Consumer Reports November 2005 DVD Recorder Rankings

[David K]

I always take these with a grain or two of salt, as these rankings always include a large subjective factor (especially in the "ease of use" sections) and reflect CR's largely suburban American values (the particular interest in DVD Recorders that control a cable box, for example.)

Ranking for DVD Recorders (no hard drives)

1 Panasonic DMR-E55
2 "" DMR E65
3"" DMR ES10
4 Pioneer DVR 320 S
5 JVC DR-M10S
6 Sony RDR-GX300
7 Toshiba D-R2
8 Go-Video R6740
9 Samsung DVD-R100
10 Toshiba D-R2
11 JVC DRM100S
12 Samsung DVD-R120
13 Philips DVDR615
14 Pioneer DVR-233-S
15 RCA DRC8005N

All except nos. 8, 9, and 13-15 were ranked as excellent in Best recording mode, with those latter ranked as very good.

1,2, and 4 were ranked good in Extended Recording mode, while the rest were ranked fair.

Rankings for hard-drive enabled units and VCR combos roughly reflected the same brand distribution (Pannies on top and RCA on the bottom with JVC and Samsung inbetween)

[lordsmurf]

Reports like this are largely worthless. They often skew too hard toward sales, which is easily controlled by "dumping syndrome" (meaning companies like Panasonic whore their equipment to every shop and taco hut known to exist on a global map). Consumer Reports is known to bias for this very reason.

Anybody using "extended recording" modes (which I would safely assume to be the max of 6-8 hours) should probably have their eyes examined, and cataracts removed. It's shameful how new technology allows people to make something that looks more crappy than the VHS techology it's supposed to replace.

That "best recording mode" thing is humorous. A number of the models on that list share the same recording chipset, and even a similar use by the firmware. To call one good, and the other not as good, is completely retarded given the facts about the tech of the machines.


HOWEVER....

If you were to strip out the Panasonic machines, I'd have to tip my hat and nod an acceptance of that review. I prefer JVC over Pioneer, but they clearly deserve the top two spots.

Although, again, worthlessness and stupidity once again moves to the forefront. For all intents and purposes the JVC DRM10 and DRM100 are the same machine. Same goes for the Pioneer models.

Something like this would have been far more believable:


1 Pioneer DVR320/DVR225
2 JVC DR-M10S/DR-M100S
3 Sony RDR-GX300
4 Toshiba DR2/DR4
5 Go-Video R6740
6 Samsung DVD-R100/R120
7 Panasonic DMR-E55/E65
8 Panasonic DMR ES10
9 Philips DVDR615
10 RCA DRC8005N

It removes dupe/brother/sister models, and then puts the Panasonic off the bogus "top spot" for something more reflective of it's quality and abilities. All the others were left in order.

That ranking there I could have acknowledged as sensible. A clean "top 10" list for them to have used.

Although it's sad that they only included (in typical Consumer Reports style), the "big name brands" and not all the machines commonly available on the market. LG and LITEON on clearly missing, and would have been strong contenders for the 3-4-5 spots, in battle with the ones shown currently holding them. Emerson and Sanyo could have added in competition for some of the lower ranking too. Cyberhome would be the last entry.

With all the "big players", a more complete list:

TOP MACHINES:
1 Pioneer DVR320/DVR225
2 JVC DR-M10S/DR-M100S

RUNNERS UP:
3 Sony RDR-GX300
4 LG
5 LITEON
5 Toshiba DR2/DR4
7 Go-Video R6740
8 Samsung DVD-R100/R120

BUDGET MACHINES:
9 Panasonic DMR-E55/E65
10 Sanyo
11 Emerson
12 Panasonic DMR ES10
13 Philips DVDR615
14 RCA DRC8005N
15 Cyberhome

[slacker]

I always take these with a grain or two of salt, as these rankings always include a large subjective factor (especially in the "ease of use" sections) and reflect CR's largely suburban American values (the particular interest in DVD Recorders that control a cable box, for example.)

There is absolutely nothing subjective about it. Human interface design is a science applied to just about everything you use these days. I would NOT discount the "ease of use" factor. Manufacturers who DO always come in 2nd. Take the review for what it was intended. If you want a purely technical nerdy review, they are available elsewhere. But for the average consumer, Consumer Reports did a fine job given their resources and overall expertise.

Reports like this are largely worthless. They often skew too hard toward sales, which is easily controlled by "dumping syndrome" (meaning companies like Panasonic whore their equipment to every shop and taco hut known to exist on a global map). Consumer Reports is known to bias for this very reason.

Total horse shit! I've been a Consumer Reports subscriber for 20 years and they do no such thing! Unless you have some hard evidence to put out on the table, that is slander!

As for ls, anyone who dethrones JVC for whatever reason will feel his wrath which, unfortunately, makes his opinion totally worthless as well. And that is unfortunate.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!

Read the article! It was very fair!

[lordsmurf]

I've been a Consumer Reports subscriber for 20 years and they do no such thing! Unless you have some hard evidence to put out on the table, that is slander!

CR has a tendency to make sheep out of people. They really started the "Fox Effect" long before Fox News existed. Merely research "Consumer Reports" and "bias", either online, or in the periodicals of any library. There is a history there that dates back decades. They are most infamous for this as it deals with cars, and CR has been involved in a number of lawsuits in the past. Some government agencies have been known to dismiss their findings as nonsense.

Slander is spoken word. Libel is written word. This is neither. Not to mention you bear the burden of proving malicious intent. I simply disagree with what they have to say, and those are the drawn conclusions...

.... As have many others in the past. CR has a "coincidence" of listing only "big name brands" often skewing towards marketshare instead of product quality or reliability. Their methods of indirect research (consumer opinions in an uncontrolled environment) have also been questioned. Technology needs a testing environment free of certain variables.

I would NOT discount the "ease of use" factor.

I also would not count it out, but you also need to distinguish between this and the "too much of a lazy ass to read the manual" factor. The problem here is most so-called "ease of use" is really an a reflection of laziness. And that certainly should not be a consideration.

[ejai]

As many times as I have tried to see Lordsmurf's side of the argument that the JVC is the greatest recorder since slice bread I continue to find faults. The JVC's quality is no where near what some have considered to be acceptable in terms of quality. The Panasonic has better video quality when it comes to color and sharpness.

What really turned me off about the JVC wasn't the fact that the first one I had broke down on me within a month. What I started to noitced was that the VHS tapes I was copying using the JVC were slightly lighter and the image quality was softer than the original. It's a terrible thing to notice that the VHS tape had more color and sharpness than the DVD copy.

I feel sorry for some new people that are coming here to ask for fair and unbiased recommendations.......I feel they are not getting it here.

Consumer Reports is right on the money.

[trhouse]

Decades ago ( probably late 60's or early 70's ) Consumer Reports named a small camera company's product, the Miranda Sensorex, it's top rated SLR, upsetting Nikon, Minolta, Pentax, Olympus, etc.

The Miranda company went bankrupt long ago. I believe workmanship played a role in its demise.

[ejai]

That can be said concerning any company or device, most reports of this type are strickly opinions. You either agree or you don't.

There is one finding in that report that I do not agree with and that is where they feel that the JVC does not do a good job with long captures. This is not true, I will give it credit in that area the JVC beats the hell out of the Panasonic when it comes to captures over 2 hours.

[SCDVD]

Another aspect to Consumer Reports is they have a reputation of being a liberal activist organization. There is a tendency for them to allow their politcal bias to influence their reports.

Here is a website with some interesting information about Consumer Reports http://www.junkscience.com/consumer/consumer_about.htm

[ann coates]

Ranking for DVD Recorders (no hard drives)

1 Panasonic DMR-E55
2 "" DMR E65
3"" DMR ES10
4 Pioneer DVR 320 S
5 JVC DR-M10S
6 Sony RDR-GX300
7 Toshiba D-R2
8 Go-Video R6740
9 Samsung DVD-R100
10 Toshiba D-R2
11 JVC DRM100S
12 Samsung DVD-R120
13 Philips DVDR615
14 Pioneer DVR-233-S
15 RCA DRC8005N

I just noticed that 7 and 10 are the same.

[David K]

Sorry, a bit tired the other night when I typed it in.

7 Toshiba D-R4
10 Toshiba D-R2

[KeepItSimple]

Put that piece of junk JVC DR-M10S at the bottom of the list. What a piece of halfbaked fuzzy pictured crap. Tell them to finish making the next model before they release it.

[trhouse]

I am not sure I would agree with your assessment of the JVC-M10. Gshelly61 and I have run extensive tests for resolution in various modes on a large number of recorders on this thread,

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279460

Tested were

JVC DR-M10
Lite-On 5006
Lite-On 5007
Panasonic DMR-ES10
Pioneer DVR-320
Pioneer DVR-531H
Pioneer DVR-533H
Sony RDR HX900
Toshiba D-R4

and an Adaptec AVC-2200 USB capture device.

The softest images were created by the new Pioneer 531, 533. The sharpest was by the Lite-On 5007.