Question:
I've *still* not bought one yet, but with loads of new series about to start I'm seriously considering it. Especially since Odyssey 5 (which I liked) has been canned and will never see the light on DVD.
SO for those that have DVD recorders, are they cost effective? For example can you buy cheaply in bulk the discs from blankshop for example?
At what bitrate/speed would be the lowest you'd go for recording a TV series?
And which is the best (and cheapest) model out there at the moment?
Thanks
TKK
To be honest the price of discs is still way OTT. I'd go for a Yamaha hard disc recorder at £600 at the moment. And wait and see what happens with DVD.
I've got a hard disc recorder. I want a DVD recorder to archive stuff.
The discs didn't look that expensive at blankshop to be honest.
I've got the Panasonic recorder,use the FWS or Traxdata DVD-R discs from Blankdiscshop,around 90p each or less.
I've had excellent results recording RGB from a set top box in SP mode (up to 2hours per disc) ,personally I wouldn't go lower than that.
For most series I record 2 episodes per disc,so pretty cost effective.
You'd get equally good results with the Philips recorder,blanks are more expensive and less widely available though.
Thanks for the tip!! :)
Shame DVHS never cought on. I still use my JVC fantastic quality upto 21hrs on a svhs tape.
Anyhows have you heard of blue laser technology. Im quite excited about this as you can store over 20 gb to adisc instead of only the current 4.7gb using the current red technology recorders.
Just thought id mention this. Id love a dvd recorder but unfortunately Im frustrated at the small capacity the discs can hold on the quality setting.
I also have TIVO. I love the programming on it but I am frustrated at the quality of BEST setting. Why oh why cant it compare to the original source material like DVHS. (and no im not paying sly erm Sky another 10/month for sky+).
Let us know how you get on
Deks:thumbs:
I wanted DVHS to catch on as well. Shame it didn't.
I think blue ray will be good, but considering how cheap a couple of the current DVD recorders are I thought about getting one now, until Blue ray becomes affordable, by which time I'd buy one of those as well.:D
I'd still like one myself but i'm still saving for a Plasma TV! Hopefully by March they'll have come down yet again. Then all i'll have to do is make sure i'm not up for the next set of redundancies!!
Happy New Year
Deks
I've been looking at the Panasonic E30 and noticed it has quite a cool feature where you can decide how long you want the disc to be and it will allocate a suitable bitrate.
On average I'd probably want to make each disc about 2 hrs and 15 mins, just enough for your average flick or 3 eps of a series?
Anyone with this machine care to comment on this feature or what kind of quality I could expect picture wise from a two hour 15 minute disc.
Thanks
ALternatively I was looking at the Philips 880 which has a 2 hr 30 minute record length.
karate kid, currently evaluating dvd recorders the same as you.
remember if you go for the philips, it uses DVD+R, not the cheaper DVD-Rs mentioned off the Panasonic... so a cost difference straight off.
the time-slip/ play while recording on the panasonic is also a big plus to me.
I'm leaning in favour of the Panasonic, I have to say, because of the DVDRs.
I have the Panasonic. the time slip feature is excellent. I don't think the variable bitrate feature works on DVD-R's- I think it only works on DVD-RAMs.
the two hour SP mode gives best value/picture quality
Originally posted by craig1912
I don't think the variable bitrate feature works on DVD-R's- I think it only works on DVD-RAMs.
based on the avland specs, it implies that the variable bitrate is available on both...
http://www.avland.co.uk/panasonic/dmre30/index.htm
is this not correct then?
I don't see why it shouldn't work with DVDRs as well to be honest.
I've also been looking at this Pioneer model that comes out in Feb:
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr55/index.htm
Seems to have a similar spec to the Panasonic E30
There's also a 77 model that had a Hard drive, but I'm not after that.
I can confirm that flexible recording mode works on both DVD-R and DVD-RAM on the E30.
Those Pioneer HDD models have a pretty impressive spec ,wish I'd known those were on the way before I got my DMR-HS2 .
Great news!!!! Thanks Keith.
Keith whats better about their spec?
component output and progressive scan for starters... plus an 80gb harddrive instead of a 40MB.
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr77/index.htm
all conjecture until the price is known though... with pioneer's track record?
pscan might disappear from the list anyway.
Good point Martin, price isn't known yet. And My main reason for buying was the price drop.
Originally posted by MartinC
component output and progressive scan for starters... plus an 80gb harddrive instead of a 40MB.
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr77/index.htm
all conjecture until the price is known though... with pioneer's track record?
pscan might disappear from the list anyway.
Copying from HDD to DVD-R at up to X4 is also nice,I heard the non HDD model will retail for "around" £500.
IMHO the Panasonic HDD model is way over priced,you're paying a premium of £450 over the non HDD model,so I'd hope the Pioneer DVR77 is the same/cheaper.
I'm guessing that recording with the Hard drive is like setting the VCR, with a 30 minute live buffer or something. Will it have any other tricks do you think?
SO for those that have DVD recorders, are they cost effective? For example can you buy cheaply in bulk the discs from blankshop for example?
At what bitrate/speed would be the lowest you'd go for recording a TV series?
And which is the best (and cheapest) model out there at the moment?
Thanks
TKK
Answers:
To be honest the price of discs is still way OTT. I'd go for a Yamaha hard disc recorder at £600 at the moment. And wait and see what happens with DVD.
Answers:
I've got a hard disc recorder. I want a DVD recorder to archive stuff.
The discs didn't look that expensive at blankshop to be honest.
Answers:
I've got the Panasonic recorder,use the FWS or Traxdata DVD-R discs from Blankdiscshop,around 90p each or less.
I've had excellent results recording RGB from a set top box in SP mode (up to 2hours per disc) ,personally I wouldn't go lower than that.
For most series I record 2 episodes per disc,so pretty cost effective.
You'd get equally good results with the Philips recorder,blanks are more expensive and less widely available though.
Answers:
Thanks for the tip!! :)
Answers:
Shame DVHS never cought on. I still use my JVC fantastic quality upto 21hrs on a svhs tape.
Anyhows have you heard of blue laser technology. Im quite excited about this as you can store over 20 gb to adisc instead of only the current 4.7gb using the current red technology recorders.
Just thought id mention this. Id love a dvd recorder but unfortunately Im frustrated at the small capacity the discs can hold on the quality setting.
I also have TIVO. I love the programming on it but I am frustrated at the quality of BEST setting. Why oh why cant it compare to the original source material like DVHS. (and no im not paying sly erm Sky another 10/month for sky+).
Let us know how you get on
Deks:thumbs:
Answers:
I wanted DVHS to catch on as well. Shame it didn't.
I think blue ray will be good, but considering how cheap a couple of the current DVD recorders are I thought about getting one now, until Blue ray becomes affordable, by which time I'd buy one of those as well.:D
Answers:
I'd still like one myself but i'm still saving for a Plasma TV! Hopefully by March they'll have come down yet again. Then all i'll have to do is make sure i'm not up for the next set of redundancies!!
Happy New Year
Deks
Answers:
I've been looking at the Panasonic E30 and noticed it has quite a cool feature where you can decide how long you want the disc to be and it will allocate a suitable bitrate.
On average I'd probably want to make each disc about 2 hrs and 15 mins, just enough for your average flick or 3 eps of a series?
Anyone with this machine care to comment on this feature or what kind of quality I could expect picture wise from a two hour 15 minute disc.
Thanks
ALternatively I was looking at the Philips 880 which has a 2 hr 30 minute record length.
Answers:
karate kid, currently evaluating dvd recorders the same as you.
remember if you go for the philips, it uses DVD+R, not the cheaper DVD-Rs mentioned off the Panasonic... so a cost difference straight off.
the time-slip/ play while recording on the panasonic is also a big plus to me.
Answers:
I'm leaning in favour of the Panasonic, I have to say, because of the DVDRs.
Answers:
I have the Panasonic. the time slip feature is excellent. I don't think the variable bitrate feature works on DVD-R's- I think it only works on DVD-RAMs.
the two hour SP mode gives best value/picture quality
Answers:
Originally posted by craig1912
I don't think the variable bitrate feature works on DVD-R's- I think it only works on DVD-RAMs.
based on the avland specs, it implies that the variable bitrate is available on both...
http://www.avland.co.uk/panasonic/dmre30/index.htm
is this not correct then?
Answers:
I don't see why it shouldn't work with DVDRs as well to be honest.
I've also been looking at this Pioneer model that comes out in Feb:
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr55/index.htm
Seems to have a similar spec to the Panasonic E30
There's also a 77 model that had a Hard drive, but I'm not after that.
Answers:
I can confirm that flexible recording mode works on both DVD-R and DVD-RAM on the E30.
Answers:
Those Pioneer HDD models have a pretty impressive spec ,wish I'd known those were on the way before I got my DMR-HS2 .
Answers:
Great news!!!! Thanks Keith.
Answers:
Keith whats better about their spec?
Answers:
component output and progressive scan for starters... plus an 80gb harddrive instead of a 40MB.
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr77/index.htm
all conjecture until the price is known though... with pioneer's track record?
pscan might disappear from the list anyway.
Answers:
Good point Martin, price isn't known yet. And My main reason for buying was the price drop.
Answers:
Originally posted by MartinC
component output and progressive scan for starters... plus an 80gb harddrive instead of a 40MB.
http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dvr77/index.htm
all conjecture until the price is known though... with pioneer's track record?
pscan might disappear from the list anyway.
Copying from HDD to DVD-R at up to X4 is also nice,I heard the non HDD model will retail for "around" £500.
IMHO the Panasonic HDD model is way over priced,you're paying a premium of £450 over the non HDD model,so I'd hope the Pioneer DVR77 is the same/cheaper.
Answers:
I'm guessing that recording with the Hard drive is like setting the VCR, with a 30 minute live buffer or something. Will it have any other tricks do you think?
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