts to deal with HP support I called and try to trouble shoot the errors by phone. After being redirected to wrong departments (even different countries!) and being on hold for more than 2 hours at a time I decided to try the email method. I had better luck with that and also a way to document my correspondence. After they determined that it was something one of their Quality Customer Care reps would need to handle, I was assured that someone would call me. 3 weeks later and my multiple email reminder messages from me, still no phone call from HP. I was also getting no help (or even a single return phone call) from CompUSA where I originally purchased the product. Talk about feeling frustrated!
In the meantime, I upgraded my PC to USB2.0 and upgraded to 512MB RAM. I wanted to be sure my system wasn't causing the program (Showbiz) to fail. This didn't change anything...program still failed.
After 7 weeks and hours and hours of time spent trying to get this product to work, the problem was resolved by simply unchecking a box within the ShowBiz software. This setting is under Options / DVD Quality - uncheck the box that says ShowBiz Smart Rendering. Unfortunately, this box came checked by default (go figure!) when loading the software.
If this information can help anyone having the same headaches and frustrations I had in getting this product to work, I will be happy. This is really my goal in publishing my review of the Movie Writer. Once you get the DVD Movie Writer and software all figured out, it does work and accomplish what it set out to do. Since I am not a beginner with computers I was not expecting to endure the pain and suffering I experienced. However, I did learn that I will think twice before buying another HP product as well as buying anything from CompUSA (products are great, service stinks) in the future.
One more bit of info I wanted to pass along...HP has an updated driver available from their FTP site. I believe it is dated 10/31/03. This could help if you are using the prepackaged version and having trouble.
Good luck!!
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Early Adopters Pick: October 2003 The first DVD ReWritable Drive with built-in analog video capture lets you quickly and easily transfer home video directly from tape (via camcorder or VCR) to DVD. The HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 is an external DVD writer with built-in analog video capture. It lets you quickly and easily transfer home video directly from tape (via camcorder or VCR) to digital format on your PC and to DVD+R/+RW discs. It provides a full suite of software to enable video editing along with photo, music and data applications, and it lets you write and read CD-R and CD-RW discs as well as DVD+R/+RW. The DVD Movie Writer dc3000 lets you better preserve your family memories by easily transferring outdated VHS and other analog videotapes to DVD. HP created the DVD Movie Writer dc3000 as a simple tool to convert videotapes by combining the analog-to-digital conversion and video compression function with a full-fledged DVD writer. Connected to a desktop or notebook PC through either the USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port, the HP DVD Movie Writer transfers VHS or other analog tapes and creates digital negatives on long-lasting DVD+R/+RW discs. It can convert video from a variety of formats including VHS, Hi8, Digital 8, Mini DVD and BetaMax, as long as the appropriate format player connects to the Movie Writer. The DVD Movie Writer also functions as a standard DVD/CD writer to burn music, photos and data to CD and DVD backup program files. After the analog tapes are converted by the Movie Writer to the digital MPEG-2 format--the same format all commercially available DVDs are written to--consumers can edit and share their DVD masterpieces with friends and family. And, users can get as detailed as they want in editing their DVDs. The DVD Movie Writer comes with a number of video-editing software packages, including a full-suite editing package, ArcSoft ShowBiz 2, and MuVee autoProducer, a quick and easy video editing software. ArcSoft ShowBiz 2 lets consumers add or delete scenes, add music or special effects, or create slideshows set to music. Easy-to-use screens allow users to drag and drop video clips, digital photos and music files in either storyboard or simple timeline editing formats. MuVee autoProducer is a fun and easy editing software that quickly turns digital movies into music videos with a few clicks of a mouse. The HP DVD Movie Writer also comes with software to help save data, video or music on DVDs and CDs, including Veritas RecordNow and Simple Backup. SimpleBackup reliably backs up, protects and restores individual files or folders or helps restore an entire PC hard drive. Additionally, Cyberlink PowerDVD software makes it easy to play DVD movies on a PC. What's in the box HP dvd movie writer dc3000 external USB drive Software CD including electronic user's guide and integrated install softwareQuick start placementGetting help guideHow do I? GuideUSB cable Composite video/audio cable One blank DVD+RW disc and one blank DVD+R 4x hi-speed disc
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