Page 1 of What sort of DVD Recorder will I need ?

Considering purchasing a DVD recorder now that the prices are coming down. But I need some basic advise as to what I should be looking for.

For day to day recording I will stick to my VCR (Boo Hiss), but as I only have freeview and not SKY I am not desperate to record films etc onto DVD (yet).

What I do see me using a DVD recorder for is the following:
Maybe recording DVD`s from a DVD player.
Planning to move old VHS tapes onto DVD to take up less storage space.

I know that the quality of VHS will be poor, but I just want to use up less space to save all my old memories,

Will DVD`s be able to store upto 8 hours of tape (E240 x LP) ?
Can I create `menu`s` on the DVD`s to go directly to sections on the DVD ?
Will all this be easier (or only available) with a DVD recorder with a hard drive ?
Will the DVD copying (back-up) be easy from a Player to a Recorder ?
Will I need special leads to connect my VCR (non-digital) to the recorder to enable the back-up of the VHS`s ?.

Thank you

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Will DVD`s be able to store upto 8 hours of tape (E240 x LP) ?
6 Hours at lowest quality setting, 1 hour at best

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Can I create `menu`s` on the DVD`s to go directly to sections on the DVD ?
You will need to edit & create this on a PC, however there will be a "menu" of recordings that you can title to your satisfaction, against the "Splash" screen of the recorder.

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Will all this be easier (or only available) with a DVD recorder with a hard drive ?
Editing of the content will be easier before burning to DVD if recorded to HDD first, also has the advantage of "Timeslip" function for recording.

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Will the DVD copying (back-up) be easy from a Player to a Recorder ?
Yes if you are copying your own material or "backing up" copyrighted material that has no copy protection mechanism in place.

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Will I need special leads to connect my VCR (non-digital) to the recorder to enable the back-up of the VHS`s ?.
Yes if you are backing up copy protected material.



I quite like the Helpdesk people in a benevolent (as opposed to malevolent) way as they do some valuable work in preventing us being inundated by every halfwit who can work a phone.

This item was edited on Saturday, 4th June 2005, 22:23

Thank you Rassilon,

I am a bit suprised and annoyed that you can only record 1 hour of material at the highest quality. Is the `poor` quality as bad as it sounds ?.
My plan to convert VHS into DVD to save space seems to be dead in the water.

Do the `dual layer` DVD offer longer recording times ?, or am I showing my lack of knowledge here.

Can these DVD recorders do what PC`s can do (with correct software) of copying complete DVD`s, by that I mean all the menu`s and extra`s etc, or can they only record what they can see (what I am playing at the time) ?

I think I thought that these recorders were more advanced than they actually seem to be :(

Thanks

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you can only record 1 hour of material at the highest quality.

Thats as near to Sky\digital broadcast quality as you can get, which I am using on Saturday nights at 7pm. ;)

Most stuff THO records for me is usually on a 4 hour setting & the quality is more than sufficient, the 6 hour setting is still superior to a VCR IMO.

The recording will only be as good as the quality of your source material (a fact that I am well aware of as a large part of my off-air recordings are pretty unplayable (some of them are 13+ years though).

Theres no DL recorder on the market yet that I am aware off, though no doubt someone will correct me if there is, but its unlikely to be cheap. The next year or so will see battles between Blu-Ray & HDVD (increased capacity) formats.

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or can they only record what they can see (what I am playing at the time) ?

That would be correct, to make a complete "backup" of a DVD you should use a DVD burner & a copy of DVD Shrink. ;)



I quite like the Helpdesk people in a benevolent (as opposed to malevolent) way as they do some valuable work in preventing us being inundated by every halfwit who can work a phone.

I always record stuff in the 2hr mode, which gives excellent results. Whatever mode you record in, the finished result will be better than the equivalent VHS recording, and a straight copy from VHS will be indistinguishable from the original tape. (Even six-hour mode produces a more detailed image than VHS).

Just remember that you can`t add quality to an image, so a DVD copy won`t look any better than the VHS tape it`s mastered from.

DL standalone recorders are available at the top end of the market, but you pay through the nose for things like that (and HDD).

Being a cheapskate, I always try to do things without spending a lot of cash, and I`ve had excellent results for recording and remastering using a plain vanilla DVD Recorder (a CyberHome CH-750). I dupe the videotape to a master disc burned on the CyberHome, then import the VOB files into Ulead Movie Factory 4. I trim out adcaps using TMPGenc Plus, then author the whole shooting match along with new menus to a hard drive folder and burn to DVD+R with ImgToolBurn.

I`ve even killed on-screen station DOGS (like the UKGold one) using VirtualDub.

It`s amazing what you can do to video with a PC these days.

J Mark Oates

DVD-RAM recorders will record up to 18 hours* (useful if you want to record 2 weeks-worth of Neighbours while you`re on the beach :)) but the machines are going to be £300+. The added advantage of RAM is Timeslip, so that you can start watching a programme that you`re still recording and you can also Pause the Live action while recording.


*but I don`t know what the quality issues are with this, I`m sure someone else does...