Page 1 of Recommend me an DVD player with Hard drive.

I suppose you`d call it an all in one system.
But which one?

Unless you want a cheap nasty supermarket brand I would go for Pioneer.

They are full featured and very reliable.

Whatever you do,dont get one that relies purely on the DVD+ system for dvd recording

I`ve had a LiteOn DVD recorder for a few years now. It has DVD+ and DVD- recording. Apart from a couple of early tries I ALWAYS record with DVD+. Given that almost all DVD players and recorders these days PLAY both formats, what is the advantage of being able to record in both? Isn`t that just paying extra for something that will never be used, or am I missing something?

i find -r discs far more compatable, even now. & tbh, -r discs are much more popular ie, i have 2 local pc shops both sell -r, neither sell +r.

i`m not knocking the format, i`ve used +r`s for archiving xvids etc & never had a problem, but -r`s seem more plentyfull.

but as you can get players that record to both for around the same as the single media type, why wouldn`t you just get one that does both :/

& btw, liteon are no longer making set top dvd recorders, aparently they pulled out of the market around xmas time, which is a shame, becuase the one i got from tesco`s is very good, esp since it records all media types (except the excellent but undersupported ram system) & can play mp4/xvids, all for £60........ only gripe being the horrendous remote controll. but as nostalgia says, if you want a brand name, go for panasonic, they are generally extremely high quality & practicaly bullet proof.

EDIT= better mention, the cheapie recorder i got from tesco is not a Hard disc model :)

This item was edited on Friday, 11th May 2007, 17:36

Hi to TheOgster

I`m not saying you are wrong but are you sure about LiteOn having pulled out of the set top DVD recorders? I thought that was a large part of what they did, and looking at http://www.liteonit.eu/ they seem to still list quite a few models. Can you point me to a news item on it? I`d be very dissapointed as well if this is true!

Cheers

Liteon announced their withdrawl from set top recorder production.

It was said that this was due to the high number of problems with their recorders.

If you get Pioneer or Panasonic they also write to both + and - so you can take your pick

Hi to TheOgster

I`m not saying you are wrong but are you sure about LiteOn having pulled out of the set top DVD recorders? I thought that was a large part of what they did,

in a word, no, mainly becuase i was told about from a very reliable source (bidden-sue, who is a mod on a large liteon forum, & used to be a regular contributor here) but i wouldn`t expect to see liteon stuff disapear anytime soon, as they are still the largest producer of dvd writers in the world (pc writers) so i would imagine they have huge stocks of recorders as yet unsold, but i`m led to believe there will be no new set top recorders made or designed by liteon. but as the company is obviously going to continue trading, any warrenty/customer support should be unchanged, i personaly wouldn`t have a problem buying another, provided it was appropriately priced.

Remember the Panasonic records in LP mode at much higher quality than any other recorder.
So you can get more high quality recording on one disc with Panasonic.

MANCHESTER UNITED PREMIERSHIP CHAMPIONS - FERGIE 9 - LIVERPOOL 0

Pioneer recorders also use the improved quality at low recording levels that Panny do.

As a bonus Pioneer also record to dual layer discs (only dvd- IIRC)

i just went into asda, they have a goodmans dvd recorder with built in 80gig drive for £110 :/ prices for this kind of stuff really are dropping fast....

BUT don`t think i`m recomending buying it, cos i`m not, because, A. it`s f*** ugly. & B. it`s a +rw only recorder. i`m just commenting on the price :D

oh, also as a point of interest, the cheapie liteon i got at xmas also records to dual layer discs :) (but only +r, iirc) but i`d still go for a panny, money allowing :)