General rate: Negative
As compelling as the Firestreamer-DV concept is, I doubt if I'd want it: - like all tape drives, it's linear - no random access - like earlier data-to-VHS schemes, it's still magnetic tape - possible data corruption due to dropouts, especially over time - too much wear and tear on an expensive DV camcorder or deck (I guess a $300 DV camcorder might work) - all your DV data archives are worthless without the Firestreamer software - a Firestreamer license will only work with one unique device - you cannot access your data on any other DV device - what happens if your Firestreamer-licensed device breaks or otherwise becomes unavailable? - though a MiniDV tape has more storage capacity than a blank 4.7GB (4.37GB actual) DVD, recordable DVDs are still cheaper per GB of storage