Standalone DVD Recorders - let's discuss

[sbrown23]

So who here has a standalone DVD Recorder? I haven't seen much on DMT yet, and I am hoping to be able to purchase one soon. Gateway has a pretty attractive package going with their $299 AR-230 DVD recorder that has a built in Firewire port for easy transferring of video from DV cam. It only records on DVD+R and DVD+RW though. I know for a fact, my parents' player will not play the + formats. Sony's RDR-GX7 unit supports recording on more media types (DVD+RW, DVD-R/RW) and plays all media types, but is a stunning $700. I just don't see how they can justify that price, especially with the $300 Gateway one, and others from Panasonic, Philips, etc. in the $350-$500 range. Even Panasonic's recorders with a PVR hard drive built in are up around $700-$1000+. Sony's price just seems way too high right now, even though theirs is probably the best unit. Gateway's looks like a great value, though I haven't seen any reviews on it.

Personally, one of these will be the killer addition to my living room setup. I've got DV tapes piling up, and not enough time to do a lot of editing on my PC. I've got programs that my wife wants to save on the Tivo, and I just refuse to save them to VHS. That format is just dead now.

Anyway, I am looking to see what opinions others have on the current crop of DVD Recorders, especially those who own one. 8)

[sbrown23]

Wow... at a site like this, no one wants to discuss DVD Recorders?

[sbrown23]

Wow... at a site like this, no one wants to discuss DVD Recorders?

To resurrect a dead thread...

This looks like a killer DVD Recorder, the Lite-On LVW-5005. Plays and records all formats except for DVD-RAM, has a Firewire port, all for under $350 or so? 8O Interface looks like it might be a little awkward at times, and that along with the fact that it only records cable TV input using it's own tuner as mono audio are the only things that concern me. Oh well, most everything being recorded on to DVD would be coming from Tivo or from my DV cam anyway, so it doesn't matter a whole lot.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/articles/index.php?articleid=29



"If you post it, they will come....."


<edit> Oh, and I also wish it played MPEG-4, WMV, and/or DivX video, but unfortunately it does not. Someday the ultimate player/recorder will be here and I will buy it when it comes.

[Gary Sheynkman]

Wow....must have missed this in the "new post" page!

These provide a great solution for people who dont like to "tinker" as much I guess. In several years I can see people saying: what are we going to do with all that magnetic tape?

:lol:

[DFurey]

I used to have the Panasonic unit with the internal 40GB hard drive. Got stolen the day we moved into our new apartment.

Here "down under" you are looking at upwards of $2000 for the Panasonic unit I mentioned. There a now some cheap recorders getting released $350-$1000. Unfortunetly, you get what you pay for. The $350 units record like crap and the $1000/$2000 units record great.

[ux4484]

Our Aldi's was clearing out a Medion +R/+RW stand alone model for $229US back in Feb and I picked one up. Comes in very handy for burning episodic shows that I don't want to keep on my PVR's hard drive. As a DVD player, it's a tad on the slow side for speed of response, but as a recorder it's very reliable and feature rich. Even in SLP mode, the recorded video looks better than my SVHS VCR (I'd say the SSLP mode is about the same quality as regular VHS video). While my PVR could control it and record directly to it, I like to edit the commercials out of stuff I've recorded (especially on the kids shows) so I usually record it while we watch it the first time to a +RW. If after we fill it up it's worth keeping, I copy it to a +R on my computer.