Here We Go Again! - Need Your Help

[chole]

Here We Go Again! - Need Your Help

I’m looking to buy my first stand alone DVD recorder, I have one in my computer, a sonyVAIO, but never use it, it’s a pain, everything takes so long.

What I’m looking for is ease of use and great quality. My top priority is copying SVHS and Hi 8 tapes. I’d also like the ability to copy directly from my DV camcorder and tape directly from my motorola (comcast) digital receiver.

Is there any great advantage in also having a built in hard drive for my purposes.

Can you do any on board editing if you have one

Kindly suggest the best units with and without the hard drive.

Price is a factor but not if I have to give up a lot of quality or ease of use for it.

Does anyone know about the panny DMR-E55s

[FOO]

Excellent descriptive title
Ask your mommy

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator Baldrick

[makntraks]

Excellent descriptive title
Ask your mommy

What ^^^ he says... your lucky I already have a Yellow card....

makntraks

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator Baldrick

[chole]

Did you guys get lost, I believe your looking for http://www.flamechamps.com

[FOO]

Nah , we don't need any help , we're experts here

[macleod]

I have the panasonic (panny) E30 model, which I purchased off of ebay for about $300. It does not have a hard drive, but has several input channels. I think that the only time a hard drive would benefit you is if you're recording a number of different things from different places or times. Not having one, I dont know what I am missing. Cant recommend my panny enough.

[Supreme2k]

Get a DVD Recorder with firewire input

That being said, I haved to point out that it's odd that you would post "Here we go again" on your first post. Isn't there a requirement that you do something at least once before you can do it again?

[dwight55]

I've mentioned on several posts that Sears sells a really good unit, under the Sansui label, . . . VRDVD4005 is the model no. $400 was the Christmas price. It only does 1x, but I can take a VHS, or an 8mm (std or Hi8) and turn it into a DVD-R in 10 minutes longer than the video on the tape. (That's the time for formatting first, . . . and finalizing after).
The quality is perfectly equal to your camera, or your tape.
My wife got me one for Christmas and I've had a ball with it.
Best part about it, . . . you do not need a computer or have to be a real techhie to figure it out.
May God bless,
Dwight

[makntraks]

Nah , we don't need any help , we're experts here

Dude - Indeedy we rawk!
On the prowl...

makntraks

[chole]

Get a DVD Recorder with firewire input

That being said, I haved to point out that it's odd that you would post "Here we go again" on your first post. Isn't there a requirement that you do something at least once before you can do it again?

I just figure this same question has been asked 1000 times before?

[Synergy]

I just figure this same question has been asked 1000 times before?

If you are serious about buying a standalone DVD recorder for your specific needs, I would suggest that you seek advice from the following place:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=05b3a5cef3b18479a8d113b09eccd034&forumid=106

Since you don't seem to be interested in using the computer for DVD editing, you probably should consider a DVD recorder with a hard disk and the Panasonic DMR-E80H is currently the least expensive on the market. If you shop carefully, you should be able to get one for $450-$500. I personally don't think a firewire input is as important as a hard disk, but if you insist on having it, then either the Pioneer DVR-510H or Toshiba RD-XS32 should be a good choice. With a hard disk DVD recorder, it becomes less important that which re-writeable DVD media (DVD-RW or DVD-RAM) is used by the manufacturer. Just my two cents.

[Neuron]

.... I personally don't think a firewire input is as important as a hard disk.

It depends on personal preferences and the purpose of using DVD recorder. My preferences are having firewire port over HDD because I have DV camcorder. Of course it is very nice to have both, but ....

[chole]

I just figure this same question has been asked 1000 times before?

If you are serious about buying a standalone DVD recorder for your specific needs, I would suggest that you seek advice from the following place:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=05b3a5cef3b18479a8d113b09eccd034&forumid=106

Since you don't seem to be interested in using the computer for DVD editing, you probably should consider a DVD recorder with a hard disk and the Panasonic DMR-E80H is currently the least expensive on the market. If you shop carefully, you should be able to get one for $450-$500. I personally don't think a firewire input is as important as a hard disk, but if you insist on having it, then either the Pioneer DVR-510H or Toshiba RD-XS32 should be a good choice. With a hard disk DVD recorder, it becomes less important that which re-writeable DVD media (DVD-RW or DVD-RAM) is used by the manufacturer. Just my two cents.

Is there any advantage to using a firewire input over an S input.

[ZippyP.]

Is there any advantage to using a firewire input over an S input.

With S-video the camera is doing a digital (DV) to analog (S-video) conversion and the recorder is doing an analog (S-video) to digital (mpeg2) conversion.

With DV, the digital footage on the tape is converted only once, by the recorder.

You might be hard pressed to tell the difference, but the DV all-digital method should be the best.

[FOO]

Looks like Baldrick is in a bad mood today

[bbllc]

Sony RDR-GX7. Purchase price is fairly high ($699 average retail), but the quality of the burns is excellent.

[susan_m]

I'm a newbie here myself, but want to add my voice in recommendation of the Panasonic DMR-E80H. I bought mine primarily to transfer VHS tapes to DVD-R, and it's worked perfectly for this purpose. It's also totally replaced my VCR for time-shifting recordings off the air. I have it hooked up to antenna, a VCR, and a Samsung digital off-the-air receiver and get great recordings from all three sources.

IMO, a hard drive is essential if you want to do any editing of the tapes you're transferring. (Plus if you're using it as a VCR-replacement, you can store a lot of video on the hard drive.)

I haven't used it with a camcorder, so can't speak to that issue.