It’s about 60 percent smaller in size, which is nice, but aside from that Sony’s new VRD-MC6 DVDirect looks and acts like the previous VRD-MC10 and VRD-MC5. It can take 1080i video with 5.1 audio from your Handycam’s drive or Memory Stick and shoot out an AVCHD DVD that plays back on compatible Blu-ray drives.

You can also bring in SD video over FireWire, composite, or USB to churn out regular DVDs with automatic chaptering and custom menu backgrounds, or you can just drop in an SD card full of photos and MP3s to create a slideshow. It will cost you $230 and ships in September.