DVD recorder question (1 Viewer)

[bigjohn]

Hi all

I'm a little behind on the times and it's time to get caught up a bit. The DVD player in my wife's TV room finally died and I want to replace it with a DVD recorder. I just want to be able to burn a few things directly to DVD from time to time (mainly sports and a few news-type shows to view later). I want it on DVD for portability.

We have Timewarner Cable and the TV in that room does not have a cable box-- we're just running coaxial straight from the wall to the DVD player then from DVD player to TV. Now that DVD player is dead...can we do the same setup with a DVD recorder?

Any specific models you'd suggest without breaking the bank? Or if I'm shopping around, what should I look for?

Thanks!

 

[AudioENG]

Was your old unit a DVD/VCR combo unit? Since I can't imagine the coax went from the wall to the DVD player if it wasn't.

My brother has a Sony recorder. Seems to work great for what he wants. He is using it similar to how you want, just for some basic tv channels and without a cable box. It's an easy setup and has plenty of features. I'm sure most are pretty comparable, is there any specific features you are looking for? It might be nice to get one that has dual layer capability for more space on one disc.

 

[MitsuruX]

We actually have a great Sony DVD Recorder/VCR combo unit that also does a really great job of upscaling regular DVDs. I would have to look up the model numbers... but it does not have coax connections... so in order to record we had to use one of the extra outs on our cable/DVR box..

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The biggest problem I have encountered with DVD recorders has been durability. The only one I have ever owned that lasted for more than a year and could still burn discs playable on most other DVD players was a Panasonic DMR-EA18K. It is a 1080p upscaling tunerless recorder, so for your purposes, you would have to buy the next model up with a built-in tuner. It is sometimes a little finicky about discs burned in other recorders or computers, but has otherwise been an iron horse.

I have not tried a Sony recorder yet, mostly because the one that was comparable in price and features to the Panasonic I purchased did not have an "s-video in" jack on the back panel. My experience with a Samsung recorder was awful. In less than a year it deteriorated to the point where it not only could not burn a disc playable on any other DVD player, but it even had trouble playing pressed dual layer discs without freezing.

Regards,