Women and Technology - How to Buy a DVD Recorder

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Sorry - just needed to let that out.   

Why, please please tell me why technology marketers just don't get it.   I lost an entire chunk of my weekend to a technology challenge.   Was it buying and self installing an entire home theater system?   Was it rewiring all the electronics in my house so I could turn on the coffee maker while sitting on the toilet?  Was it some other crazy involved technological project that you would expect to lose 37 hours of your life to?   

No.  I was simply bold enough to attempt to.......copy a DVD.

Yup, that's right - make a copy of a DVD.   37 hours and $300 later, I own a high end DVD burner, have DVD copying software on my computer, am as close as I think I'll ever come to being an expert on DVD's.    But I still do not have a copy of my DVD.

Now, right off the bat - let me tell you - this was NOT a copyright protected DVD.   

So, where did I go wrong?  But more importantly, where did the websites and offline stores (yes, I even stooped to going to brick and mortar electronic stores - three of whom who were so horrible if I name them I could get sued for slander)  go wrong. 

First - I wanted a DVD burner for my computer.   Yet almost every single website I went to did not specify if the DVD burner (or recorder) was designed for use with a computer or with a home entertainment system.

Would it be so friggin hard to state in your product description - "This DVD burner is designed for use with computers."    The only clue you have is if somewhere buried in the product specs they tell you what operating specs you need to have on your computer (though they never use the word computer) Sometimes it specifies PC, but what if I had a Mac?   In the rare chance they had a close up of the back, you could look to see what kind of jacks were there, but believe me, those were VERY rare.

Plus -is it designed to be an internal drive where you have to actually install it in your computer?  or does it have a USB cable where you simply attach it to your computer?

One of many priceless moments in my offline experience was when......

not one, but two of the electronic's store employees confidently and condescendingly explained to me that there was no such thing as DVD burners that would attach to your computer.

For the love of God.....I was online for almost 5 hours searching -they DO exist.  They have USB 2.0 connecters. Plus, you can also use an S-Video connection (though I didn't explore that too thoroughly, so don't quote me on it)  The ONLY reason I didn't order one online was the time crunch of a Monday morning return date of the DVD.  Even when I calmly explained this, both employees still disagreed with me.  Think I left either place with any confidence in the store or their staff?  Think I'll ever go back to those stores?   And I hate to sound sexist here, but if I were a guy would they have told me so boldly that I didn't know what the heck I was talking about? 

(note - talk about a keyword problem -these are often referred to as external DVD drives, but also as external DVD burners, but what if someone like me is typing in DVD recorder for computer?)

Second - After much research and many blank DVD's later, I realize there is a difference between DVD-R and DVD+R.    I wanted a DVD recorder that could handle both formats.  In the first electronics store, I told the sales person this is what I wanted.  She confidently showed me a DVD recorder that was DVD-R only.    I once again explained - no - I want one that's BOTH DVD-R and DVD+R.    All I got was a blank deer in headlights stare.  At least she was not condescending, but uninformed is almost as bad in my book.   

Third - I finally found a DVD recorder that handled both formats, but did NOT hook up to a computer.  So I asked - if I have another DVD player at home - can I copy one DVD to the other?   This was met with enthusiastic nods.   Yet when I got home and once again many efforts later, I realized, sadly, that this was NOT the case.  (once again - no encryption problems here. I was able to copy it to my computer without any problem, I just didn't have a way to burn it from my computer hard drive to a DVD)

PEOPLE!!!!!     Where is the website or sales person who can say -

"Oh, you'd like to buy a DVD recorder, terrific.   Do you want one that hooks up to your home entertainment system and TV?  OR do you want one to attach to your computer.  Here's one that can be installed into your computer itself, OR one that can attach to your computer.

OK, now.  What are your copying to DVD?   Are you transferring video from your video camera to DVD?  Do you want to record from your TV to DVD?  Do you want to transfer from VHS to DVD?  Do you want to back up computer files? Or do you want to make a DVD to DVD copy?"

Where is that wonderful, logical, helpful information?  Why aren't websites or sales people asking and answering these simple questions to drive you to the exact product you need?

Where is a website or a sales person who will say...

"By the way - I see you're about to spend an insane amount of money buying an 80-pack of blank DVD's - did you know those are DVD-R format?  Before you take your  hard earned money and flush it straight down the toilet, why don't you check your DVD source and recorder to make sure that's the right format."   

Where are these websites?  Where are these sales people?   

Yes, some websites (tigerdirect.com gets some credit) try to point out the DVD-R, DVD+R thing.    And they make a very very weak effort to explain burn speeds, but NOWHERE did I find anyone or any site who made the distinction between a DVD recorder for your computer vs. your home entertainment center.  NOWHERE did I find helpful information that helped you choose the product depending on what kind of DVD recording you wanted to do.

OK - I get pirating concerns, but there are encryption codes to protect against that.  So would it friggin kill you to just create a DVD player with two DVD's?  You insert the one you want to copy into one tray, you insert a blank DVD into the next tray, and you hit a button that says "record".   Remember the dual cassette players that did just that??   

I'm a woman.  I love technology.  I"m willing to do my homework so I can talk the talk.  I can have an intelligent conversation about burn speeds, DVD-R vs. DVD+R, I can even talk to you about Dual Layer DVD's.   I'm not asking you to talk down to me.   Women don't want to be talked down to.  All I'm asking is for some common sense guidance to help me choose the right product to meet my needs.

What questions are your customers asking?   Focus less on features and specs on more on how she will use your technology.  Answer those questions. Believe me, I will be your loyal customer and so will a few million of my best girlfriends.

Anyone need a tower of blank DVD-R's?

Comments

[Jenn]

Oy. I had roughly that experience recently. The lack of info makes me wonder if the whole industry is confused about what they can say/advise/put on a website without the FBI coming after them. It just has that feel of, "When in doubt, don't say anything - that way we can't be sued".

Or else they don't know their own technology. Maybe a little of both.

[Michele Miller]

Ah yes... it's a wonder electronics companies sell anything at all, isn't it? Imagine how frustrating it must be for those who don't know ANYTHING about high tech!

By the way, the next time you need to copy a DVD, I can recommend a free little software program called HandBrake. Lets you rip the DVD into your computer and then burn it to a blank... I know, I know... too late! :-)

[Juvis]

A DVD will not show available space, but it will still allow you to copy, plus once a sisseon is closed it will show up as zero space available, no matter how much you have actually used.Is the DVD/RW ? If so you may need to format it to use.Are you using a DVD drive and not just a CD drive, common mistake.Lastly it could simply be faulty DVD, does it have any scratches etc?