Apex DRX-9000 - Is it any good?

[asichter]

Is the Apex DRX-9000 (Digitrex GK9000 in Australia) worth getting or not?
I have the Panny E-20, which does a fantastic job, but I wouldn't mind getting a cheap second recorder. Is the Apex any good? How do the editing features of +RW compare with -RAM???

Tour thoughts & comments would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Andy S.

[asichter]

If there's no DRX-9000 users around, then can someone fill us in on the editing capabilities of +RW. As a panny user I'm well aware of the editing features of -RAM, but I'm not familiar with +RW. What can you do & not do with +RW?

Thanks,

Andy S.

[Allamand]

I have had the Apex DRX-9000 for a week now. The only other Set top burner I've tried was the Cyberhome, that lasted a day as it didn't read some of my Store bought Daul layer dvd's.

As for the Apex unit, I burned once using DVD+R and the rest of the time I jsut reusing DVD+RW The +RW is Verbatim 2.4X and the +R was Memorex. I have also played burned DVD-R's in the Apex fine, as far as the player goes, I think the Picture is as good as the Sony 300 DVD changer I have. Responce is very fast, sometimes a bit slower on burned disks.

The GU of this unit is what I like. When recording, you can use the "Nav" button and have the top overlay with either nothing, a small Record icon, or a whole row that shows titlt, chapeter, record speed, and time info. By using the "Display" button one can also cycle through Time left on the DVD and also the Time recorded.

I have so far only recorded stuff off my Dish 721 and using the SP mode(2hour) I thin it is just as good as what dish sends down. The XP and SP mode record in 720x480 and EP mode records at 352x480. I have not yet tried SLP. The first three modes record 256bit AC3 for the audio. Also the video is in VBR and has a fairly high rate.

As far as editing, I DON"T! I tried the auto chapter(5min) and it didn't play right on my Sony dvd/vcr combo. I did edit a DVD+RW and when I "HIDE" the chapter, that works fine. Yet I still wanted more and found it easier to just use DVD Decrypter to copy the DVD to the HD. I don't fully under stand the DVD layout with these burners, but neither the Apex or Cyberhome would let me "Drag and Drop" the last vob file. Even with no edits.

I fine it much nicer and like to have no menu's on my movies anyways. I have played the burned media in to other DVD players only, both sony's. One being the above combo and the other the Sony 300 DVD changer. Never a problem if I don't use the Auto chapters.

[SirRipper]

At first I didn't care for the unit, until I found out 2 things that was my main problems. One, all your editing features are with the DVD+rw disc, so it's better to use +rw disc exclusively. Two, use good disc, I was using Optodisc and they don't work with this unit at all.. get some good quality disc, I've used Sony, Memorex, TDK all without a hitch. Other than that make sure you download the firmware update, it solves all the other problems.. Good Luck