DVD recorder

[Lugan]

Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.

In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand to
look for. What features are essential and which are not.

Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while looking
at the least expensive models?
Any advice would be appreciated.

[gumshoe]

Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.

In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand to
look for. What features are essential and which are not.

Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while looking
at the least expensive models?
Any advice would be appreciated.

I'm looking too, think must go for one with Hard Disk as burning DVD's all the time will drive you nuts. Hardly Normal have good deals going on Brand names but you might do better elsewhere. I wouldn't buy a cheapie, you get what you pay for.

[Venus]

Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.

In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand to
look for. What features are essential and which are not.

Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while looking
at the least expensive models?
Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a Panasonic E85H (with 80 gig hard drive) and I am very happy with it. It will accept an RGB signal (such as Fox digital or many STBs) and output YUV component. It also accepts S-video and composite (4 separate AV inputs). It is easy to record to the HDD, edit, then burn to DVD-R. Menus are good, and most functions are straight forward. I would have liked a firewire input for my video camera, but I can handle the S-video option instead. Some people comment on the inability to record to DVD-RW, but as I said, by using the HDD, and only burning what you want to keep, I haven't found this to be an issue. Don't pay RRP; I got mine for $1200 a few months ago; you should be able to do even better now.

[ßlaine]

Venus wrote:
> Lugan Wrote:
>
>>Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.
>>
>>In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand
>>to
>>look for. What features are essential and which are not.
>>
>>Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while
>>looking
>>at the least expensive models?
>>Any advice would be appreciated.
>
>
> I have a Panasonic E85H (with 80 gig hard drive) and I am very happy
> with it. It will accept an RGB signal (such as Fox digital or many
> STBs) and output YUV component. It also accepts S-video and composite
> (4 separate AV inputs). It is easy to record to the HDD, edit, then
> burn to DVD-R. Menus are good, and most functions are straight forward.
> I would have liked a firewire input for my video camera, but I can
> handle the S-video option instead. Some people comment on the inability
> to record to DVD-RW, but as I said, by using the HDD, and only burning
> what you want to keep, I haven't found this to be an issue. Don't pay
> RRP; I got mine for $1200 a few months ago; you should be able to do
> even better now.
>
>

and 80gb you've found to be enough? For me
I think it would be (maybe tape 10-15hrs pw)
and 80gb gives what..100 hrs?

[Trevor S]

"Lugan" <badvibes@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:EYdid.10053$K7.6512@news-server.bigpond.net.au:

> Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.
>
> In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand
> to look for. What features are essential and which are not.
>
> Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while
> looking at the least expensive models?
> Any advice would be appreciated.

Must have features is timesliping amd HDD.

I would caution you NOT to get a DVD only recorder (I have one, a Panny E30), they are IMO, a waste of money and time, especially a +RW recorder as they have no timeslipping.

If all you do is timeshift, you really have no need of a DVD recorder, this opens the market up considerably as you have a plethora of HDD based recorders to choose from.

Panasonic dominate, for good reason, ugly UI and shity manual aside they work well.

One caveat is the dvd/hdd recorders all have analogue tuners only, waiitng might be an idea if you really do want a dvd/hdd combo.

If I had to jump now, I would probably get a Topfield SDTV PVR

http://www.topfield-australia.com.au/product.asp?SKU=TF5000PVRT

with 120GB HDD amd twin tuners (asusming you have access to a DTV signal ) or if you have DTV and broadband, I would be getting one of these.

http://d1.com.au/hmc/index.html

I have a Panny E-30 DVD recorder and a Panny E-100 DVD HDD/DVD recorder. 80 GB is enough if you are happy with LP recordings (I am ) but the new 400GB Panny would certinaly allow some flexability if you where a TV addict :)

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10947060%5E15841%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

I archive < 1% of what I record and am archiving even less these days (only Dr Who now).

It's a point I have used often and been lambasted for it often :) but DVD recorders are dead before they gain momentum, stick with HDD, it really does open up a whole new world of TV IMO.

Best of luck in your decision.

--
Trevor S


"Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth."
-Albert Einstein

[Chris Runner]

I have a Panasonic E-50. Even though this does not have a hard drive, I
still find it good for timeshifting FTA digital and Foxtel via S-video. I
paid $870 over a year ago, and the never model can be had for a lot less
now.

IF I was buying one now I would probably get one with a hard drive, as at
times, such as the MAX 90's special this weekend, it is more convinient to
record continously then burn to disk, but then again this depends on your
usage.

I like the look of the Pioneer recorders now, because they produce a better
looking menu for DVD-R, have firewire IN and OUT, have progressive scan, and
have a 3 year warranty. If there is still stock, you can probably pick up
the 310 model for $499, which was what I saw them for a month ago. However
that is without the HDD.
"Lugan" <badvibes@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:EYdid.10053$K7.6512@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
> Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.
>
> In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand to
> look for. What features are essential and which are not.
>
> Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while looking
> at the least expensive models?
> Any advice would be appreciated.
>
>

[Venus]

Venus wrote:
> Lugan Wrote:
>
>>Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.
>>
>>In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand
>>to
>>look for. What features are essential and which are not.
>>
>>Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while
>>looking
>>at the least expensive models?
>>Any advice would be appreciated.
>
>
> I have a Panasonic E85H (with 80 gig hard drive) and I am very happy
> with it. It will accept an RGB signal (such as Fox digital or many
> STBs) and output YUV component. It also accepts S-video and composite
> (4 separate AV inputs). It is easy to record to the HDD, edit, then
> burn to DVD-R. Menus are good, and most functions are straight forward.
> I would have liked a firewire input for my video camera, but I can
> handle the S-video option instead. Some people comment on the inability
> to record to DVD-RW, but as I said, by using the HDD, and only burning
> what you want to keep, I haven't found this to be an issue. Don't pay
> RRP; I got mine for $1200 a few months ago; you should be able to do
> even better now.
>
>

and 80gb you've found to be enough? For me
I think it would be (maybe tape 10-15hrs pw)
and 80gb gives what..100 hrs?

I haven't had an issue with running out of space. I either watch and delete, or burn onto DVD-R. Of course the quality it's recorded at makes a difference in how much can be stored.

[SalesMart.com.au]

On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 23:37:08 GMT, "Lugan" <badvibes@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Time has come to put the old VCR to bed.
>
>In terms of DVD recordable, could anyone offer advice as to what brand to
>look for. What features are essential and which are not.
>
>Obviously one usually gets what one pays for but is it worth while looking
>at the least expensive models?
>Any advice would be appreciated.

First off, I do not sell DVD recorders so this is not a push for a
sale.

I own a Panasonic DMR-E30 DVD Recorder which I bought in April of
2003. I've recorded well over 2000 DVD-R through it.

I go from VHS to DVD-R using the flexable record mode which means if a
show is say 96 minutes long then I can set my recorder to record in
the best quality for that 96 minute burn.

The Panasonics use time slip which basically means you can be
recording a show you can watch the start of it while its still
recording. Personally I have never used time slip as all I do is go
from VHS to DVD-R.

Sometimes I use DVD-RAM but its very rare where I'll upload it to the
PC to edit out ads or re do the menu.

I know quite a few customers with various DVD recorders, some own a
few different models which they use for DVD Authoring and most prefer
the Panasonic range.

Here is what is available in Australia.

Panasonic DMR-E55 - basic model without a hard drive and maybe about
$700.

Panasonic DMR-E85 - this model has a 80Gb hard drive amd will burn
backing using 4X media at 4X speed so a 2 hour video on the hard drive
will burn back in 15 minutes which is 8X real time for dubbing.

Panasonic DMR-E100 this also has a 80Gb hard drive and has DV in.

The Panasonic DMR-E500 has a whopping 400Gb hard drive and does many
new things but at about $2500 to $3300 a bit expensive at present.

The grand daddy of the Panasonics is the E700 Dual Layer Blu Ray
recorder which is not likely to be released here. Already out in Japan
and the US. It records in digital amd analogue to Dual Layer Blu Ray
which is a 50Gb disc so holds 63 hours of TV quality video or 4.5
hours of digital quality video and also records to DVD-R and DVD-RAM
media. Something to look forward to in the next couple of years.

If my Panasonic DMR-E30 recorder was to fail I'd probable get the
Panasonic DMR-E55 or the Panasonic DMR-E85 for about $1100.

For me I'd always go the Panasonic line. Just love how easy they are
to use and the quality of play back.

The JVC units with the hard drive will record two shows at once.
Pioneer has some good recorders as well.

Suggest you see a few in action and then go from there.

Good luck.

SalesMart.com.au
Perth, Western Australia
http://www.salesmart.com.au
Email Contact info on the above site.