Others say...

"vegas studio is for those who need more than a slideshow"
purchased Vegas Studio hoping to do better than an an average home video.
It has lots of features some of which can be complicated if you're not into video productions. But, It is better than some other products I have like (roxio, pinnacle, and ulead)! But its not up there with Adobe premiere either. Once you get over the how to's and navigate through the other settings its worth the money..

"Awful!!!"
Vegas Movie Studio 8

I have not been able to use it on my Panasonic HDD Camcorder because it is incompatible!!! I spent hours and hours on Sony's Support site trading e-mails with tech support and their final analysis was that I should spend more money to buy their "Pro" edition because this software is incompatible with my new camera. YEAH!!! RIGHT!!! I am not about to Sony another penny!!! Their product is useless and they will not refund my money. DO NOT SPEND YOUR MONEY ON SONY PRODUCTS!!!!

"This Vegas Is No Gamble! "
I'm starting a small business and took a gamble that Vegas would provide the tools I needed to create DVD based tutorials for the educational kits we're producing. The software has exceeded my expectations by any measurement and after what must be hundreds of hours now of video capture, editing, and DVD production I've yet to experience a single crash or disappointment with Vegas on my Gateway Windows Vista computer. I certainly can't say the same for any of the past video editing products I've used including software by Pinnacle, Nero, and Adobe. None have come within even a mile of the combined feature set, depth, speed, and stability of Sony Vegas. I'm still shaking my head about the near-perfection of this product - especially since I got the software for free after rebate! But even at its Amazon retail price here? Vegas offers an unbelievable video production bang for your buck.

That being said, this also isn't software for the faint of heart and were it not for the comparable pricing of competitive products I'd hesitate to even put it in the consumer-class level of other video editing and DVD production software - simply because of the rich feature set and options it offers. For the person who just wants to produce family or vacation videos? Vegas may be just too much to handle. Its options have options that even have more options. That's excellent for those of us who want to tweak this, that, and the other on our videos before we burn to DVD but it's my perception the average consumer might feel overwhelmed by both that flexibility and the myriad of options offered through the sleek Vegas editing interface. We're talking option button city here! On the other hand, if you are new to video editing? Get ready for an education - and Sony does another excellent job of providing just that through its built in "How Do I?" tutorials and comprehensive help files. So if you have the patience to step through the tutorials and not be afraid to elevate your video production vocabulary to new levels? I'm confident that you'll find your time spent learning Vegas well worth your while.

If you've had some past experience editing videos? Then I think you'll slide into the Vegas way of doing things quickly and become bowled over like I was by what the software has to offer.

It truly is the best software purchase I've made in the past twenty years .

Sony Vegas is in a class all its own.