Newbie questions thanks for the patience

[tocarla]

Hopefully some of this will be like the questions nobody wants to ask, even if it is somewhat specific. I thank you all for your patience and also for the posts already here, from which I have learned quite a bit.

Here's the deal: I have been pouring over this site and cnet reviews and all other review sites and such and my head is killing me. I can't make up my mind which way to go when making my first DVD Recorder purchase. My budget is around $500 so no hard drive, unfortunatly. Basically, I am looking for something to back up old 8mm and VHS tapes. I am also, in tandem with this, buying a new camcorder, to improve the quality of the transfer, and because my old one is breaking down.

I am NOT concerned with editing, I will be more than happy with straight transfers onto DVD without any fancy menus or edits. I am also not concerned with tv guides, timer recording, and stuff like that---I plan on always recording onto VHS and dubbing onto DVD just so I dont have to worry about the show being waiting for me as a coaster.

I believe I have narrowed it down to a Panasonic [likely the E50 model] or the Philips DVDR75. Which one is a superior machine for what I am looking to do? I know they are different formats. One of the considerations too is I wish to eventually use these DVDs to edit the footage properly on a new CPU in a year or two, and I have read that the Philips makes discs that are tough to read on a CPU. Is this accurate?

Which of the two recorders would have a better quality picture, specifically in the 2 and 2.5 hr mode? And are their any caveats about either machine? It seems to be that Panasonics are quite popular here, I take it the E50 is a good model?


Seperate but related question: is it worth my time/money to buy a $500 camcorder to use the firewire, does this transfer come out signifigantly better than if I used a new analog camcorder and some Monster RCA cables?

Any help you can be I appreciate. Thanks in advance!

[bobones]

I have an E50. It's a great machine. If you use dvd-ram for timeshifting, you needn't worry about making coasters: dvd-ram (especially in caddies) is a very reliable and durable medium. dvd-r is a bit less reliable, but once you've found a brand your machine likes, you shouldn't be making coasters with it either. Recording to a vcr first is a complete waste. I can't vouch for Philips, but I've seen a lot of posts from users with DVD+RW (and DVD-RW) discs that can no longer be read or written to. This just doesn't happen with RAM, especially the type protected from scratches and fingerprints by a caddy.

One big advantage that the Panasonics have is FR mode. With this you set the duration of the recording you want to make, and the machine sets the bitrate to fill the disc exactly: you don't need to use the 4 hour mode for a 2.5hr film. The Philips only has fixed recording modes, so you're always wasting some of the disc space and sacrificing quality if your not bang on the recording time limit.

I'm led to believe that the Panasonics have a better time base correction circuitry than the Philips for stabalizing dubs from vhs. The Panasonics also have far superior editing and trick playback features than the Philips'.

The Philips advantage is that it's rewriteable discs (dvd+rw) can be played in a large number of ordinary dvd players. The dvd-ram discs that the pannies use can only be read in drives that specifically support the format. Each machine's write-once format (dvd-r and dvd+r) is highly compatible with ordinary dvd-players and drives. You should have no problem editing either format on a PC equipped with a suitable drive/burner.

The E50 doesn't have a firewire input - you need to go to the E60 for that. I'm not sure what the Philips has. I'm led to believe that the firewire interface is not significantly better than using the s-video input to the E50. (S-video (mini-din plug) is better than composite (yellow phono)).

[Harry York]

Hopefully some of this will be like the questions nobody wants to ask, even if it is somewhat specific. I thank you all for your patience and also for the posts already here, from which I have learned quite a bit.

Here's the deal: I have been pouring over this site and cnet reviews and all other review sites and such and my head is killing me. I can't make up my mind which way to go when making my first DVD Recorder purchase. My budget is around $500 so no hard drive, unfortunatly. Basically, I am looking for something to back up old 8mm and VHS tapes. I am also, in tandem with this, buying a new camcorder, to improve the quality of the transfer, and because my old one is breaking down.

I am NOT concerned with editing, I will be more than happy with straight transfers onto DVD without any fancy menus or edits. I am also not concerned with tv guides, timer recording, and stuff like that---I plan on always recording onto VHS and dubbing onto DVD just so I dont have to worry about the show being waiting for me as a coaster.

I believe I have narrowed it down to a Panasonic [likely the E50 model] or the Philips DVDR75. Which one is a superior machine for what I am looking to do? I know they are different formats. One of the considerations too is I wish to eventually use these DVDs to edit the footage properly on a new CPU in a year or two, and I have read that the Philips makes discs that are tough to read on a CPU. Is this accurate?

Which of the two recorders would have a better quality picture, specifically in the 2 and 2.5 hr mode? And are their any caveats about either machine? It seems to be that Panasonics are quite popular here, I take it the E50 is a good model?


Seperate but related question: is it worth my time/money to buy a $500 camcorder to use the firewire, does this transfer come out signifigantly better than if I used a new analog camcorder and some Monster RCA cables?

Any help you can be I appreciate. Thanks in advance!

I just purchased a Panasoic E80h on E-bay for $495. Dont buy one without a hard drive.

[donpedro]

I didn't start reading this post yet but I have to react.....

"Newbie questions thanks for the patience" - this topic does not tell me what it ia about. Next time use somethink that describes what it is about. This could be about surgeon that came to new hospital and can not find restrooms.

[netuer]

I bought a Sony RDR-GX7 to convert my large VHS collection (without copy protection) to DVD. I record the VHS on DVD+RW. Then I copy the content to the computer. I edit the start and end of the VHS, create titles/chapters, and then burn it to DVD+R.

I did buy a E50/E60 to compare the analog PQ. E50 is basically the same as E60. E60 has firewire input. So the feature is more similar to GX7. The PQ of analog capture on GX7 is a bit better, so I returned E50/E60. However, GX7 is about $100 more expensive. But I don't have DVD-ROM that reads DVD-RAM disk, but I would have to spend an extra $50 to buy one and some money to buy a few DVD-RAM disks. So the "total cost" between the GX7 and E60 is about the same for me since I already have a DVD+RW burner and many DVD+R/RW disks.

However, Sony doesn't allow recording of copy protected material.

You can read more about my experience and some sample screen shots in another posting.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=192386&highlight=