LVW-5005 Questions

[gorillagrad1992]

I have been playing with PC AIW video capture for several years but am new to standalone method. I have been reading and reading on this forum and learned a ton over the past few weeks of reading, but now need to ask a few specific questions. Special thanks to "Lordsmurf" and "gshelley61" for their numerous posts and information!!!

Here is my equipment list:
Lite-On 5005A manufactured May 2004, no firmware upgrades
Sima SCC-2
Sony VCR SLV-N55
Radio Shack Gold Series - S-Video and RCA Cables
Belkin IEEE 1394 6-ft Cable
DV Camcorder - JVC GR-DX97U
Verbatim 4x +R
Fuji 4X +RW
PC Burner Lite-On 411S
DVD Shrink 3.2

Here are the questions (I am including the infomation I know from reading at the end of each question):

1) Is the 5005A only subject to jitter AFTER a hack is applied or is this common even with units that have not been upgraded with firmware? (It seems like jitter is mainly a problem with 3 hour hack only)

2) Are Lite-On factory firmware upgrades helpful or should I stick with hacks only?

3) Is there a hack for VBR (flexible recording)?

4) Is there a way to bypass the menu screen at the beginning of my dvd created with the 5005A? I would like the video to autoplay when the dvd is inserted. (My current workaround is to make my original with +RW and then rip that to pc with DVD Shrink 3.2 and then re-author burning only the movie with no menus.)

5) Will I get the best video quality transferring my mini DV movies via 1394 or S-Video from my JVC GR-DX97U? (I feel like the 1394 would be the purest transfer, but I know some think that a $500 camcorder has a better digital converter than a $150 dvd recorder even one with an LSI chipset.)

6) Will I get the best video quality transferring my old 8mm movies via 1394 or S-Video from a Sony Digital8?

7) I recorded a dvd with my 5005, stopping my recording instead of pausing, therefore I get kicked back to the menu between each scene (stop). I want to place all of these titles on one dvd as chapters under one large title, so the video will play from start to finish without reverting to the menu screen. What software is best for this task? Would this method allow me to combine clips from different DVD's on one DVD (From my reading it seems that some like DVD Decrypter followed by TMPEG for re-authoring.)

TIA for the help.

[lordsmurf]

1- It's actually more of a 5001 issue, not as common on 5005. Yes, most reports are on hacked 3-hour fw, and even then, just the 1063/1163 ones.

2- All of them after xx63 will reject downgrades. Risky. New hacks are still slowly being made available.

3- No. LiteOn is CVBR only. JVC is VBR. ILO is probably CVBR too, have not confirmed yet.

4- No.

5- Try both and see what you like. Short tests on RW media. I have yet to start using DV in this manner. I go the NLE route on PC with software with DV.

6- Decrypter IFO rips (gives VOB files), followed by TDA would work fine for a menu-less author. pretty much follow this guide to rip:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/edit/recorderedit/recorderedit.htm