Liteon 5005 mini review (1 Viewer)

[Gregory Scott Bass]

I got this recorder last week frrom pcgoodies for 285 shipped

this recorder uses an LSI chipset which is generally regarded as the best available right now.

I ordered this because of the good price plus I liked its ability
to record in all formats, it does vcd,svcd,dvd-r,rw, dvd+r,+rw and will record audio to cd-r using cd pcm format

I have now recorded on all formats and all have worked great

The menu is very intuitive...much more user friendly than cyberhome....its a graphical menu with each selection moving you forward to the recording stage....once this is set up once with the disc inserted then it has a otr button also

build quality is good but the unit is extremely light. it's nice but I always prefer heavier construction.

Unit runs very cool( has fan) a previous gen unit called the 5001 ran hot...this has been corrected

there is a hacked firmware available on the net that turns off macrovision and enables a 3 hour record option. soon as I got it I upgrade with this firmware ...it worked great and actually made an improvement in the pass through pic on the tv. Initially I thought the guide from directv looked jumpy when passed through the 5005, however as soon as I disabled macrovision it cleared up.....my guess is a problem with liteon's implementation of macrovision.....something to consider if you are not planning on disabling it.

recorded along came polly from dvd in three hour mode to dvd+r, worked great
maybe just a notch below 2 hour recording but still excellent. no macrovision problems

I also have recorded lots of movies from showtime and cinemax on dvd-r...they are all excellent but the 2 hr recording mode is fantastic. if a movie runs longer than 2 then you use the three hour mode....it would be nice to have variable bit rates for these so you could actually enter the amount of time you want to record...I think some more expensive recorders give you this option.
to give you an idea of quality
1 hour mode is transparent
2 hour mode...still transparent
3 hour mode...similar to svhs..maybe a little better
4 hour mode...vhs(havnt tried)read this
6 hour mode....not good(havnt tried)read this

SVcd...looks alot like three hour mode approx 38 min fit on a cdr
vcd (approx 68 min) looks like a worn vhs tape to me...watchable though...I recorded 60 min(the show) on a cdr in vcd mode and watched it on my laptop tonight at work....I will probably use this again for throw away shows I would like to see but not keep.

units built in tuner is mono...
I record from directv so mono tuner not an issue for me. if you are planning on using the built in tuner you should be aware of this though.

Also of note, this unit records audio for dvds and vcds in mpeg2(mpeg1 layer2) this is a spec in the dvd standards for pal machines, ac-3 is an option for pal and mpeg 2 is an option for ntsc. This scared me when I first found this out, but as it turns out all dvd players being sold support mpeg2
and many dvd editing programs only support mpeg2 audio so this ended up being a good thing. mpeg2 is also the standard for vcd and svcd which is another reason why all players support it. but just so you know mpeg2 is optional for manufactures of ntsc machines, they could stop...I doubt it but its possible.


recorded cd golden earring moontan....extremely excellent....would be hard pressed to tell the difference for the original....this has 24bit 192 ad/da converters and records in pcm so this is why. records as single track though unless you manually insert track breaks during recording.




conclusion...Excellent...if it continues to work as good as it does now then I have no regrets....its inexpensive , user friendly, macrovision free and I dont have to worry about which disc to use...it uses them all

 

[Gregory Scott Bass]

I got this recorder last week frrom pcgoodies for 285 shipped

this recorder uses an LSI chipset which is generally regarded as the best available right now.

I ordered this because of the good price plus I liked its ability
to record in all formats, it does vcd,svcd,dvd-r,rw, dvd+r,+rw and will record audio to cd-r using cd pcm format

I have now recorded on all formats and all have worked great

The menu is very intuitive...much more user friendly than cyberhome....its a graphical menu with each selection moving you forward to the recording stage....once this is set up once with the disc inserted then it has a otr button also

build quality is good but the unit is extremely light. it's nice but I always prefer heavier construction.

Unit runs very cool( has fan) a previous gen unit called the 5001 ran hot...this has been corrected

there is a hacked firmware available on the net that turns off macrovision and enables a 3 hour record option. soon as I got it I upgrade with this firmware ...it worked great and actually made an improvement in the pass through pic on the tv. Initially I thought the guide from directv looked jumpy when passed through the 5005, however as soon as I disabled macrovision it cleared up.....my guess is a problem with liteon's implementation of macrovision.....something to consider if you are not planning on disabling it.

recorded along came polly from dvd in three hour mode to dvd+r, worked great
maybe just a notch below 2 hour recording but still excellent. no macrovision problems

I also have recorded lots of movies from showtime and cinemax on dvd-r...they are all excellent but the 2 hr recording mode is fantastic. if a movie runs longer than 2 then you use the three hour mode....it would be nice to have variable bit rates for these so you could actually enter the amount of time you want to record...I think some more expensive recorders give you this option.
to give you an idea of quality
1 hour mode is transparent
2 hour mode...still transparent
3 hour mode...similar to svhs..maybe a little better
4 hour mode...vhs(havnt tried)read this
6 hour mode....not good(havnt tried)read this

SVcd...looks alot like three hour mode approx 38 min fit on a cdr
vcd (approx 68 min) looks like a worn vhs tape to me...watchable though...I recorded 60 min(the show) on a cdr in vcd mode and watched it on my laptop tonight at work....I will probably use this again for throw away shows I would like to see but not keep.

units built in tuner is mono...
I record from directv so mono tuner not an issue for me. if you are planning on using the built in tuner you should be aware of this though.

Also of note, this unit records audio for dvds and vcds in mpeg2(mpeg1 layer2) this is a spec in the dvd standards for pal machines, ac-3 is an option for pal and mpeg 2 is an option for ntsc. This scared me when I first found this out, but as it turns out all dvd players being sold support mpeg2
and many dvd editing programs only support mpeg2 audio so this ended up being a good thing. mpeg2 is also the standard for vcd and svcd which is another reason why all players support it. but just so you know mpeg2 is optional for manufactures of ntsc machines, they could stop...I doubt it but its possible.


recorded cd golden earring moontan....extremely excellent....would be hard pressed to tell the difference for the original....this has 24bit 192 ad/da converters and records in pcm so this is why. records as single track though unless you manually insert track breaks during recording.




conclusion...Excellent...if it continues to work as good as it does now then I have no regrets....its inexpensive , user friendly, macrovision free and I dont have to worry about which disc to use...it uses them all

 

[Steven_MB]

Greg:

Thanks for the review! I posted some questions on universal burners like this one a while ago, but it seems to have low very visibility. I've been tracking their company forum looking at q/a. I wanted the CD burner feature since I'd like to archive some of my old LP's. My plan is to wait until they do a dual layerd version and then buy one. Keep up the comments on your use.

Steve