Doug Taylor

I'm buying a 40" Sony direct view XBR and want to add a DVD Recorder. Which do you recommend? I'm considering the Philips DVD R985 or the Panasonic DMR HS2.

Thank you

DBT

MikeRP

I just bought the Pioneer Elite 7000. I have 30 days to take it back and I'm really studying its capabilities.

So, maybe we can help each other out.

I did some research on e-bay with owners there and all are very satisfied.

So.............

Matthew D

I also would like to purchase a DVD recorder to replace my aging VCR.

But I have read about reliability problems with both Philips and Panasonic.

And I cannot stand Panasonic's stingy 90 day labor warranty.

So I am going to wait a while until some other manufacturers get aboard the DVD recorder bandwagon.

Marvin

Aren't there also format/compatibility issues with DVD recorders to consider? DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RAM, whatever.

Doug Taylor

I haven't actually thought through all the format issues, although I know they exist. The Philips and Pioneer have the widest format range and, for that reason, I'm leaning toward them.

With the quality issues raised in this thread it makes me think the Pioneer is probably the way to go.

Thanks to all and keep the advice coming.

DBT

Matthew D

Doug:

I would stay away from Philips.

Look at all the negative reviews of their CD recorders at audioreview.com! I doubt if their DVD recorders are any better.

I would also like to hear from owners of the Pioneer and what it costs compared to the $400 or so for the Panasonic.

Doug Taylor

Thanks again for all the advice. At this point, I think I've eliminated the Philips and will choose between the other two.

DBT

Ernest

I have two DVD-R / DVD-RAM recorders, a Samsung R3000 and a Panasonic E30 and are very happy with both of them. As far as compatability goes DVD-R is most compatable with DVD players. Whatever manufacturer you decide on make sure the recorder records to DVD-R. DVD-R's are also the least expensive blank media with costs ranging from as low as $0.69 to $4.00. On average I spend $1.00 per blank.

The recorders are reliable it is the DVD-R blanks that are unreliable. I have done alot or recording from converting my VHS, SVHS and laserdisc library to DVD-R and from DirecTV. I recently tried a new brand of R's and the Panasonic hated them. Luckliy they record fine on the Samsung.

I recently recorded Children of Dune, Napoleon and Helen of Try with excellent results. RAM offers some excellent editing features. After recording the three movies on RAM I used their "shorten segment" progam to flag all the commercials and record onto a DVD-R. The results were excellent.

The Samsung and Panasonic recorders both use variable bit recording. The incoming signal is recorded to a hard drive so the software can determine the proper bit rate. This makes for an excellent recording scene by scene. The recorders also employ "Flexible Recording" which provides the highest bit rate for the recording time. You would not want to record a movie 2:10 minutes long using a 3 hour fixed recording time.

Worldwide Panasonic is #1 controlling over 50% of the DVD recorder market. They are very agressive and make an excellent product. They just introduced their fourth generation recorder, the E50, that is selling for under $400.00. I can say from experience both Panasonic and Samsung make an excellent recorders. Good luck.

andrew markworthy

I've got the Panasonic E50, and it's excellent. I've now recorded about 30 discs on 'standard play' (gives 2 hours of recording per disc) and unless you sit about 2 inches from the screen, you cannot tell the difference between the recording and the original. Recordings on 'flexible recording' as Ernest has described in his excellent post are even better.

In the UK at least, the E50 is current one of the the cheapest on the market, and I'd say get as cheap as possible, then you won't worry so much about upgrading it as newer (and inevitably cheaper and better) recorders come along.

A word on formats - nearly all recorders offer two recording formats. My Panasonic has DVD-RAM (fantastic quality, reusable - and incompatible with nearly all other makes) and DVD-R (once formatted the discs can be used with a large range of other machines - my Sony and my parents' ageing Panasonic DVD players both play them without problems). I'd personally make sure that at least one of the recording media is widely compatible, otherwise your library of recorded DVDs is going to be useless when you change machines (think Betamax).

It's also worth noting that one or two (more expensive) machines have a hard disc recorder as well (basically like having a Tivo recorder *and* DVD recorder in one box). I've no need for this because I have a Sky+ box (only available in the UK, but basically like Tivo). However, I've got to say that the hard disc recorder is a superb idea. Not least, you can record a fair amount of stuff onto the hard disc (about 20 hours on my machine) in perfect quality (the disc records direct from the digital feed on the Sky+) and then recording on to the DVD-R is a rather more controlled affair than trying to record 'live'.

Incidentally, Ernest, I've tried my machine on about 5 different types of DVD-R and found no difference in quality or reliability. The cheapest (in the UK about a pound each, for which you guys in the States can probably buy a warehouse-full of discs, no doubt) unknown/unlabelled brands seem to work just as well as the most expensive big name brands. Maybe I've just been lucky.

Jeff Adams

Isn't there some new Pioneer dvd recorders getting ready to come out?

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