Should I get a DVD recorder? (1 Viewer)

[Anthony Chiu]

I have my eye on a few DVD recorders.

From what I'm seeing, I've pretty much narrowed it down to the Pioneer Elite 57H, the Panasonic E100, or the Sony GX7.

Can anyone offer any suggestions or opinions?

Has the DVD finally replaced the VHS recorder?

Can I finally record re-runs off Direct TV without any loss in quality?

Thanks

 

[Alf S]

I opted for the Philips DVDR 75 and haven't regretted it at all. I've recorded a lot of Hi-8 home videos and VHS stuff to DVD and it all looks great.

I also record a lot of stuff off my Directivo without any picture loss as long as I record in say the 2 or 2.5 hour mode. The 4 and 6 hour are good for recording say kids shows (I record Wiggles for our little girl off Disney channel and it still looks pretty darn good in the 4 hour mode recording.)

The recorder goes for under $380 these days. It includes Firewire and COMPONENT INPUTS.

I wouldn't blow all my money on the Sony since you get practically the same stuff as my Philips, but the Philips is a fraction of the cost.

Alfer

 

[Anthony Chiu]

Hmmm....Philips DVDR 75 ?

I didn't even consider that DVR.

What's life like without a HDD? Is it something you're wishing you had?

 

[Parker Clack]

I have the Sony and it does a great job. I have recorded from my ReplayTV and VHS tape with no problems. It will record DVD-RW/+RW/-R. There are some good prices on the unit available online.

Parker

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's always a good idea to search for existing threads on a topic. You'd be surprised how much information is already here. The following are just four of the 32 threads I pulled up by searching this forum for topics with "recorder" in the title:

DVD Recorder owners, are you loving your machines or...?

What dvd recorder should i get,panny e20, e 30, or something else?

Sony DVD Recorder RDR-GX7 anyone have it?

Panasonic DMR-80 DVD Recorder Help!

M.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

What's life like without a HDD? Is it something you're wishing you had?

I own a Panasonic E80 with a 80GB hard drive. After using this recorder for several months, I couldn't imagine using a recorder without this feature. The HD eliminates worries about defective media, allows for more flexible recording techniques, makes editing recorded material very simple, is a perfect alternative to a fee-based Tivo service for my limited timeshifting requirements, and allows me to easily make multiple copies of a recording.

 

[Alf S]

What's life like without a HDD? Is it something you're wishing you had?

I have a PC DVD burner so I didn't need to spend extra on a standalone recorder HD. SInce I have Tivo, I just record all my shows to it and then transfer them to the recorder. Easy and I'm more than willing to pay for the Tivo service since it is so darn handy!

PC DVD burners offer a lot more editing features and menu options than any HD standalone so you need to decide what's important to you.

I for one haven't had a need to do a bunch of editing ...Since the family wants 99.9% of what was on the VHS or Hi-8 video copied straight to DVD, there's been no need for me to worry about making a bunch of edits etc. I just record the video, pause, switch tape, record, and so on. You also end up spending double the time if you have to record to the HD, then turn around and record to DVD.

If you feel having a DVD recorder w/ HD is worth the $200+ extra, then by all means go for it, but just remember, you can now get a PC dvd burner for well under $200 which would offer a lot more flexability. Plus you can back up DVD's on the PC if you feel the need ( a feature I love and use a lot).

 

[Don_Berg]

I too use a PC for recording and burning. I don't need an expensive TIVO, I use an ATI All-In-Wonder RAdeon video card that has a built-in TV tuner and can capture and record shows to the PC's hard disk. ATI's MMC software can encode to DVD_compatible MPG2 format in realtime too. So I can later easily edit and author a DVDR/RW with other software without re-encoding.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

I own the Panasonic E-80 and enjoy it. I really like the hard drive and use that more than I do the recorder.

I would never want to go back to having no hard drive.

I also didnt want to pay for Tivo as well as a recorder, so this was a nice alternative.

Sure, not as wonderful as Tivo, but I didnt really need all the perks of Tivo anyways.

Certainly is better than using a VCR. At least IMO.

 

[Arthur Legardo]

It's was a recorder with a hard drive or nothing for me. Most media only based recorders only give you about 6 hours of recording time on a single disc. The recorders with the minimum 80GB hard drives can give you up to 106 hours! I went with a Panasonic E80.

 

[GreggB]

Does any one know when a DVDR/HDDR capable of recording HDTV will be available? My understanding is that even the recorders with component video in cannot record high def broadcast.

 

[Anthony Chiu]

I ended up going with the Sony GX7 WITHOUT the HDD.
I also "upgraded" my current Hughes Direct TV receiver to the "TIVO" unit.

Why? (may you ask) did I go this route?

Here's why:

First off, I already had the Full TIVO subscription as part of my premium package, so simply adding a new receiver was a 99.00 expense I can live with.

Second, I feel that the Sony offered my the chance to use my DV connection from my camcorder.

Third, I didn't feel the need for the HDD because of the TIVO unit. It may not be "top shelf", but it's a nice way to introduce myself to the technology.

Lastly, I realized that whatever unit(s) I purchase, will probably end up in another room before long. There's alot of newer technology just around the corner, and I can always keep the setup "as is" or split them up.

Also, for 650.00 ( for both), I can now put a little more $$$ into my speaker system....which can now be the Axiom Master system. I feel the Axiom are more of an investment (long term). The DVD issues will change practically overnight.

 

[Alf S]

Sony offered my the chance to use my DV connection from my camcorder.

Just an FYI for others looking for recorders...the $380 Philips DVDR75 offers this feature as well..and Component input as well as the +RW recording.

 

[Anthony Chiu]

Thanks, I was aware of that. However, the Sony seems to have that something "extra" when it came to dubbing old tapes. The few reviews that I read all mentioned how the Sony "cleaned up" their old tapes. This was of interest to me as a feature.
Maybe the Philips has everything the Sony has, but Sony made it their business to "put themselves out there". I guess alot has to do with marketing.

Anyway, first impressions of the Sony are very good. All recordings were excellent, with some some degradation at longer record times as expected.

 

[Don_Berg]

There won't be any HD-DVDs for years. But Zenith/LG has a HighDef hard disk recorder (PVR) coming out in January with 120GB hard disk and HD OTA/cable tuner.

 

[Alf S]

Sony made it their business to "put themselves out there". I guess alot has to do with marketing.

You got that right!, and that's why I guess they can charge almost $200 more than other players that offer the same features.

 

[Anthony Chiu]

Even though I just bought the Sony, there's a very good chance I'll upgrade to a unit with a HDD. I say this because....this evening, I was dubbing some old Hi8 tapes to DVD-R. Prior to recording, I reviewed the tapes. At that point, it would have been very convenient to have recorded these tapes to the HDD, with the intention of getting them on a DVD at a later date.
Instead, I had to rewind the tape, and watch the tape again, this time while recording.

I'm gonna go on record as saying that a HDD is a MUST.
That little "storage area" comes in handy.

 

[Alf S]

But since you say you have a PC DVD burner and DVD player (PC), you can record to +RW or -RW and use software to create better menus, edits etc. than any standalone could produce...why waste even more money when you have all you need at your fingertips with your PC?

 

[Don_Berg]

Yeah for that work I'd use a PC alone, save the $600 the standalone costs. Just use a PC TV tuner/video capture card like ATI's All-in-wonder card that includes software to encode in real time to DVD-compatible MPG2 format just like the standalones, it even can schedule recordings to the hard disk. You can then edit and author the recordings to a DVD-R/RW using TMPGenc DVD author software and burn it with Nero.

 

[Anthony Chiu]

I have the ATI all in Wonder card with a Sony 500 DCD burner. I found the "authoring" portion very time consuming, and quality was not the same as a direct dub from camera to the Sony DVD recorder. Of course, there's a very good chance that I'm not doing all this correctly.

The DVD recoder has a "one touch" feature that made life real easy for me.