Finally got me a Pioneer DVR-420H-S $240 total!!

[siratfus]

Someone had a brandnew one listed on ebay for a start of $199.00... Since I live near by, I offered $225 and I would pick it up and pay cash. They agreed and end the auction. Total came out to $244 with California tax. They didn't have proper change to break $300 so I got it for $240. Even provided me with costco receipt in case I have problems. I missed the Costco sale, but I guess this is even better since it would have cost $250 with taxes on top.

It's working fine so far!! Came in handy right away. I've been wasting dvds after dvds this year with my DVR-210 recording Laker games. I collect wins or games when Kobe goes off. You can imagine my pile of losses this year. DVD-RW is too expensive to finalize every Laker win. So it has been cheaper for me using cheap DVD-Rs and recording every game. Nevertherless, it's still a waste. So on my first night using the DVR-420, the lakers gets torched by PHilly and ZAP!! The game was erased!! No wasting dvds. I've finally joined the world of hard drive recording.

[steve2713]

Recording Laker games, what a waste........

Nice find on the 420 though, mine's done a great job :P Having a HD is great.

[Guitarman]

siratfus,

Congrats on the DVR-420!! I also got mine on Ebay but didn't get that good of a price, but got it much cheaper than the normal new price. It is a great recorder.

[siratfus]

Recording Laker games, what a waste........

Nice find on the 420 though, mine's done a great job :P Having a HD is great.

Can't help it. Been a fan since the 80's. Recording games since 1988. I will be there through thick and thin.

[siratfus]

siratfus,

Congrats on the DVR-420!! I also got mine on Ebay but didn't get that good of a price, but got it much cheaper than the normal new price. It is a great recorder.

Thanx! I've been tempted by the other brands and newer models. But they simply lack a very basic function that I believe should be standard, which is the 32 step bitrate that you can manually set. Also, my DVR-210 has never failed me, it's rock solid. Why change brands? Pioneer is also less picky with media, the thing seems to burn everything brand I toss at it. My first recorder ever that I tried out was Toshiba, and that thing was snobbish, very picky.. so back it went.

[sync]

Congratulations.

I wonder why someone let it go for such a low price?

[siratfus]

Congratulations.

I wonder why someone let it go for such a low price?

Me too, I'm hoping I get by this month without a hitch. Looks brandnew to me. They got it at costco too during the sale for $250, so they didn't lose too much selling to me. They provided me with the receipt and that's good enough for me because costco is pretty cool with returns.

[handyguy]

"They didn't have proper change to break $300 so I got it for $240. Even provided me with costco receipt in case I have problems. I missed the Costco sale, but I guess this is even better since it would have cost $250 with taxes on top. "

That's really weird that they didn't take it back to Costco & get a refund. Costco lets you bring most stuff back anytime.

[HatchetMan]

That's really weird that they didn't take it back to Costco & get a refund. Costco lets you bring most stuff back anytime.

Maybe they got it as a gift, didn't want the money refunded to the purchaser's credit card, or maybe they didn't even have a costco membership after all of that. Who knows? Good deal.

[solidsnake]

geez, you even made them make change for you? lol

[siratfus]

I love this machine more everyday. I thought it lacked the TIMESLIP function, but realized that with pioneer, it's called CHASE-PLAY.

I don't know if people have complained about editing features on stand-alones, but all I need is to erase commercials and this machine is pretty darn precise.

[Guitarman]

I love this machine more everyday. I thought it lacked the TIMESLIP function, but realized that with pioneer, it's called CHASE-PLAY.

I don't know if people have complained about editing features on stand-alones, but all I need is to erase commercials and this machine is pretty darn precise.

And the coolest about these is that you can delete the commercials without splitting the recording. You just mark the area to delete and out it goes.

[zagortenej]

Congrats on your Pioneer. All I can say is I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Being a video enthusiast myself, I got my first DVD recorder when they first came out. It was Pioneer DVR-210. Needless to say, the machine was (and still is) rock solid and I never had any problems with it. Recently I upgraded to a Pioneer Elite DVD Recorder with 160 GB HD and, needless to say, the unit is great. Everything you could possibly want in terms of standard DVD recording (and more) in one great package.

Incidentally, I find it curious that other DVD recorder brands that are usually pushed by some members of this (and other) forums are also the ones that get discussed most in terms of all kinds of recording problems, glitches, inconsistencies, etc., while Pioneer, although a rock-solid unit with more versatility than most of other recorders, and therefore the brand that people complain the least about, is more often than not suggested as a second or third buying option. This I find a bit odd. Could it be that these other brands are having powerful and loud 'on-line' lobbies, while Pioneer's primary 'lobbying' strategy happens to be its users' quiet satisfaction?

[gshelley61]

That's a great deal on an excellent machine! I also picked up my Pioneer 220 from eBay for a bargain price. The Pioneers are impressive performers, for sure. Fantastic image quality. The comprehensive video input adjustments are a really nice feature, too.

[belder]

I saw 1 or 2 on E-Bay the other day. I wonder if Costco wishes they had bought more of these? <g> I call it my 220 with a hard drive, or a 520 without firewire. I wanted it just to save to disc things from television and projects that I didn't need to edit on my computer. The biggest plus is that the 420 does what they say it will do. Like zagortenej wrote, it just works!

Plus, I didn't know you could contact the owner and end an E-Bay auction. I love the internet. Learn something new every day!

Congratulations on your find!

[solidsnake]

does anybody know the resolution and bitrate of every recording mode on this? And the audio, is it AC3 or mpeg?

[steve2713]

does anybody know the resolution and bitrate of every recording mode on this? And the audio, is it AC3 or mpeg?

It records in AC3 2 channel. Resolutions, in video mode, are: 1 hour - 2 hours 20 minutes = 720x480, 2 hours 30 min. - 4 hours 30 min. = 352x480, 4 hours 40 min. - 6 hours = 352x240. It records in VBR, if you have a 420 you can check the average bitrates by going into the video recording preview section of the menu. Recording in VR mode also uses 480x480 res. instead of some of the 352 and 780 resolutions, but unfortunately 480x480 isn't DVD Video compliant

[steve2713]

solidsnake, here's the bitrates if you want them:

10.08 FINE, MN32, 1 hour
9.60 mn31, 1 hour 5 min.
8.91
8.32
7.80
7.34
6.93 mn26, 1hr 30min
6.57
6.24
5.94
5.67
5.20 SP, mn21, 2hr
4.80
4.46
4.16 mn18, 2hr 30min, 352x480
3.90
3.67
3.47 mn15, 3hr
3.28
3.12
2.97
2.84
2.71
2.60 LP, mn9, 4 hr
2.45
2.31
2.19 mn6, 4hr 45min, 352x240
2.08
1.98
1.89
1.81
1.73 EP, mn1, 6hr

[Pro-96]

hehe, no wonder i bought 2 from Costco when they were available.. very happy with them too..

[broadway]

Recording in VR mode also uses 480x480 res. instead of some of the 352 and 780 resolutions, but unfortunately 480x480 isn't DVD Video compliant

I'm in the market to replace my JVC since the LOADING bug has reared its ugly head again.

On the JVC, timer records are always in VR mode.
On the Pioneer is it VR mode as well? If it is, will I be able to pull
it into TMPGEnc DVD Author and author without re-encoding? This is important for me because I use timer recordings to record shows when I am at work.

Thanks in advance.

[steve2713]

broadway, when recording onto the HD, everything is recorded in Video mode , so no worries. When recording in VR mode on a -RW, maybe 1/3 of the recording modes (of the 32 'mn' settings) are non-standard resolutions. But that's of no concern with the HD, you can just copy from the HD to a -RW without any changes.

[broadway]

ooops, I forgot that this is the model with the hard drive.

I'm going to get the 220 from Walmart.
I plan on timer recordings of 2 hour per -RW.
Will this be a non-compliant?
I can also see myself recording 3 hours.
Will this be non-compliant.

[gshelley61]

ooops, I forgot that this is the model with the hard drive.

I'm going to get the 220 from Walmart.
I plan on timer recordings of 2 hour per -RW.
Will this be a non-compliant?
I can also see myself recording 3 hours.
Will this be non-compliant.

Just initialize and record the -RW's in DVD-Video format and all will be fine.

[broadway]

Just initialize and record the -RW's in DVD-Video format and all will be fine.

But can I initialize/format the -RW for DVD-Video format, if I am doing timer recordings? On the JVC, recordings made using the timer is in VR mode.

[sync]

Just initialize and record the -RW's in DVD-Video format and all will be fine.

But can I initialize/format the -RW for DVD-Video format, if I am doing timer recordings? On the JVC, recordings made using the timer is in VR mode.

Once it's intialized for video mode then any type of recording on that disk, including timer, will be in that mode.

What you say about the JVC sounds strange.

[broadway]

Just initialize and record the -RW's in DVD-Video format and all will be fine.

But can I initialize/format the -RW for DVD-Video format, if I am doing timer recordings? On the JVC, recordings made using the timer is in VR mode.

Once it's intialized for video mode then any type of recording on that disk, including timer, will be in that mode.

What you say about the JVC sounds strange.

I thought so too, but that's what it says in the manual.
Maybe I misunderstood.

[gshelley61]

I don't think the format chosen to record in is related to the timer functions... but VR format is where you can do the "chase play" features, right? I don't really know for sure. I don't use any of that stuff.

[nickyboy4]

I have to agree with Zagortenej, just reading these and other forums I cant understand why the experts around here always rate the Pioneers as a 2nd or 3rd choice.
I mean JVC has a well known and documented problem that requires in shop repair ? Why anyone would buy a product like that is beyond me under any circumstances.
I have yet to come across anyone in any of these forums that bought a Pioneer unit and had any real hardware problems or complaints.
Myself, I was set to buy a Pany as I have always liked their products but after a little research around the net I went for the Pioneer and dont regret it.

[siratfus]

Hey guys, is it possible to create a playlist and let the machine play one title after another? For example, one of my "GROUP" is dedicated for twilight zone episodes. I would like the machine to play the titles in the group one after another without having to go back into the disc navigator. When one title is finish, if I push next on the remote control, the next title is from the "ALL" menu.

[lumis]

nickboy4 has a point there.. pioneer doesnt get the credit they deserve.. i'm really getting in to pioneer electronics.. dvd burners & recorders, speakers, dvd players, surround sound system.. i think they've become my brand of choice :P

pioneer's hdd dvd recorders seem sweet.. but there are a few things i would like before i make the plunge and purchase one with an hdd in it..

1) multisystem for DVD's (not region free), it works for s/vcd, but not DVD.

2) option to change the audio bitrate to ac3 dd 2.0 192kbps.. right now the only options are LPCM and 256kbps ac3.

3) mpeg4 (divx, xvid) support

4) recording in 16:9, i have the 210s, and it only does 4:3.. when i'm recording from HDTV i have to take it to my computer and patch the video to 16:0.. toshiba does this and it works well. pioneer should do it aswell.. because what if i'm not watching the final dvd on a hdtv? i cant change the setting to correct the AR.

i know pioneer can make a damn good multisystem dvd player, the pioneer dv-270 is an ass kicker.. and they currently have an mpeg4 dvd player in the UK (the 575 i believe).. most dolby digital 2.0 audio is 192kbps, i dont know why they went with the oddball 256kbps.. not too huge of an issue, but a slight waste of video bitrate.. if pioneer could include this in with their recorder (i could live with 256kbps audio), i would buy the recorder in a heartbeat..

the audio bitrate, 16:9 recording & multisystem shouldnt require any additional hardware changes. it could probably be done with a firmware upgrade.

but the mpeg4 playback is the kicker, gotta have that.