Best Dvd Recorder/Vcr Combo

[rosbif08]

Hey, I'd just like to resurrect this thread... I've got about 20 years worth of VHS's that need converting to DVD and so far I've been doing it fairly successfully using the VCR > laptop > DVD method with the MAGIX Rescue Your Videotapes kit. Its alright, but quite time-consuming and I've been thinking of getting a VCR/DVD combi to make the whole thing a bit quicker and hopefully improve the quality a bit as I have to lower the quality settings slightly on my laptop because otherwise it gets quite a lot of dropped frames. I've googled about but there seem to be a lot of options out there, so rather than picking one out I'd like to ask on here for advice first, I've found this site helpful in the past. I know the last message on this thread wasn't all that positive towards combis but as it was 4 years ago I'm guessing the situation has changed quite a bit since then? Anyway, if anyone can recommend a decent one with good results I'd be grateful. Thanks.

[pepegot1]

If any of your tapes have macrovision on them, you are SOL! That's one reason for not having a combo unit.

[jjeff]

If you already have a decent VCR I'd just get a good line input DVDR and avoid the combos. If anything combos have gotten much worse than '06. Actually '06 had the pretty decent Panasonic ES-35v and ES-45/46v. Now Panasonics combos would be the EA-38v and EZ-48v, both of which have bugs and quirks inherent to all recent Panasonics.
In your case I'd get a Panasonic EA-18 or maybe the Magnavox 2160a or 513, both of the last two models have a HDD which would be very handy for editing your recordings. For lots of information on the Maggys check out the DVDR forum AVS.
I really really can't suggest any current combos, if your VCR isn't in the best shape I'd suggest checking out craigslist or a local second hand store, they are very reasonable and many have hardly been used.
At AVS a few people have reported good luck with a couple of recent Toshiba combos but I have no personal experience with them. Some Toshibas seem quite sensitive to false CP as do Sony DVDRs.

[victoriabears]

The Panasonic units if you must go combo, or a sharp vcr with super picture and a jvc dvd recorder

[Chopmeister]

Unless you have a particular reason to go for a combination unit, avoid them.

A separate VCR and recorder means that if you are transferring tapes you can put a fairly cheap hardware device between them to stabilise the picture and neutralise macrovision, otherwise many tapes won't copy. In my experience, this includes tapes that aren't copy protected commercial ones - as older tapes and/or bade recordings can have signal fluctuations that the hardware interprets as macrovision and triggers recording stopping. Furthermore, the stand alone DVD units are typically much better quality than the combi ones - and if you get one with a hard drive you trim the recording before transfer to disc. I transferred tapes using my old VCR and a Panny EH68 DVD recorder, and the results were pretty good given the limitations of the source material.


A secondary consideration is that going separate also means that if one part of the rig breaks, you don't have to junk the working DVD/VCR bit.

[johns0]

rosbif08-Please do not hijack and dig up old posts,for this time i moved your posts to a new thread.

Also all dvd recorder/vcr combo's are a piece of junk,bar none.

[rosbif08]

Thanks for the replies, sorry for using the old thread I thought you'd prefer it. I can't really ignore everyone's advice that they're no good so I guess I won't be getting one at all.... I will find out how to link up a separate VCR and DVD player and do it that way. Can anyone comment on whether or not the quality of the copy will be better that way compared to the way I'm doing it now ie VCR > laptop > DVD?

[jjeff]

I've never done the PC route but I have heard the dropped frames things is a common complaint. OTH using standalones I've not ran into that problem. I get a copy that if anything looks better than the source.
You haven't said how many hours you want to fit on one SL DVD but if 2hrs or less most any recorder should be pretty decent. I prefer Panasonics for the 2-3 hr range because they keep full resolution and don't drop to 1/2 D1 like most all other standalones.

[rosbif08]

Looks like standalones are the way forward then. The way I've been doing it I've only been able to get about an hour on each disc without compromising the quality any further, but if I could fit any more on then that would be great. Not that I really know where to start, but I'm sure this site will get me through it! Cheers guys