Feedback on R2 purchase

[dbadave]

I'm just reporting back on some interesting findings.  I purchased the R2 ($149) from the company website on 7/18.  I found out about the MPEG4 R2 through google search because I was looking for something to capture video content onto Memory Stick Duo cards for my newly acquired PSP.  The R2 is the only game in town if you're looking to stay away from TV capture cards/software.  However, this isn't my first purchase into digital recording from a AV input source.  My Mustek PVR-A1 records ASF format files on SD/MMC card and includes a 2.5" color TFT screen.  Watching TV programs on it was passable but playback from widescreen DVD recordings was painfully tiny and ultimately worthless.

I must have read a good majority of the postings here and want to thank anyone who contributed with questions & answers as well as just passing along knowledge.  Because of the postings I knew well before receiving my UPS packages that I would need to update the firmware for the R2 & PSP before I started playing about.  My R2 arrived with v02.00.0013 already loaded (I don't even think that's downloadable yet) so I only needed to update my PSP from 2.01 to 2.71 and using my newly purchased SanDisk MS PRO Duo 2GB I can initally report that everything works as advertised.

I also offer a suggestion for those experiencing video quality issues that moving the tiny little box as far away from the TV/VCR (or any suspect interference source) that the cables will allow should improve the signal quality being recorded.