To buy lite on 5101 or ilo dvdr04???

[kcsport]

I'm trying to decide between the lite on 5101 or the ilo dvdr04. In the reviews the ilo looks a bit iffy but most in the forums say the are pretty much the same. I've looked through the forums and still cant decide. Thanks for any help!

[Harpmaker]

Hi kcsport;

The LiteOn 5101 and iLO DVDR04 are totally different machines. Well, they both use the LiteOn 451S DVD drive, but the motherboards are totally different as is picture quality.

I had a LiteOn 5101 and returned it as fast as I could, It uses an ARM chipset and, at least on my unit, had a *horrible* picture! The color saturation was way too high and the screen brightness changed in "steps" up and down depending on the general brightness of the current scene; for example, if someone wearing a light colored coat entered or left the scene the entire screen brightness would change, not smoothly, but in steps. It was very distracting. I would classify the 5101 as unusable, but maybe it was just my machine.

I'm currently using an iLO DVDR04 and I have found nothing majorly wrong with it. It seems to be a "fixed" LiteOn 5001 (which I also have). It uses the LSI 8602 chipset and has a wonderful picture. iLO is, or is made and supported by, LiteOn.

[belder]

The Liteon 5101 uses the MT8105GE chipset and the iLO DVDR04 uses the LSI 8602 chipset. I had always thought the iLO had a better sharper picture than the 5101 and I was told it was because the iLO uses the newer LSI chip.

I bought the 5101 first and then saw the iLOHD04 at Wal-Mart. So, for a few says I had them side by side. Keep in mind that the HD model is not the same as the regular DVDR04. But, I took the Liteon 5101 back because I liked the hard drive and thought the picture looked better to me. But that's a subjective remark and your eyeballs may vary.

The nice thing about SAMS and Wal-Mart is their liberal return policy. If you get one and don't like it, take it back and try the other.

[aladd6]

I have the 5101 and am having trouble with the DVlink. I have a cannon gl1 and have used it with my computer and all is fine. With the 5101 I am getting intermittent connection. About 1 out of 5 initializations work. Once it is linked it works great. I have tried different cables and I am on my 2nd 5101. The GL1 is near the top for cannon. I have a hard time believing it is the problem. Has any one used the DVlink with any other cameras.

[Xyscaling]

Finally able to post..........

Harpmaker and belder,

I've gotta tell you how much I've enjoyed reading about your "adventures" over the past few weeks. So much so, that I went to Wal-Mart today and bought the iLo 04. I've had the 5101 from Sams for about 10 days now.

Much bigger diefference than I expected:
1. iLo remote is much better.

2. iLo menu and setup system is much better.

3. iLo response and general operation is better.

4. In my opinion, the iLo display and case styling are much better than the 5101.

However, I can not tell any difference in the recorded picture quality of the two. If anything, the 5101 has a little bit, now get this, "sharper" picture with a bit more contrast.
They both display up to 525 lines of resolution very well.

Like you two, I like the iLo better than the 5101 but there is only one MAJOR problem.

When I record a disc on the iLo using +RW, it will NOT play back on my Panasonic XP 30 DVD player, or my Malata, or my Apex player. It will play back on my computer. Strangely enough, +R burns will play on my Panasonic. I can't figure that one out.

The 5101 will play back +RW on all players. If I can't solve the iLo problem, I will reluctantly have to return it to Wal-Mart.

Thanks for telling us about tyour experiences...... interesting reading.

Regards, Tom

[Harpmaker]

Hi Xyscaling;

Thanks for the post. With your report, and Belders, I guess I really did have a defective 5101, so I'll stop bashing the unit.

I can't explain why the iLO +RW's won't play on your DVD players and the 5101 +RW's will. The +RW's I make with the iLO play fine on my Pioneer, APEX 1100W and Philips DVR642 players. I would suspect you may have a defective iLO.

[donpedro]

Guys, can you tell me if these new iLO HD04, iLO DVDR04, and Lite-On 5101 do these things ?

1. Do they support 110-240V 50/60Hz ? (just take a look on the back)

2. Can they record in PAL and NTSC ? (i know that in US tuner is only NTSC)

These two things were supported by Lite-On 5001 and I am trying to find out if 5101 still does that and if iLO by any chance can do same.

Thanks.

[Harpmaker]

Hi donpedro;

I can only comment on the iLO DVDR04 as I returned the 5101 and don't have the iLO HD04 (yet).

1. No, the US unit is 100-120V, 60Hz only.

2. No, for some stupid reason iLO chose to dumb-down the R04, and even though the manual says the TV TYPE menu will let you choose between NTSC and PAL, the TV TYPE menu is NOT on the R04.

Luckily, if I ever need the features you mentioned, I still have my LiteOn 5001.

[belder]

If you use the 2960 code trick, the iLOHD04 will convert a PAL signal to NTSC if set to Region Free or to Region 2. I had believed that someone would discover a way to change the tuner to PAL thus allowing a PAL DVD burn, but since the AC has no switch to 220, that may be a false hope.

donpedro, I have had no problem with the +RW on any of my friend's players. That's not to say that it won't work on some. (That's another reason I'd like to see iLO or someone discover how to unlock the " - " ability of this machine. )

Xyscaling, the picture on my 5101 looked softer to me than the 04 when I had them next to each other. But, I'm not a test lab and I wear glasses. LOL I don't know why, but I assumed it was the chipset. The real reason I selected the iLO was the hard drive, the LSI chipset and the price. Thanks to Harpmaker for kindly explaining the LSI chipset with his posts.

Having said that, any picture from one of these DVDR's is going to be so much better than a VCR. The 5101 was my first DVDR and I'd take it any day.

[Xyscaling]

Thanks guys ..........

I don't know if anyone is interested in this or not:
( I posted this on the AVS forum a few days ago)

How good (or bad) can a $140 DVD burner actually be???

Over the past three days, I've had a lot of fun finding out just what the Liteon LVW-5101 can do in the way of recording and picture quality.

First, I burned a copy of the resolution test patterns from the
Video Essentials laserdisc using my Pioneer CLD- D704. Here's what I found:
Note: Even though LD is a composite video, I found(by comparison) that the S-video input on the Liteon gave a noticably better picture!

HQ - 1 hour mode: excellent resolution full 425 lines from LD

SP - 2 hour mode: again excellent, 425 lines from LD

LP - 3 hour mode: noticable quality decline - approx. 350 lines

EP- 4 hour mode: same as LP (Both LP and EP will be good for TV)

SLP - 6 hour mode: Very low resolution with artifacts.

Looks like I'll stick with HQ and SQ


Next I used my Panasonic XP 30 DVD player and the Avia software.

Here's the result of the burn:

HQ: Fantastic resolution: Full 525 lines and the 6.75 MHz pattern lines are fully visible.

SP: Same as HQ excellent quality.

Well, I was so excited after that, I didn't go any further. I'm still having fun. Looks like a great $140 burner ......

I'd like to know how other burners work as far as resolution goes. Is it normal for a burner to do so well??? This is my first recorder.

Regards, Tom

[Xyscaling]

Hi Xyscaling;

Thanks for the post. With your report, and Belders, I guess I really did have a defective 5101, so I'll stop bashing the unit.

I can't explain why the iLO +RW's won't play on your DVD players and the 5101 +RW's will. The +RW's I make with the iLO play fine on my Pioneer, APEX 1100W and Philips DVR642 players. I would suspect you may have a defective iLO.

Harpmaker,
Found several iL0 owners who have had the same compatibility problem with Panasonic DVD players not playing the +RW iLo burns.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters.php?DVDnameid=725&Search=Search&list=0#comments
Now that the price of +R discs has dropped to 40 cents each, plus the fact that I am mainly interested in just getting my laserdisc collection onto DVD, maybe i can justify keeping the iLo.
Tom

[donpedro]

Thanks guys.... Now if only somebody can tell me abou Lite-On 5101 and 110/220V + PAL/NTSC recording

[Xyscaling]

donpedro,
The label on the back of the 5101 is just like the 04. It does not mention 240v 50/60hz.
Just ask if I can look further for you.
Tom

[donpedro]

Thanks Xyscaling... bad news but thanks...