Page 1 of dvd recorders

hi can anyone advise me please? i am about to buy a dvd recorder in the next few days, i have narrowed it down to three models pioneer dvr 220, panasonic dmr55, liteon 5006,i would use it for recording films off sky backing up non encrypted dvds and transfering vhs tapes to dvd. has anyone got one of these machines and how do you find them? i would be gratefull for any advice

The Panasonic E55 is the best value for money. It is the most reliable & has the best and most reliable re recording system IE DVD-RAM there is.

Oh, Geoffrey, you may not realise the hell you have just unleashed!!!

This forum is a great place-you will get great help and information, but this question is one which, if you look over the threads, will cause more divisions and bitch-fights than any other!!!

From a point of view of pure quality, then it`s the Panasonic-great quality, BUT it`s limited by the RAM system that is supposed to make it a big seller. RAM discs are playable on virtually nothing else but the machines they are created on-no DVD players will play them and very few DVD drives in PC`s will, either. That wouldn`t be so bad if the Panny wrote to standard -RW discs too, but it doesn`t. So before going for it, ask yourself whether you`ll want to play anything on other DVD``s in the house or whether you will want to loan discs to friends and family. If you do, then you will have to write it to a write once (i.e DVD-R) disc. It`s also not easily made into a multi region machine, so if this was also to be your prime DVD player too and you use anything other than region 0 or region 2 discs, you will have problems.

I`ve not yet seen it, never mind played with it, but the spec sheet on the 5006 is very impressive-writes to either + or -format discs and to CD-r`s too, and it also has the RGB input and Stereo tuner missing off it`s predecessor. I know a lot of people who have it`s predecessor-the 5005, and they have been very happy with it. There is quite a `community` built up around these recorders and you`ll find more help and firmware tweaks online for this brand than just about any other.

I can`t really comment on the Pioneer model at all as i`ve no experience of it, sorry.

Which one to buy...I`d have to see the Lite On 5006, but if it does what it says on the tin then I`d go for that.

Hi

I have the yamada 8000 but i was very inpressed by the liteon 5006 which has been shown on channel 22 on the set top box the last 2 nights [ cheaper at other places ].

bye

R.B

If you want a quality recorder and not a cheap one,write off the Liteon.It IS good value,but I believe it does not provide all the feature of + or - that are present on dedicated - or + recorders.
Out of the Pioneer or Panasonic I would go for Pioneer.As Emily describes above,RAM discs don`t play on other players.With the Pioneer ,which uses -RW,you can create a watch and wipe recording for watching on other players that you cannot edit,or you can use -RW for sophisticated editing that is as incompatible as RAM,although VR(editable) mode discs do play on Pioneer players and,strangely,current Panasonic recorders.

If you not bothered about RGB in, then I would recommend the Toshiba DRM10, which records in, -R, -RW & RAM.
It also has aFirewire- in port.

many thanks for all for your suggestions, just a few more points you experts could help me with. i thought rgb gave the best picture quality also when you press record do these recorders record instantly? like my old ferguson vcr so you do not miss the begining of a film you are recording, also do these recorders record in 5.1 sound when fed a 5.1 signal or do they just record in 2 channel stereo or dolby pro logic. many thanks in advance

Theoretically they start recording instantly (give or take a split second). As for 5.1 sound - nope, you only get bog standard 2.0 sound. If you want to back up DVDs, a standalone recorder is not your best option. You need a PC for that job.

J Mark Oates

thanks mark, i already back up my dvds on my pc and the movies i will be recording most would be old westerns off tv and will have been made with a mono soundtrack (the ones they show in the afternoons) so i will not be getting sky + for its 5.1 sound if i cannot record it onto dvd.you would have thought they would have made the recorders record 5.1, its like buying a £2,000 home cinema system and watching it on a black and white tv

The reason recorders don`t record in 5.1 is simply because most sources you`d plug into them only carry 2.0 sound (Pro Logic at best). Sky`s box will record a fully multiplexed digital signal with 5.1 sound internally, but if you want to run off a copy on to DVD, the signal will inevitably go through an analogue stage for both sound and vision. No kit available on the market has digital video outs, and similarly no recorders have digital audio ins. AFAIK.

J Mark Oates