Pioneer DVR-420H-S $250 @ costco has 80GB HD !

[SuperTech]

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=10043474&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=4477&hierPath=79*4477*

The Pioneer DVD recorder with built-in 80 GB hard drive is highly compatible, extremely versatile, convenient and easy to use. Features Advanced Disc Navigator, Chase play, full motion thumbnails and up to 48X high-speed copy......

Does anyone have any feedback on this unit ?

Credit Thalman @ fatwallet.com for the find.

[Frobozz]

Terrific unit. No Firewire input/output for DV camcorders. No Pioneer warranty. Ask Costco about their warranty.

[SuperTech]

Costco's warranty is "lifetime ". It's MUCH better than Pioneer ..or any Mfgr . ;-}

[sync]

Is that a regular price? That's what I paid for the 220 at WalMart.

[sync]

How good is the 420 for cutting out commercials? I currently do that on the computer.

[Frobozz]

I use the Pioneer 510 which is similar. Editing out commercials is a snap. You place a chapter marker at the beginning and end of the commercial and delete that chapter.

I saw these in stock at my local Costco the last time I was there.

[sync]

What degree of accuracy do you get when cutting - is it frame accurate?

[Frobozz]

Frame-accurate editing isn't necessary when clipping out commercials. But it is available as an option. When you turn on the frame accurate editing you won't be able to use the high-speed copying from the hard drive to a DVD. Instead the video will be copied in real time.

[sync]

Frame-accurate editing isn't necessary when clipping out commercials.

Do you say that because of the black frames that are usually inserted? I've edited shows where they sometimes leave those out.

[Epicurus8a]

This is a fantastic deal! I have one and am nuts about it! I'd love to buy another one, but my wife would make me sleep in the garage if I bought any more gizmos right now.

Here's a link to Pioneer. http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/home/0,,2076_2128,00.html

Download the Owners Manual and check it out.

[sync]

This is a fantastic deal! I have one and am nuts about it!

You mentioned in another thread that you edit your VOBs on the PC. Why not do it on the 420?

I'm wondering if I should replace my 220 with this for the editing capability. I have a Tivo so I don't need any dvr features.

[DVWannaB]

This is weird. There is no manual for the 420. But one for the 510 and 520. Plus no Pioneer warranty. Is this machine (420) built by a third party for Pioneer? As far as I could tell, the 420 and 520 are identical, only difference was the FW-in on the 520. Hmmmmmm....

[Epicurus8a]

Sync,

This will be great for editing out commercials. Sometimes I have projects for clients - that's when I use the computer with Womble, etc.

If you are happy with the 220, you'll be happier with the 420. If you need DV though, get the 520.

The 520 and the 420 are the same machine, only the 420 doesn't have DV.

Since Costco isn't an authorized Pioneer dealer, they offer their own warranty: Full refund within one year. I've known people to take stuff back two years later, and they still get a refund. That's much better than Best Buy, etc.

Also, Costco online usually sells to non-members for a few dollars more.

[Frobozz]

Here is how it works on the Pioneer. When you are in the chapter edit mode you can advance the video in increments as slow as 1/100th of a second (by pressing Pause and the frame advance key). Therefore, you are in a frame editing mode. However, when copying the edited video to a DVD the actual spot for the edit may be up to a few frames before or after your edit mark if you are not in the Frame Accurate mode. You might notice that the edit moved a little if you are advancing frame by frame, but you won't notice it while in normal playback. There are no black frames inserted.

If those black frames you're referring to are the ones that appear in the broadcast before switching to the commercial, you can simply make your chapter marks at a point where you cut them out as well. If you want to copy to the DVD in the high-speed mode your actual edit may be a few frames different from where you marked it.

You can try it either way and decide which one works best for you. The frame-editing mode only matters when you are copying from the hard drive to a DVD. So you can burn to one DVD-RW trying it one way and then burn to another DVD-RW trying it the other (from the same source video) and see the difference for yourself.

[EPlay]

I've owned the Pioneer 420 since July and love it.

The editing is a breeze! I always have frame accurate set to "on". Although the manual states that this may prevent high-speed dubbing in some circumstances, I have ALWAYS been able to high-speed dub to -R or -RW with it on.

DVWannabe, the 520 and 420 share the same manual. Certain features which apply only to the 520 are indicated as such.

[sync]

If anyone wants to download the manual without registering at Pioneer's site, you can get it here:
http://www.pioneer.com.sg/storefront/manual/DVR-520H-S.pdf

[sync]

Frame-accurate editing isn't necessary when clipping out commercials. But it is available as an option. When you turn on the frame accurate editing you won't be able to use the high-speed copying from the hard drive to a DVD. Instead the video will be copied in real time.

I still don't understand why you say that frame accurate editing isn't necessary when cutting out commercials. I took a look at the manual and it says that edit points can be off by .5 seconds when it isn't used.

[Frobozz]

Maybe I've been doing frame-accurate editing all along. Although I have the frame-accurate editing option turned off, I don't do my editing in the copy list. Instead, I edit the actual video in the Disc Navigator window which deletes the unwanted chapters from the hard drive. Then I place the clipped version in the copy list. So I've done a frame-accurate edit.

When the editing is done while in the copy list it may be that the actual video on the hard drive is not clipped - only the copy that is burned to the DVD is edited. That's when the frame-accurate mode matters. I don't do it that way so it makes no difference whether I have the frame-accurate setting on or off.

[handyguy]

Great price, non members +5%

Does it have any type of programming menu, e.g. Guide Plus? I don't see that in the manual.

[sync]

I don't think it has that. It seems to have minimal DVR functionality. It's more like a VCR in that regard.

[Frobozz]

Great price, non members +5%

Does it have any type of programming menu, e.g. Guide Plus? I don't see that in the manual.

Pioneer has announced that their next model, the DVR-533H-S, will have an electronic program guide. The 420/520 has VCR+ and two manual programming options: one for quick programming (of the channel or input you're tuned to) and the other for advanced programming. The recorded program will show the name of the program if transmitted from the source.

[nickyboy4]

I think they sold out, it is not on the web site anymore

[belder]

Nice to have the board back. The Costco.com orders of the Pioneer 420H started shipping yesterday. My order was placed Thursday. On the AVS forum you could see posts appear every five minutes claiming their e-mail shipping confirmation had been delivered.

I'm looking forward to your comments and opinions on this deck and excited about using mine.

[BobK]

I think they sold out, it is not on the web site anymore

Darn! I ordered one last Thursday. If it didn't have problems (like the other 9 recorders I've bought and returned in the last 2 months) I was going to order another one.

[belder]

BobK,

I'm hoping this Pioneer will be the recoder that we all say 'Eureeka!' and have a great experience using. Imagine, being able to record and not having to worry about the mechanics like the other machines.

[Allamand]

Does this Burner let you copy mp3's and Jpg files to the HD?
Also, if set to an input like "s-video" and then powered off then on, will it resume back to that same input?

TIA

[BobK]

BobK,
I'm hoping this Pioneer will be the recoder that we all say 'Eureeka!' and have a great experience using. Imagine, being able to record and not having to worry about the mechanics like the other machines.

Actually, based on reviews of the 420/520 I'm just hoping that it won't have the same problems as the other 9 I've tried such as- audio out of sync some or most of the time, timer fails to start recording at the specified times, audio has noises added in back ground, and machine doesn't actually record.

I'm not bothered by the mechanics, I just want a machine that actually does what it's supposed to do.

[Frobozz]

Does this Burner let you copy mp3's and Jpg files to the HD?
Also, if set to an input like "s-video" and then powered off then on, will it resume back to that same input?

TIA

You cannot copy mp3s or JPG files to the hard drive. It plays those discs. You can record a non-encrypted video DVD to the hard drive in real time (it gets re-encoded). You also can do a high speed copy (no re-encoding) of a video DVD in which the Pioneer apparently creates something like a disc image on the hard drive that it copies back to the new media. You can not play or edit that image file on the hard drive, however.

There is no S-Video setting. You choose Line 1 or Line 2. The video defaults to S-Video input if that is how the source is connected. Each time the Pioneer turns on (unless it is a timer recording) it is on the input that was chosen when it was turned off. With a timer recording you can choose any of the inputs for the source, but this will not change what input is selected when you manually turn on the unit.

I have no sound sync or other problems described above with my DVR-510H-S.

[BobK]

I have no sound sync or other problems described above with my DVR-510H-S.

This will be the first Pioneer I've tried. The problems I described were on ilo's, Liteon's, and one Panasonic.

And it appears that Costco has restocked. The 420 is back on their website.

[belder]

I, too, checked and saw it. Now it appears to be gone again. Reminds me of that scene in "Airplane" where the guy unplugs the runway lights and says "Just kidding!" I'm guessing I have some sort of weird cashe thing going on. <g>