Which is a "safer" bet: Going the DVD-R/RW route or +R/+RW route? (1 Viewer)

Hey folks, (Sorry for long post)

Totally wet behind the ears when it comes to Home DVD recorders, but my wife says the time may have come so that we can put all our home movies from my Hi8 camcorder onto DVD's. Oh and my sister said she'd like the same thing (have me transfer home videos to DVD)

The BIG question is do I choose a Panasonic E50 or one of the Philips??

I don't think I can go for the Hard Drive models, so let's just talk about the "basic" models here.

Does the Panny E50/60 offer a way to edit the camcorder movies and most important, allow me to create a table of contents and chapter search on the discs?

I see the Philips R75 has editing capbilities to make chapters etc.

Here's another point of confusion for me...Which foramt will be the "SAFEST" to own for compatability ? I realize some discs may have a harder time in some machines (brands), but reading various articles, I'm almost inclined to go with +R /RW because every article says it will play in almost EVERY DVD player vs. -R/RW which says is MAY work in many DVD players.

I just don't want to spend a bunch of time and money making family videos and finding out the disc is useless on their DVD player at home.

Does anyone have any direct experience with the above metioned topics..if so I'd love to hear from you.

Best Buy has a 24 Month No Interest deal this week so the Mrs. is 99% sold on me getting one this week.

Thanks for all your help!
Alfer

Why not get a dual format drive for the PC? Cheaper and more powerful. Thats what I did, got a Sony DRU-510 for under $300...

Thanks for the input so far....

Yes my overall goal is to replace my VCR as well as copy tapes etc.

Ah yes Scott...I overlooked that.

So am I correct in that if I use a DVD-RAM to copy say TV shows (and in turn erase it and re-record other shows to it) on the Panasonic, the DVD-RAM will only playback in the Panasonic DVD player OR a PC DVD drive...period? No swapping the dvd with friends to play on their home DVD players?

Keep the info coming,I appreciate it.

This is probably the most difficult HT purchase I've had..next to deciding on a big screen (way down the road).

Alf

DVD-RAM discs can be played in numerous brands of newer DVD players. All newer Panasonic players can play them, as well as some Toshiba models (I'm sure there are others, too). If you want to create a disc that is compatible with almost all DVD players out there, you can record using the DVD-R format on the Panny recorders. Also, DVD-R blank discs are cheaper than DVD-RAM, DVD-RW or DVD+RW blanks.

Since I want to archive all my old Hi8mm videos for playback on any type of player, I plan on using DVD-R as my recording format.

The different formats are definitely confusing.

Scott..

Do you know if you can you create chapters/ menus with just the E50 or E60?

I really need to have that feature to make the compilation DVD's for the family. (Divide disc into "Xmas 95" "Xmas 96" etc)

You can't do manual chaptering on the Panasonic, but you can just stop the recorder and start again for "X-mas 96" and it will record as a second "title" so when you're in the menu, you can go straight to the second title.

At least in Canada, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia, -R is cheaper than +R.

I personally prefer ther DVD-R/ DVD-RAM format of Panasonic. If you want to do effective editing on DVD-R, you need to get a model with a hard drive, otherwise you will be manually putting in stops while its recording. Not very effective, and if you mess up, you screwed. The E50 automatically inserts chapter stops every 5 minutes or so. When you hit the stop button during recording, it becomes a new Title. Hitting pause while recording creates no chapter stop, just a seamless edit.

I own a 50, and the main reason I got it was to dump my Laserdiscs, my Mystery Science Theater 3000 vhs recordings, and some home movies to DVD-R. So far, the quality has been great using TDK and Memorex DVD-R blanks. I have some Leda/Princo blanks coming tomorrow that I found at $85 for 100. Hopefully they'll work just as well, or Ill have a great new supply of beverage coasters.

Thanks for the info Ron.

I like the Philips features too. Again compatability with the family (and friends) DVD players is key to my decision.

I may need to just flip a coin, or buy it, try it, and if it doesn't do what I'd hoped, exchange it for another brand/model.

Thanks
Alf

I agree with Ron,
The 985 is a solid recorder with the latest engine & firmware that offers MP3 play & 6 hour record modes, You also get firewire & component inputs.
Two sets of component outputs one interlaced & the other progressive with Faroujdia fl2200 chipset for great playback. If you look around right now they are on clearance at $300-$350 at a national retailer.

In case you need media...

Check the forums at www.fatwallet.com and www.anandtech.com - go to the hot deals section of the forums and search on dvd blank media. They keep a pretty good list of teh cheapest places to buy media, espically in bulk. Hope it helps you get a decent price.

ANybody know anything about the Samsung DVD-R4000 that's at Best Buy for like $499?

Samsung's site doesn't list it (that I could find).

I'm open to pretty much anything that offers the best bang for the buck.

Alf

Ron,

The manual of my XP50 says that it will play DVD-Ram and DVD-R but not + or - RW. It does not mention DVD+R. Do you know if the XP50 will read DVD+R?

Thanks
Tom

Tom,

It won't according to a website I was just reading.


HERE

The Panasonic will play +R with no problem whatsoever. -RW/+RW, OTOH, very unpredictable.


Regarding the Samsung, their internals are Panasonic. However, due to my constant bad luck with Samsung, I'd stay away from any Samsung product. Make sure the unit you're buying is not RAM only, there is one Samsung DVD recorder that does RAM and nothing else.

I saw an article last month that said that Panasonic and -R have way over half of the domestic and global recorder market.

On the PC market, +R seems to be taking the lead. There are two distinct markets.

Both formats will be around for a long time.

I have spent many hours using a loaner Panasonic recorder and the picture quality is astounding...recordings of laserdiscs look better, in some ways, than the original.

Thanks for the input folks...still undecided, but getting close (the Best Buy offer ends this week)

One other nugget to throw out...what does anyone know about the Panny XP50? I see it go on Ebay for well under $300 and I'm considering maybe getting it as a second bedroom unit.

Since Alf plans to make DVD copies from an analog source (Hi8mm), he would also need a high quality analog video input in his PC to do this. When you add that cost (and the possible installation issues), a standalone deck makes a lot more sense. Add the ability to record TV programs (possibly requiring another card in the PC), and the standalone solution makes even more sense.

For $51.00 you can get leadtek tv2000xp which is also a capture card, and can record tv or fm radio like a tivo. You have much more editing power with a dual format pc($250.00) burner. I've transferred vhs, vhs-c , and 8mm no problem, adding chapter points where I wanted and there's no worry of relatives not being able to play the discs...

John

You may get better help over at the DVD-R forum www.dvdrhelp.com . Lots of good information there.

I think DVD-R is more compatible with DVD-Video hardware than +R.