Which DVD recorder to buy???

[MunDMC]

Hi all,
I'm taking the plunge and buying a DVD recorder to back up large amounts of VHS tapes fro a doctor i'm working for. Yes, i know VHS to MPEG-2 720x480 will yield an increase in qulaity.

1) I need the media to be compatible with DVD ROM's
2) I need the media to be compatible with set-top boxes

The Pioneer and Phillips are neck and neck in my mind. Any inpit is really, really appreciated.

Thx
Dan

[MunDMC]

Whoops,
I meant DVD to MPEG-2 720x480 will NOT yield an increase in quality.
Thx again

[alkieman]

It comes down to a simple choice at the moment.

If you want the cheapest most compatible media then it has to be the Pioneer DVD-R/RW drive. Blank DVD-R media can now be had for less than 2 USD or 2UKP. Blank DVD-RW media is around 5-7 USD, and around 6 UKP in the UK.

The Philips/HP DVD+RW drives are faster but much less compatible and media is still pretty expensive at around 10 USD per blank. No DVD+R write once format yet exists and Philips are now advising that existing DVD+RW drives are unlikely to be compatible with DVD+R media when it is launched.

So there's your choice. For video work it has to be DVD-R/RW but for PC data storage then DVD+RW might be the better bet because of it's fatser writing speeds.

[Melvin]

2 USD???
Where? On-line stores?

[Kusanagi]

Here:

http://www.cd-recordable.com/



Kusanagi

[SLK001]

I would buy the Pioneer unit (specifically, I would - and am - wait for the DVR-A04 drive to ship in volume later this month). It offers BUFFER UNDER-RUN PROTECTION in both DVD and CD recording.

The A04 can record DVDs at 2X, while the Philips and the HP DVD+RW drives record at 2.4X. Although DVD+R compatibility was promised at the initial release of the drives, it now appears that the earliest generation of the DVD+RW drives will NOT be able to burn DVD+R (which, are still not available).

Media, as mentioned above, is much cheaper AND more compatible with existing machines, for the DVD-R and DVD-RW drives.

The DVD+RW drives MAY be technically superior in that they record 20% faster and they offered buffer under-run in their intital units. However, this is probably a case of too little too late. With the release of the A04, Pioneer is closing the "technically superior" gap. DVD-R drives will get faster - probably by the next generation we will see 4X drives, but remember that most cheap media today can only reliably burn at slow speeds (1X - this is only what I have heard - I have no personal experience here).

Some people say "wait until the DVD war is won by someone..." The only problem is that it may be YEARS. I say select one side and dig in and make a stand. For me, I'm going with the Pioneer DVR-A04. My computer has its slot all ready for its arrival. My only wish is that it be offered in a SCSI interface version.

[MunDMC]

Thx a lot for your feedback sofar, it's making my choice a lot easier!

[ktnwin]

There is one more choice. You can buy a consumer set-top-box DVD recorder (for about 800-900 US$). It will record from VCR directly on DVD-R media in real time.
If you know how record with a VCR, you know how to use this one.
It's a little expensive, but it avoid capturing, conversion, burning issues and therefor saves lot of time .
I am thinking about buying one and save all the headache of conversion and burning issues.
I have no problem in the capturing part and actually have lot of funs doing conversion and burning of VCD/SVCD disc. It just consumes too much time.

[FOTD]

any more info on that stand alone recorder? is it a seperate unit that u could just drop a a/v input too. if so then you should be able to record anything to it (say another dvd player)....might be something for me to think about. i would eventually like to bring all my svcd/vcd's to dvd but with over 500 it would take years if i have to do all the conversion crap. any info would be appreciated =).

[Kusanagi]

If you want a stand-alone DVD-R/RAM player/recorder look at the Panasonic E20 unit. I've had first hand experience with it and did the job (dumping hours of Hi8 tapes to DVD(-R) ) superbly. The only disadvantage that I could see right away is that it has no Firewire/i.Link input at all, which is a bummer for all us miniDV/Digital8 camcorder owners out there. It did have 3 RCA/S-video A/V inputs which come in real handy for mutltiple connections (TV, VCR, video walkmans, etc.) Anyway, the best price for the E20 that I could find quickly is at profeel.com at around $778, here:

http://profeel.com/pandmre20.htm

Hope this info helps,

Kusanagi

[alkieman]

This months What HIFI has a review of all three recorders and formats. The Philips DVD+RW, the Panasonic DVD-RAM and the Pioneer DVD-RW. Their choice was the Pioneer in terms of quality of recordings.

Some of the reviewers don't do their research properly though as they were moaning about the high costs of media. This is true for DVD-RAM and DVD+RW but not so for DVD-R/RW.

http://www.bigpockets.co.uk
DVD-R and DVD-RW media for 2 UK pounds each?.. that sure isn't expensive in my book.

[alkieman]

Incidently.

Both the Pioneer DVD-R/RW stand alone recorder and the Philips DVD+RW stand alone recorder both have Firewire inputs.

I'm planning to buy the Pioneer because I think DVD-R/RW will win the consumer war simply because it's more compatible and the media is cheaper. Just my opinion though.

[jolo]

For DVD writers. I see such slow speeds like 2x and 1x.
How long does it take to burn on a DVD writer ? Speed seem so slow, even in CD-R mode.

[silverbeetle]

I'm also in the process of deciding on what dvd burner to buy. i've seen the pioneer dvr-a03 and dvr-a04 mentioned a bit here, i was wondering if anyone is familiar with and has any opinion and/or info on the pioneer dvr-s201. how does it compare? Cheers

[SkinnyDog]

Don't count out DVD+R/RW just yet. At the Cebit, all major companies selling DVD+RWs announced DVD+R ability in their next generation of recorders coming out at the end of the month through the middle of April.

In theory DVD+R will match the compatibility percentage of DVD-R. By mid-April the two types of DVD recorders will finally have very similar features though DVD+R/RW will probably still have a slight technological superiority. At that point it will prpbably be more marketing and price that will determine the dominant format.

BTW, the 2X or 2.4 write times of DVD drives is not at all comparable to the write times of CD drives. In general they write as fast or faster than existing CD recordable drives.

[Greg12]

i read that 1x dvd read is 12 megs.

[moonmoon]

I too am about to take the plunge, fully knowing that in a short amount of time, my chosen format may be shot down by consumers. I am looking at the Pioneer DVR series, specifically the DVR-A04. I had two questions though:

1. What are the differences (specifications) between the A03 and A04? Someone mentioned Buffer-Over-Run Protection, is this true? Does anyone have a url with information? Is the A04 preferred over the A03, does this justify the additional cost or is it just a new firmware to the A03?

2. What is the best website to purchase the drives from? Any other good DVD-R media sites would be helpful too!

Thanks for your help!

[SingSing]

I'm taking the plunge and buying a DVD recorder to back up large amounts of VHS tapes fro a doctor i'm working for. Yes, i know VHS to MPEG-2 720x480 will yield an increase in qulaity.

Why don't you try the $899 Hitachi DVD camcorder ? Plug in the audio/video cable and start recording. No computer and no long encoding time involved !

Oh, you can't improve quality beyond the source, just get more fuzzy dots.

[mikerios]

moonmoon,

the A04 differs from the A03 in that

it uses DMA instead of PIO

it has burnproof

it will use hi speed cd-rw media

other than that the write speeds are the same.

[silverbeetle]

i've noticed that the A04 has been put on pre-order in some online stores through my browsing but i haven't seen mention of any release dates or costs... can anyone enlighten me with any of this information?

[moonmoon]

http://www.esbuy.com/piondvra0pre.html - $499
3/22/02

http://www.shopharmony.com/ - $409
B/O 1 Week

http://www.buymstar.com/detailsSpecials.asp?pid=603 - $480
No Date (acts like in stock)

[SLK001]

The Pioneer DVR-A04 was released on Monday (3/18). It is starting to show up on your usual sites. Check
http://www.firewiredirect.com/firewire/products/dvd.shtml

- they list it for $399 (US). Keep an eye on

http://www.pricewatch.com/

- they can ususally show you who has the best price (but VERIFY that they have the item IN-STOCK!).

I have a .PDF file (rather grainy) of the drive that I got off some site off-shore (don't remember where) that I could send you (send me an email). This explains the improvements of the drive over the A03.

[SLK001]

Sorry, that release date was Monday, March 18.

[alkieman]

Sure the next generation DVD+RW recorders are supposed to support DVD+R but Philips have said that none of the first generation will, despite having promised they would. This includes ALL currently available Ricoh, HP and Phlips DVD+RW drives as well as the others currently out there.

In my view this is appalling, not because it isn't common practice, it is, but simply because Philips promised that current models would be upgradeable. Philips clearly lied to their customers to ensure that sales of current models did not suffer.