DVD recorders -- FATAL FLAWS LIST!

oldfart13 · Member Joined: 09 Nov 2000 Location: Canada

The Sony I could test but it's already been done at avsforums. Ditto on the new Panasonic DVD recorder. I could do the Sony unit as my friends own the in-town dealership. I could do other higher end units providing they come in as friends own those stores in town. My "Oldfart" moniker isn't just for show you know...

pinetop · Member Joined: 08 Feb 2005

I've had my Sony RDR-GX7 for a little over a month now. I use it a few times a day, so far flawless. I hope the 50% drive failure is just an opinion/guess.

spectroelectro · Member Joined: 17 Jul 2003

JVC, LiteOn and Sanyo would be my top choices. However I have gotten some discs from Sanyo DVD recorders which, while excellent in video quality, tend to have reading/ripping problems similar the kind of occasional read/rip problems many folks have noted with Pansonic DVDs. IMHO any kind of problem where a DVD recorders spits out discs that will play but not read or rip properly, so the disc can't be copied or ripped, is unacceptable. Even if it only happens occasionally. This has never happened to me with a disc burned in a JVC or LiteOn DVD recorder but has happened with both Pannies and Sanyos, and is endemic on the Maggotbox -- excuse me, Magnavox.

One quibble: the "loading" error on the JVC is hardly fatal. I've got it and as long as I leave the JVC unplugged overnight, it's never an issue. Only if the JVC runs for more than about 14 hours straight does it show up at all in my experience. Of course YMMV.

vonnieglen · Member Joined: 17 Feb 2005

Many, many thanks to Lord Smurf for his excellent work on this topic. There is nothing more frustrating than having a problem with a product and then spending hours trying to find first whether others have had a similar experience and second what can be done about it. Having a list such as this must have already saved many persons an incalculable amount of time and frustration. Lord Smurf has an unequalled breadth of knowledge on video capture and he tells it as he sees it with no apologies. I feel very fortunate that he continues to be willing to spend his time helping those of us who lurk here in the forums.

stevec50 · Member Joined: 21 Oct 2002 Location: Phoenix

Besides the fix for Apex 9000 recorders there is a fix for Cyberhome 1500, 1500C 1530 and 2500 models now also. Please see the website for more information. http://www.drx9000repair.netfirms.com

KeepItSimple · Posted: Jun 26, 2005 03:15

lordsmurf · Posted: Jun 26, 2005 05:38

KeepItSimple · Posted: Jun 26, 2005 06:42

Ok will do Mr. Smurf. My "bitch" was about paying some guy somewhere for the fix.
Peace.

lordsmurf · Posted: Jun 26, 2005 07:08

vhelp · ..Semi Neutral.. Joined: 31 Mar 2001 Location: New York

Why not just take them into a fixer-upper (serviceman) if you can't
get one fixed ??

But, would probably be cheaper to get another cheaper unit

oh yea. Good list LS. Forgot to commend you

-vhelp 3408
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Marvingj · Posted: Jun 26, 2005 10:57

My friend has a Sony Gx-300 it has Macroblocks. I think this a first for Sony, Usually it has bad drives but its offical it has the same problem as Panasonic. I try to look at Sony more expensive model to see if this just a GX-300 problem or all Sonys.

non-linear · Encoding... Joined: 07 Jul 2003 Location: Canada

I've noticed that the Panasonic E85 units have audio sync problems with cutting parts of video out of a title, or splitting a title. The problem doesn't appear when playing the video from the drive, but when ripping to my computer (I do it with DVD-RAM discs), anything that had parts cut out or if a title was split seems to be out of sync. Not sure if anyone else has seen this problem before.

parallax1 · Member Joined: 13 Nov 2003

lordsmurf · Posted: Jul 07, 2005 06:33

Marvingj · Posted: Jul 13, 2005 11:04

Welll, I have Evaluated Toshiba DR-2 & Dk2-r. THE GOOD: Toshiba picture is Great second to JVC. It has all kind of neat toys like DNR, TBC (line), Black level adjustment & white Levels. Has a Manual that in a least a inch thick. Lots of neat things to adjusted. THE BAD: has Once Copy Protection ( Can not copy off of HBO etc. with some kind of video stabilizer). I haven't found a Black Bug issue. Does Not like ant DVD's . Very Picky. Will only accept Ridata, panasonic . If you copy with any other it will definitely be a coaster. Only will read DVD-, DVD-rw & Ram. But only certain Disc. Very Picky. NO Hacks or firmware upgrade at all. Plays DVD-Video Movies excellent. Does extremely well with dubbing a VHS or Hi-8 tapes when you have a Video stabilizer or TBC to take out the Marco. Overall its a very good model but . will never defear JVC or Pioneer. Better build than Lite on.

compuser · something here Joined: 09 Jan 2005 Location: North America

I am just wondering, I have been doing some test recordings from a iLO DVDR04 ... On playback (on a different DVD player) there seems be some random white lines (verrry light though) that appears in the upper third of the video... Has anyone else had this problem or is this just this unit or a brand thing?

compuser · something here Joined: 09 Jan 2005 Location: North America

Just thought that I would post an update... I hooked up my JVC VCR to the recorder and used its' tuner, and the quality level went way up... I am thinking that the tuner on the iLo isn't all that great...

RNR1995 · Member Joined: 12 Mar 2003

I have a Philips DVDR600VR/37 that is quite impressive to me. The picture quality is outstanding I have no idea what product was tested but my images are perfect, not grainy. If I do encounter any defects I will come back here and let you all know. I am a heavy user, so if this thing sucks I will know it.

dstuck · Member Joined: 23 Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles. CA

Yes, noble Lord Smurf... it is a valuble service you give all us Recorder fans... great info here.

I too fall victim to the Pioneer "drop-out" curse with my DVR-510H (for which I sold my previous deck, the Panasonic DMR-E80H -- probably a mistake).

The Pioneer is extremely finicky about VHS tapes... any tape that has less than a first-generation "signal" - however well it plays on other machines - jumps and "blanks"... it's almost as if the Pioneer thinks the tape has macrovision...

A tech at Pioneer told me that they were aware of the problem, but had no plans (he knew of) of a fix.

Since this is the main reason I bought a recorder, this is unfortunate... the standalone recorder is so much less work-intensive than burning on a computer...

From your list, it looks as thought JVC is the least error-prone... maybe I'll pick one of those up. I can't take this Pioneer any more.

Thanks, Dave
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ann coates · Member Joined: 01 Jun 2004 Location: New York

dstuck, I had the same problem with my Pioneer 520 which I returned. The problem appears to be resolved on the new Pioneer line. I picked up a Pioneer 531 from Walmart and using the same tapes my Pioneer 520 choked on everything seems fine. So far at least.

I also have a Panasonic E85 which does a great job on video tapes, but I prefer the Pioneer overall for recording. The new line has better PQ as well.

dstuck · Member Joined: 23 Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles. CA

Thanks Ann -- this is good to know.

I don't know why I didn't catch this deficiency in time to return it, but I didn't...

I will be trying something else as this problem is driving me nuts... maybe I'll try a new Pioneer...

thanks again,

Dave
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Cyrax9 · Member Joined: 14 Sep 2002 Location: NJ

Here's one courtesy of a friend who bought the "Wal*Mart special" AKA the giant red flags for DVD Recorders...

Sanpo
Issue: (1) Does not burn 8X DVD-Rs (even at 1X-4X speeds,) (2)does not read burnt 8X Discs from other machines, set-top or PC.
How common is it? Very. According what I was told, a phone call to the company will get you a "Sorry, our machines don't handle 8X Discs, please buy 1X-4X blank media only." response.
Can it be fixed? Unknown, I don't have one to dissect and rebuild.
Will it break again? Unknown, but unless a magic firmware upgrade is released, yes.

NOTE: This is the first I've heard of any recorders choking on 8X Discs, even my Panasonic recorders don't have this type of issue, as for the Macroblocking, I only notice it when fast forwarding or recording in anything under SP Mode which is basically a "Garbage Mode" anyway. (I have a DMR-HS2 and a DMR-E500HS but I've never seen the IRE issue or it's replacement, even on PC Drives and Sony units, screenshots of the symptoms would be nice.)

With all the chaos surrounding DVD Recorders, one would think it'd be easier to "build your own" in an HTPC case and cannibalize any parts needed from another model.

lordsmurf · Posted: Aug 22, 2005 15:34

The newer 8x-12x-16x media are a large problem for many, many, many DVD recorders. Most of the drives currently out there are 2x and 4x drives with old firmware.

Pioneer, JVC, Panasonic, .... everybody... all have it.

Although this is a RANDOM ERROR and often depends on the media you're using.
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oldfart13 · Member Joined: 09 Nov 2000 Location: Canada

"This is related to it's AC3 problem. All kind of hell break loose when you try to edit Panasonic-made audio files. Sync issues, as well as drop-outs, even complete loss of parts of the AC3 track. "

Is this on the recorder or on a computer via the DVD-RAM? I edit on the unit and burn to DVD every day and I can detect no sync or AC-3 errors...but then, I only use playlists and don't use the "shorten segment" feature. On the computer, I do hundreds of discs every month for people here in town with no complaints. Must be I have one of those gem units that has no flaws (like all those U99 errors I'm supposed to be having) or else everyone has poor hearing and vision when it comes to the discs I make. I must remember to check out all those flaws on my friend's 102" projector with next week's batch of Sci Fi shows...

And I do audio discs, converting AC-3 audio from music channels to Mp3 to play in my car. I've had no problems with ripping the audio or converting the audio at all. I guess I've been pretty lucky these last 22 months, no?

lordsmurf · Posted: Aug 23, 2005 01:10

The errors are random. However, the AC3 issue is related to computer use, when you attempt to re-encode the audio to anything else. The A3 files are flawed. If you have none of these issues on your unit, yes, you're lucky. Go knock on some wood right this minute.
_________________
digitalFAQ.com Guides for video capturing, restoring, authoring, burning. ATI AIW help.
NoMoreCoasters.com How to avoid burning bad discs. Blank media FAQ.