Review: Storvision MiniVCR SV-1000 video recorder for PSP

While Sony's Playstation Portable (PSP) can play video stored on a Memory Stick, anyone who has tried to get this to work will testify to just how difficult it can be.

The Storvision MiniVCR presents an interesting non-computer-based alternative.

Slot your PSP’s Memory Stick into the front of the little unit, wire its inputs and outputs to your TV, satellite/freeview box or VCR and you can record straight to the card in PSP-friendly format, complete with the Playstation’s bizarre file-naming system.

It also takes Compact Flash cards and can perform a similar trick for video Ipods, PDAs and some mobile phones, although a PC may be required to transfer finished files to certain devices.

It’s illegal to make copies of copyright-protected material. Shop-bought DVDs will usually have Macrovision protection to prevent them from being re-recorded via the composite video connection the MiniVCR uses.

DVDs and VHS videos you’ve recorded yourself, live-to-air broadcasts and footage from your camcorder all work fine, though.

A range of resolution and quality settings are available for 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratio material.

Around 250 minutes of video can be recorded to a 1GB memory card at the lowest bit rate (384Kbits/sec). At higher bit rates, picture quality improves drastically.

The menus and settings are easy to navigate using the remote control unit.

Any jpeg photos and mp3/wma music files stored on memory cards can also be played back through a TV or hi-fi.

Since the transfer happens pretty much in real time, video recordings can take a while.

But for those who have been trying to capture, transcode and transfer TV, video and DVD recordings, the Storvision MiniVCR will come as a blessed relief.