Video Reviews

This is my second Denon receiver, my first was the AVR-2700. Both are awesome receivers but the AVR-5700 has the capability to use up to 7 speakers instead of 5 and puts out 140 watts per channel. This lets you switch from bipolar surrounds for movies to direct radiating rears for AC-3 or 5 channel stereo. The 5 channel stereo mode is simply unbelievable. If you like listening to music as well as movies, this is the receiver for you.

I picked up this receiver as an upgrade to my previous Denon receiver (the AVR-2500) which I had for almost 4 years. The reason I bought my first Denon receiver is the fact that 10 years ago, when I bought my first CD player (which just happened to be a Denon) I have never had a problem with it nor ever needed a tune-up. I did lots and lots of shopping around before purchasing this Denon, and found that it was the top of its class. 140 Watts per channel makes this Denon a real screamer. 5-Channel Stereo, all of us reviewers can rant and rave about this, but you have to hear it to believe it. It simply makes any CD so awesome that 2-Channel Stereo just doesn't cut it afterwards. Dolby Digital and DTS make this Denon so versatile for all movies. And we cannot forget to mention THX-Ultra Certified...simply put: the Best of the Best. It is even set up for upgrading to future formats (6th, 7th and 8th channel) This receiver, even though so complex on its inside, is so easy to set up. It practically walks you through everything with its on screen programming guide in nice, easy steps. One word of advice: after buying this, spend the extra bucks for the higher-end cables and hook-ups, they make a world of difference. The Denon AVR-5700 is for anyone who likes to just sit back and relax and listen to their favorite CD, and for anyone who likes to watch movies the way Hollywood wants us to see them: Big Loud Scary and Fun.

Unlike many units out there, this one stands out as ahead of its time - and even by todays standards, still a major contender. Like the Acura legend, the AVR 5700 remains legendary. Quality build, rock solid performance for the HT enthusiast. Musical performance is also decent, especially due to ALPHA 24 processing. I have never clipped the amps on this unit running full throttle - of course, you must use tone defeat in order to eliminate risk; with good source the sound is very clean and undistorted. I use 5700 to drive 5 full range Paradigm's and often with subwoofer off - low end reached 30hz; ended up purchasing a sunfire sub to reach bottom end of 18hz.
No regrets.

I stumbled across this thing in the Urban Outfitters magazine. Laughed it off.
Two months later, I bought one. Now it is an essential part of my gaming experience. Well, tv. as well. I make my girlfriend squeeze on it and watch "24."
If you wanna get sucked into the t.v further than you ever have by being engulfed in sound. I suggest you get this, and hook up external speakers. Get it before Halo 2 comes out, and you probably won't need to leave the house.

I saw this thing at CES and I have to admit feeling is believing. I laid down on this thing and forgot where I was for about a half an hour. The bass rumbles along with your controller and the sound is all around you. It was really cool for gaming and I bought one from amazon and i love it.

Face it, you're probably staring at this thing thinking- what the....
That's how I stumbled upon this piece of furniture, looking for computer speakers and randomly taken to the pyramat item. After reading the near perfect reviews, I decided to splurge a little (it was the end of the exam period- i deserved a toy). This thing is pretty amazing. Here's why if you have the money to buy this, you should:
1) Comfort: this thing is better than most pieces of funtiture in your house/dorm room right now. Forget the fact it has sorround sound built in, I'm talking about the material and comfort of it. All my friends who have used it have loved the comfort.
2) Sound: amazing. the built in speakers simulate a sorround sound effect very well. However, plug in 2 [bad] external speakers (for $... at any electronics store) and get real sorround sound. Pretty amazing, awesome to use for watching or listening to anything.
3) Customer Service: My first pyramat was actually busted. I called them up, no wait, talked to somebody in managment immediatly, they sent out a new pyramat the next day and set up a paid home pickup for my busted mat. Best service I've ever encountered.
4) Just plain cool. Your headrest is a subwoofer. You are sorrounded by sound. You can't really beat that.

Drawbacks:
-The 4inch sub could be more powerful, although its right next to your head, but it still could be a little more powerful without getting too dangerous.
-These aren't Altec Lansing speakers...but for the price for everything included you shouldn't expect them (nor are they too far off from the quality of the altec's I have on my computer)

So if you're looking for a fun new addition to wherever, seriously just buy this and check it out. For the price it's probably the best, most useful toy you will have bought in a while.

We just purchased this one and for our daughter's 4th birthday...and in less than a month she knows ALL her letter sounds....it is amazing!!!!!!!!!! This is the best one yet!!!!!!!!!!

I am on a mission to let every parent of a 5 or youger child to get these 2 videos. My boys learned the letters in just under a month....GREAT PRODUCT!!!!

I bought this after reading the reviews a little curious if my 3 year old would love it or not care. Well she loves it more than I would have thought possible for a video/game. I was very impressed that within a week she had her letters learned extremely well. She loves to sing the whole song to me and show me how well she knows the sounds of the whole alphabet. The thing that works so well with this product is that instead of teaching a is for apple and so forth they teach the sounds the letters make, and in a way the kids LOVE. Like with a the a is scared and says AAAH, R is an R race car that say the r sound, and with f the f's are learning to fly but have to say fffff to get off the ground. They connect actions with the sounds. It's brilliant and it works. The songs are cute, and its never boring that they watch and learn/play for a long time. They also reinforce by games after every 4 letters. This helps them to check if they are really learning.
I worried about someone's review that sad it would go through batteries like crazy. Totally not true. My kids play the letter factory and other games constantly on the thing and it usually lasts a least 2 weeks. Just put good batteries in it and its amazing.

I bought this remote about 2 years ago. I had a pretty good Home Theater setup, with all the components to go with it. After seeing reviews on Remote Central and other places, I decided to spring for the approximately $100+ cost of this device. It has worked flawlessly, controlling just about everything I have: DVD, Receiver, VCR, and TV.

The MX-500 fits the hand very well, has very tactile buttons that are easy to find, and has a pleasing blue backlite that shows all controls when needed. It even has the capability of adjusting the amount of time the light stays on! The LCD screen displays what component you are using, and has multiple pages for each device. The one minor gripe I have is the 'Enter' button is all the way at the bottom of the keyboard-kind of a strange spot for a button that gets so much use.

For my second TV in our bedroom, I purchased a Sony VL900 Universal for about half the price of the MX-500; thought I'd save some money (the original failed, of course). Big mistake! The Sony started losing button functions after just a few months. Should have bought another MX-500 to begin with. I will be doing that shortly.

For those in need, the MX-500 is just about as good as it gets. Ergonomically sound, easily visible, relatively easy to program, and very flexible, the MX-500 is the one Universal Remote I recommend over all others. Learn how to use it properly, and you won't be disappointed. The most important thing here is reliability - it works over the long haul.

Before buying the MX-500 I tried many remotes. I bought and returned the 1 for all Kameleon.(Far too confusing and not enough buttons.) I then bought and returned the Sony AV 3000. (Again, not enough buttons, no way to label those that are there properly and a touchy touch screen.) I then tried the Phillips Pronto at a dealer. My God - how many screens do you have to go through to find the one you need?

I finally started doing some research on the Internet and decided to try the MX-500. Every once in a great while someone hits upon a design that is so simple and elegant that you wonder why nobody ever thought of it before. The MX-500 is one of these classics. I won't go through all of the things it does so well which other reviewers have eloquently described except to say that I have been able to program every command from every remote I have in such a way that I am able to know which button does what and to access them all quickly. I can also, for example, go to the VCR device and control some necessary TV functions (such as changing the TV input) from the VCR device. And I don't have to guess which button to press because it's clearly labeled. In fact, the MX-500 is easier to use than some of the original remotes which it replaces since some of them had tiny or confusingly placed buttons.

The MX-500's display is crisp with excellent contrast even in dim room lighting. If you have even a dim lamp on anywhere in the room you will be able to read the display. I never use the backlight. In fact,if there's anything bad to say about the MX-500 it's that the backlight is useless except in very dark surroundings.

In short, I think this is the best universal remote AT ANY PRICE.

I too have this Remote. It's by far the best one I've ever owned. I won't just repeat what's been said already, just whole heartedly agree. I've had it a year and have my living room home theatre system wired! To get the most out of it, look into a simple Radio Shacke JP1 compatible remote to aid in discrete code programming this one. Check www.remotecentral.com for about all the information on this you can handle. Buy it GREAT current Amazon price of $90.

Hi everyone,
Each year around this time, your old friend Sam gets into high tech gear and explores the latest gadgets out there. This year I wanted to add big screen video to our bedroom to take advantage of watching more of the many, many DVD's I have amassed in the past few years. Why watch lousy TV programs when you can see a good feature and see it movie size?
Well, I had NO IDEA what a REVOLUTION has occurred in video processing technology at a price ANYONE can afford right now. Those of you who have seen my eight foot projected picture at home will appreciate what I am about to tell you....you can have close to that great quality for DVD's, Cable TV or High Definition, or other sources for only $999.99 and all you need do is go to Circuit City and buy the INFOCUS X1 projector. Infocus is one of the leading manufacturers of projectors for industrial use and their sets are now being tailored for home use. Their products use the DLP technology (Digital Light Producing) and the latest Texas Instruments chip. This baby is smaller than a typewriter (about 5 by 10 by 12) and weighs only six pounds. The bulb will last for up to FOUR THOUSAND hours and is relatively cheap to replace. The brightness and contrast specs are actually better than my two year old six thousand dollar Sharp XV-9000 projector. It has lower resolution than some higher priced machines, but still enough punch to make any DVD look great for picture sizes up to nine feet. It even has a small speaker and amp built in so you don't need to hook up a sound system, which is especially handy if you want to carry it out anywhere. It has a zoom lens that allows you to adjust picture size and a handy remote control that provides all the choices for any adjustments you need.
Right out of the box, and without making any adjustments, the picture on "Annie Get Your Gun" (an exceptional DVD!) looked beautiful. I hyped the brightness, color, and contrast a bit and was even more pleased. Truly, this projector is just unbelievable and it is a thrill to share this review of its great performance with you.
You don't even need a screen to enjoy the picture, as it will work on a white wall or even a sheet. A cheap screen will be better, however. Anyone with at least a five foot throw distance can enjoy this baby in a darkened room. I had mine about fifteen feet from the screen for an eight foot picture. Even with light on in the room, the picture can be enjoyed.
This projector was introduced at $1,600.00 and was recently lowered in price because a newer model is coming out next year...BUT the new model will not include the fine Faroudja processor that is built into the unit. This processor is great at cleaning up imperfections in video. Jagged edges, video noise, and more will be smoothed out.
As usual, I did much research into this and compared other models and read countless reviews to find the best bang for the buck right now. There are a few other models that average a couple hundred more and will probably give similar performance, but I don't think any other machine will come close for this price.
So, if a big beautiful video experience is what you have been waiting for....go get one and enjoy! Just hook up your cable box or an inexpensive DVD player and you are in business. BOTTOM LINE: People who are going out and buying those huge rear projection TV's that are heavy and take up a lot of room paid from two to three thousand dollars and sometimes much more. You can have a picture double their size, that will have no "burn in" problems, take up no space, and almost certainly will have a superior picture....for a third of the price. The projector also has a THREE year warranty.
I think Santa Claus came early this year...because it feels like Xmas here today!
best to all,
Sam

I purchased the X1 just before Christmas (delivery in 36 hours!) to be the video source for my Home Entertainment system. I use a computer to supply DVD input and for computer games. The Xbox and game Cube are connected through the s-video input. I am projecting on a 84 inch diagonal white screen. Viewing distance is about 11 feet.

DVD movies look perfect. There is no visible pixilation and blacks are close to true black (in film mode). Part of this is no doubt do to using a computer for the DVD input. I believe a direct s-video input may not be as good (I have not tried this though).

The video game systems also look great. Four player Halo on a big screen has to be seen to be believed.

I also have a TV tuner (Hauppage)in the computer and astonishingly, the TV image (at about 65 inch diagonal)is excellent.

The only reservation would be that the light output is not great (especially in film or video mode) so you need to use it in a room that can be fully blacked out.

The picture is much better than any rear projection HDTV's I have seen (of any size). For the money I doubt you could by a better picture for TV or DVD viewing.

The native resolution is SVGA so Text is slightly ragged, especially when displayed in XGA mode. Again due to the SVGA native resolution computer games do not look as good as on high resolution monitor. I would therefore not recommend the projector as your only computer monitor or for large amounts of web surfing.

Definitely recommended.

I am writing this, because i made my decision mainly over the others opinions and i will be very happy if i can help others with their decision. I am not an expert but i can tell you that i am very hapy with the result. My wife was very pesimistic about the idea of buying a projector but now she is also accept that result is impressive. This is my first projector and i don't think i need an upgrade for a while. I'am using it mainly for dvd. I have a 100" screen. Colours and contrast are very good but there are minor problems with dark scenes. If you want to use X1 during the day you have to have a light control because this is not a projector you can use it in a bright environment. Seting up X1 is easy. Component video is deffinitely giving the best result but s video is also not bad. For component video you have to use a special adaptor and it was difficult to find when ý bought the X1. If you can not find it you can use a VGA to 5BNC cable (like me). It can accept progressive signals but you should decide whether your source or the procector's video processing is better. X1 has a Faroudja video processing and it is very good. I know the rainbow isue is a problem with DLP projectors (Specialy projectors with 2X color wheel like X1). But i am at the lucky side. I have more than 300 hours on the lamp and neither me nor My wife or any of my friends see any rainbows yet. I think, if you don't see the rainbows you can not go wrong with this projector. Result is perfect for the price. I think this was the best 950$ i spend for my home theatre. PS: you can find lots of useful information about X1 at http://members.shaw.ca/technut/x1faq (unofficial X1 FQA page)

This camera has many unique features that make it perfect for the right person. First, it doesn't store pictures on memory cards like most cameras, it stores on floppies. This means you probably already have the "memory." When I first purchased this camera, that was great because 16 MB memory cards were expensive and if you were taking a lot of pictures, it could add up real quick. Now, 128 MB memory cards are cheap and will hold 100x the pictures a floppy will hold. That said, the picture quality is great for this class, and the zoom will astound you. A friend has this same camera and uses some passive flash units with it to create off-center flash lighting. The built-in flash is only good for a narrow distance range of about 10 ft. Much closer and it floods the subject, much further and it doesn't reach, but this is easily overcome, plus, you don't need a flash with this camera in many situations where a conventional camera would need one. The flippable lcd display will flip so it shows to the front and automatically flips the image so you can see the framed image when doing self-portraits. Includes auto or manual focus and f-stop modes. It also takes very short movies with sound. Optional optical viewfinder. Rechargeable Infolithium batteries operate well but buy at least one spare.

But with the new ones coming out, I felt a little outdated.
I definiteltly love the floppy disk feature of holding images. It makes life soooo much easier!
Whenever I ran outta discs, someone always had extra or I could easily buy them very cheap.

The only bad thing was the battery life was soooo short and towards the last few months Ive had nothing but disc errors and lost pics.

I finally upgraded to a new camera but I don't regret this one at all.

I've used this digital camera many times...it's very versatile in that not only does it take good pictures but, you also can use many accessories that a photographer would normally want to use on his or her slr, i.e. close-up lens attachments, filters etc., etc. The amazing thing is that after taking those wonderful pictures you eject the floppy disk and insert it directly into your computer and go to work. Most of my work is law enforcement and this camera has been a God sent tool. Other features such as image stablizing lens and flash, what else is need, just point and shot...go to work with your images. The best of luck with yours.

These MiniDV 3-pack tapes are good quality and at a price i couldn't beat anywhere. If you're looking for a MiniDV tape without memory at a reasonable price, get these.

I really like these tapes. The quality and care that they used in manufacturing these mini DV tapes definitely show. Each tape in this three pack is individually wrapped and labeled. On the front of the tape there is a yellow write protect switch. Each tape comes with a translucent tape case and labels for marking tapes with color codes and labels like "master", "copy" or "birthday". The front face of the tape is blank except for a few markings and the write protect switch. The top has: TDK logo, duration (SP 60/LP 90), format (mini DV digital video cassette) and the letters DVM60 in the top sticker area. The cassette is navy blue with a gray protective tape cover that covers the actual magnetic tape when not in use. The markings are silver and gold in color.

Whattya wanna know? They're tapes, they're priced well and they work in your mini-dv camcorder. Stop reading all these posts and buy em already!

After comparing the Creative Playworks DTT2500 with the Yamaha TSS1B and the Altec Lansing ADA890 for a 5.1 Dolby Digital system for the PS2; the DTT2500 was my choice. This compact desktop theater is very compatible with the Sony PS2, using the optical audio connector.

I also have a mono VCR connected to the line in 1/8" input using a single regular RCA cable with an attached stereo 1/8" adapter (mono 1/8" will not work). By setting the CMSS mode to Music and the Digital Surround mode to Digital In, it uses simulated surround sound well from a mono VCR/CableTV. This method uses all 6 speakers. Having a stereo VCR should give much better sound.

If you play audio CD's from the PS2, it is best to use CMSS mode at Stereo (Digital Surround mode automatically is disabled). This method only uses the main left & right speakers and subwoofer. Of course, you can play cd's with the same settings as my mono VCR and use all six speakers; the resulting sound will be expanded stereo.

The main purpose of the DTT2500 is for the PS2 games, and here it excels. Twisted Metal Black supports Dolby Surround, and Dead or Alive 2 Hardcore sounds great in simulated Dolby. I just hope that more games are made with Dolby. We can definitely hear effects that were nonexistent when formerly using the RF adapter from the PS2 to TV speakers. Just make sure that you have the CMSS turned off and Dolby switched on.

I have not yet used any DVD's, but it seems unlikely that any issues will arise.

The sound quality is good for a low power system. You can overcome the louder center channel by adjusting its volume lower and the surround speakers volume higher. I find that I must also run the subwoofer at a slightly lower than normal volume or it seems to have a "thump" (could be due to room charasterics). Due to the small size of the left and right speakers, you can notice the lack in upper bass frequencies. If you like extra deep bass, the DTT2500 does come with a line level subwoofer output that will connect to a powered subwoofer and can be used simultaneously.

Don't worry about not having a DTS decoder with the DTT2500. If you need to have it, then you need a larger, more power packed home theater system. The Dolby Digital 5.1 and Creative's Multi Speaker Surround (for simulated surround from mono/stereo sources) does the job just fine.

The control unit is easy to understand and figure out what settings work best for the type of input used. One setting does not work for all formats, tweak it for your personal needs. All the adjustments are easy to make.

Overall, its a great value enhancement for PS2 gamers; has good TV/VCR performance; and average audio CD sound. It missed out on 5 stars because I believe that the main left/right speakers should have been a 2way so it could include better upper bass response.

The Creative Labs PlayWorks 5.1 DTT2500 is a good system for anyone starting out a small home theater because it comes with everything you need for the audio aspect of your home theater as well as being incredibly simple to install and use. Out of the box, you will be able to get Dolby 5.1 sound from your favorite DVDs (though check the DVD to make sure of Dolby compatibility) without having to buy speakers (five are included, and a subwoofer) or a receiver (a receiver is not included, but a little box that basically acts as one is). There are several connection options that allow you to hook up your TV, DVD, PS2 or other video game systems, even your computer, to the sound system and the best part is that all the necessary cables are included (even the optical cable to get the most out of your PS2 audio).

It's hard to argue with the convenience of having everything in one simple box, but there are also some issues that may lessen your enjoyment of the system. For one, there is no DTS compatibility, it's Dolby or the highway in terms of high-end sound. Secondly, the speakers provided are not extremely powerful, the subwoofer in particular. There's certainly enough power in here for a bedroom or small living room, but if you're looking for an audio system that will absolutely blow your friends away and engulf your living room in Surround Sound, you may want to save your money and look into higher-end packages. Finally, the options can be somewhat confusing. There are many choices for audio output (Dolby, Stereo, Four-Point, etc.) that are not very well-explained, but a little tweaking with the system will definitely give you good results, it just takes the patience to figure out which sound settings work best with which inputs (TV, PS2, Computer, etc.). One final word of warning- very few video games utilize Dolby sound, so don't expect to be playing your games in Surround Sound (as I expected) because besides a few games like The Bouncer and Twisted Metal: Black on PS2, games do not support Dolby.

Yet the few minor complaints I have about the system do not hamper my enjoyment very much and I love to crank things up and enjoy great sound and I also loved not having to hunt down a bunch of different parts (receiver, speakers, subwoofer, cables, etc.) to put together a respectable home theater. Overall, I give this product an A- and I am a very satisfied customer.

These are simply a great pair of speakers!

Most modern television sets come with only two Audio/Video (front and back), and one S-Video connectors. So what do you do when your DVD player, satellite receiver, Playstation, TiVo, etc want those for themselves?

You can either move your television and plug/unplug whatever you're going to use at the time (which can drive you nuts, not to mention wear out your connectors), or just invest in one of these little things.

I love how simple the Recoton is. You just plug your stuff into the back of it (up to 4 different devices), then run another set of cables from the "out" jacks to the back of your TV. That's it! I've seen other little boxes that do the same thing for hundreds of dollars, and need electricity to work. A total waste of money, in my opinion. I keep my Recoton on top of my television set, and switch between each device with a push of a button now. No more having to deal with wires everywhere or moving the TV.

The Recoton doesn't come with extra cables to run from the back of it to your TV set, so if you don't have some spare A/V and S-Video cables around, be sure to get a set. I personally use the brand from Monster Cable, which has wonderful picture quality.

I'm a big video game head and I'm the proud owner of 4 systems. The "Mad Catz System Selector" was cool until I purchased a Sega Dreamcast & a Sony PS2 with the S-type connection. I own a big screen TV and I need big picture color quality. The Recoton offered that and more. I'm now able to switch between 3 video game consoles and my VCR without the constant "plug-unplug" headaches that goes on behind my TV. The price is very reasonable for anyone to buy or you can buy a new receiver with more S-type connections (not a wise investment).

Secondly this device is an audio switch as well. When video games get boring, this device is connected to my audio amp for easy access to my MP3 player, CD-recorder, portable CD player and tape player. The one thing that would make this device better is a REMOTE CONTROL so that my lazy butt wouldn't have to get off the sofa. Please get this device if you need it......get it anyway because you may end up needing it.

oNe

I needed to evaluate a new version of the MSN Web TV component that hitches up to a television/stereo system. All my S-Video and RCA inputs/outputs were already taken up by -- and daisy-chained through -- a digital-CD player, a stereo receiver, a satellite antenna box, a VCR, an older analog television, VCR, etc. I rummaged through electronic aisles at CompUSA and found this wonderful solution, inexpensive and sufficiently easy to hook up that no instructions are needed. I don't know what model I have -- it sounds exactly like what is described here but looks a little different, more modern. And it does the job. As digital and analog media increasingly fuse together into a home media center, older components are going to be lacking sufficient s-video and other video/stereo connections. The Recoton S-Video Switch saves the day! My only concern is that the four hook-ups may not be enough.

I think this is an exceptional solution to the problem many of us have with analog video tapes to convert. I originally bought this to use with my older, slower PC -- but I replaced my PC with a screamer (and USB 2.0 and Firewire) before I really got a chance to use this. So I can't tell you how well this box does in compensating for older, slower hard drives and a slower CPU.

However, with the new system, this box appears to my video editing software (Ulead VideoStudio 7) as a DV camera, so it's simple to edit.

The bad news is that all of my video cpature software ASSUMES this is a DV camera, so you get all sorts of spurious information onscreen -- like DV controls, or DV timecodes, etc.

If you are aware of the fact that those controls won't work, or that the timecode is meaningless, this unit works like a charm to capture your analog video, package it as DV and deliver it to your PC with little or no dropped frames and generally rock solid video/audio synch (BTW -- if the audio gets unsynched, the only guaranteed solution I've had is to restart the capture from a clean spot on the videotape -- no snow, no tracking errors).

Following my order of the ADVC-100 I found many disturbing things on the internet. Most users had difficulties capturing analog to MPEG2 for burning onto DVD. Don't let yourself be scared off. Fear mongers stating that the converter captures DV files which then have to be converted to MPEG2 aren't using the right interface software. The ADVC-100 is a stand alone external unit without a software suite of its own and relies on whatever captures software you choose. I could just be lucky but both My WinProducer and my Nero Burning software detect the device instantly and allow choices of AVI, DV or MPEG2 format for file capture.

Granted, having an external device may not be as convenient as a VIVO internal card, but compared to other external capture boxes the ADVC-100 is tiny and unobtrusive. Better yet, it's IEEE Firewire compliant as opposed to the 1.0 and 2.0 USB connections that for the most part fall short with frame droppings and miss-synced audio during capture.

If you're looking for a straight forward plug and play unit this is it. Just make sure that you have a capture card with Firewire input capabilities such as the Sound Blaster Audigy series before purchasing this product.

I must say this product is exactly as it says. I simply took it out of the package(Which I recieved in less than 24 hours with free shipping from Amazon.com) and plugged in the cables and went with it. It connected to Movie Maker 2 and I was off.
I definitely recomend this to ayone looking to put old vhs movies onto DVD's for safe storage.