Questions on standalone dvd recorders and compatability

[Bartflaster]

Hi all
I am thinking of buying a standalone dvd recorder, after some research I had decided on the Sony RDR-GX3 due to reviews and the use of minus r/rw disks that will be compatible with my PC writer.
It lacks a firewire card for my dv camcorder, but I can hook it up via s-video so thats not a major problem.
But, reading these forums, it seems the recorder is very fussy over discs used, and this is a concern for me.
Are there any others I should consider, I do need to use minus r/rw discs unless there is a compelling enough reason to upgrade the PC writer to a dual format one.

Secondly, and for me the most important question.
I understand you can record onto RW disks in a "VR" mode, which allows later editing etc. Can this mode of dvdr be read by pc dvdroms ?

Thanks in advance.

[spiderman2k1]

Sony has a burner that has problem's get the Panasonic E80H I got mine for $497.00 at www.6ave.com and got the LG 4081 8X buner to read DVD-RAm at www.newegg.com I have no problem's with Panasonic or the LG

[PhilipL]

Withdrawn

[spiderman2k1]

From ever thing I read Pioneer is not as good as Panasonic . I'll give you the number one reason editting TV show is not as good as Panasonic and from what I have read it does not edit out the commercial's just does a chapter hide. There there but with a hidden chapter it just skip over the commercial's with Panasonic you edit them out also giving more more for the rest of the video. Pioneer's SP mode some people say it's not as good as Panasonic. I can not say for my self but thats what I have read.

[spiderman2k1]

PhilipL wrote [/quote] (supports time-slip like DVD-RAM[quote] Pioneer does not support DVD-RAm only DVD-R and DVD-RW. Panasonic support's DVD-R and DVD-RAM

[donpedro]

spiderman2k1, what was ment is "Pioneer has Time Slip function on DVD-RW like Panasonic on DVD-RAM."

[donpedro]

From ever thing I read Pioneer is not as good as Panasonic . I'll give you the number one reason editting TV show is not as good as Panasonic and from what I have read it does not edit out the commercial's just does a chapter hide. There there but with a hidden chapter it just skip over the commercial's with Panasonic you edit them out also giving more more for the rest of the video. Pioneer's SP mode some people say it's not as good as Panasonic. I can not say for my self but thats what I have read.

If you get Pioneer with HD like Panasonic E80, you don't need to worry about hide chapter. If recorded on HD, you can high-speed dub to DVD-R and result should be same. Panasonic have some issues when trying high-speed dub to DVD-R.

BTW: I loved "shorten segment" on E80.

[Bartflaster]

Thanks for the input guys, the VR compatability is the main concern, I want to be able to record on RW on the standalone, edit out commercial breaks etc, then take the RW to the PC to copy the edited result onto a DVD-R, without much in the way of editing to do on the PC.

Most of you appear to be US based, so prices are not comparable to the UK (you get far better prices).
The cheapest I have found any reasonable writers for is around £350 which is around $634 US.
When you consider that most standalones with HD's are getting upwards of the equivelent to $870 US, you can see its a bit cost prohibitive for me.
I hadn't spotted the pioneer 3100, that looks to fit the bill for me, I am going to check which connections it has, anyone have a link or two to some reviews ?

**EDIT**
Hmm I hope it performs well, it has all the connections I need, even the firewire for my DV camcorder, and it must be said,I have a liking for pioneer when it cames to video equipment (LD;Pioneer, DVD player;Pioneer and PC dvd writer; Pioneer) :P
I can get this multiregion for £348, which for our prices, looks to be a great deal

[donpedro]

Shortly, if you want best compatibility, you should re-author on PC.

[Bartflaster]

I found a 2 page review of the Pioneer 3100 in one of my HC magazines (how I missed it I dont know ), looks like this is the baby I will go for
Thanks for the help everyone 8)

[spiderman2k1]

Read this post

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=197557&highlight=

and this one

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=343208