Page 1 of CHEAP DVD RECORDER ADVICE

Looking around at the bottom end of DVD recorders to transfer all my 8mm camcorder clips on to DVD. Have around 80 hours worth on a mixture of VHS and original 8mm camcorder tape so it looks like being a few weekends work.

See Amazon have this model but not sure if it is multi-region, can anyone confirm ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000DZBNH/ref=sr_aps_electronics_1_2/026-5226287-3073250?tag=myrev09-21

Have tried a friends Sainsburys MICO but whilst this does a job, it just looks damn ugly.

Quite like the look of this one at Unbeatable but their is no spec or reviews anywhere
http://www.unbeatable.co.uk/CatalogueItem_16463.html

Anyone offer some assistance?

This item was edited on Wednesday, 17th March 2004, 09:12

All I can tell from LG`s website is that it records on the DVD-R/RW format and plays a number of formats, thats all it says.

You would think they would at least give more info than that for their own product.

I think the LG is quite a new model - which makes me think that even more so they should be providing as much information as possible.

In my opinion :p if you`re going to spend £229 on the LG,you`d be as well looking at the Panasonic DMR-E50 as well.
You`ll get one for that if you look around.
I agree with your dismissal of the Mico,and that Erion (whooooooo?) looks `iffy` as well.One of the Amazon reviews says to have to download some upgrade or other to get it working right.What do you do if you don`t have a home PC though ?!?!?
They are both +R as well.
I`m firmly in the -R camp myself,which the LG and Panasonic are.

Can`t find the panasonic below £280. Can you point in the right direction? Is this a multi-region player?

The Ellion model you mentioned from Amazon is actually described as `multi-region` on the page you provided the link for! ;)

I bought the Mico from Sainsbury`s and I have to say it has served me well. It`s a basic machine which does exactly what I want it to do. Like bowfer says, if you`ve got £229 to spend then a more feature-rich machine can be yours.

As for whether to go for +R or -R, I use +R all the time, even in my dual-format DVD burner and have encountered nothing which suggests one is better than the other.

www.krishav.co.uk are doing the Panasonic E50 for £249.95 multiregion.
I`ve seen it cheaper than that, but R2 only.
Phillips seem to be the only `well known` brand using +R,and there`s plenty of bad reviews for their machines !
-R seems to be the chosen format for the `quality` manufacturers such as JVC,Sony,Panasonic and LG ( LG are a very good manufacturer ).

The LG may be dual format?New models later this year will be....... see here

Loads of cheap recorders coming later this year see here
most will be DVD+RW.

The Ellion can be made multiregion........"The machine is multiregion but it may not have been enabled on your machine. Simply remove cd from the drive press 7,7,0 on the remote and the machine is set to all regions enabled. All 7,7,2 for region 2 etc"..taken from Amazon page

Anyone know why `budget` manufacturers seem to be going for +R, yet higher end stuff is all -R ?
It`s all very confusing... :/

More evidence that LG`s are dual format....... here

A couple of lists of cheap DVD+RW recorders in the pipeline.......

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Overview.asp?mid=8&sid=9

and here

Also it`s likely that the Mustek and Grundig recorders in Currys/Dixons will fall in price soon from £249 and £269 respectively....the Grundig had been up for sale at £199 before Xmas but with only limited stock available.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 17th March 2004, 17:51