The Top 5 DVD Recorders

[Marvingj]

Hello , I 'm going to invest again in another Standalone DVD Recorder. I decide to get away from the cheap ones because it always crap out on me. Does anyone know the top 5 DVD Recorders that do not give owners problems. Thanks for the advice.

[Capmaster]

I'm moving this to the DVD Recorder Forum

[piano632]

Definitely nothing made by Philips or Polaroid

I've had the first Sharp recorder (DV-RW2) for well over a year now with no problems whatsoever. I don't know if the newer Sharp models have the same reliability though. You don't seem to hear much about them.

I'd still like to get a second recorder also - not because there's anything wrong with the Sharp, just that I want something with more options and maybe DNR on the inputs. JVC DR-MH30 anyone?

[lordsmurf]

1. JVC
2. LiteOn
3. Pioneer
4. ...
5. ...

I know the SANYO machine is pretty good, but I'm a bit leary of wanting to give it a "top 5" rating without a little more thought.

One that won't make the cut: Sony, Panasonic, Cyberhome, Memorex, Polaroid.

Toshiba is decent, but you have to be aware of IRE errors.

[harmsway1976]

what is wrong with phillips? i've had the dvdr75 for about 5 months and haven't had a single problem with it. i had a cyberhome before that and decided to return it before my 90 days was up becuase of all the problems i read about.

[zorankarapancev]

Show me the PERFECT DVD Recorder that will not give you ANY problems at ANY time and I will buy it for you!

[piano632]

what is wrong with phillips?

Maybe you got lucky and got a good one. Supposedly the picture quality is good on Philips, but the reliability is questionable. Many complaints all over the net about people having their Philips machine break down, not able to read discs, won't finalize, etc. (usually it happens when the unit is a year old and warranty has just expired - conincidence?) This thread is about the most reliable brands and sorry to say Philips isn't one of them.

[harmsway1976]

you have a point there. for now i'm very satisfied with my chice and that's what matters most.

[hech54]

I'm also a "Lucky Philips Owner". My DVDR985 is over two years old and has broke down once(on July 12th, 2004). I too have read the horror stories of the Philips machines and their "error codes of death" and do not dispute them at all.
The picture quality is top notch in my opinion and it really is hard to beat the compatibility of the discs they create....both is standalone players and computer editing ability.
I think the problems Philips has is that they never anticipated that people who bought their machine would want to instantly throw away the VCR's and DVD Players that they already owned and have the Philips "do it all".
They just don't have the reliability of a VCR or a dedicated DVD Player.

SO many people buy something like a Corvette and stick it in their garage...bringing out on sunny days and not using it for running to get a quart of milk simply because they paid so much for it and want to preserve the car. You can imagine how much I paid for my 985 when it first came out WAY back when (almost $800)...and luckily I had that same mentality. My 985 was....and is still used...for recording only. That is why I bought it.
In my opinion some Philips recorders should be in the top 5 at least. After all....it DOES say DVD Recorder on the box in really big letters.
I read a saying once about a DVD Burner here on this message board..."Burns like a blow torch...reads like a two year old"...or something along those lines. People seem inclined to accept that scenario for their DVD Burners and find a workable solution...I've done the same with my Philips 985.
Would I buy another Philips?...that is a definate MAYBE...

[Thomas Davie]

.

SO many people buy something like a Corvette and stick it in their garage...bringing out on sunny days and not using it for running to get a quart of milk simply because they paid so much for it and want to preserve the car. You can imagine how much I paid for my 985 when it first came out WAY back when (almost $800)...and luckily I had that same mentality. My 985 was....and is still used...for recording only. That is why I bought it.

You've got (IMO) a very good point. I bought a Liteon (actually a Daytek) back in March, and use it for recording only. I bought a second player to play back discs, and save the revorder for it's intended purposes. I've made ~40 discs with zero problems save for one disc that failed in recording (and this was directly attributable to a pizza grease stained fingerprint on the recording side of the disc...and after thoroughly washing the disc problem solved).

Will something better come along? Yes. Bu for now, this works for me. I've got a question about your machine; does it have an 8 hour mode, and how is it?

thanks

Tom

[Scobo]

Another Philips DVDR75 owner here and no problems with my machine either !
@ piano632, I think the problems with Philips recorders you refer to are mainly with older models.
I've seen the DVDR70 for as little as £149.99 here in the UK and I'd say it's great value at that price.

[hech54]

I think mine has 8 hour mode "now". The firmware upgrade I did to get rid of the error message also gave me extra recording modes(times). I know I now have the 2.5 hour mode and maybe 8 hour. Until then I had never upgraded the firmware.....it has had the original ff9 "something" up until July 2004. I'll be using it tomorrow so I'll let you know for sure. I've never used anything beyond 2 hour mode.

[The village idiot]

1. JVC
2. LiteOn
3. Pioneer
4. ...
5. ...

I know the SANYO machine is pretty good, but I'm a bit leary of wanting to give it a "top 5" rating without a little more thought.

One that won't make the cut: Sony, Panasonic, Cyberhome, Memorex, Polaroid.

Toshiba is decent, but you have to be aware of IRE errors.

What don't you like about the Emerson EWR10D4? So far 1 hour and 2 hour mode look good off of analog cable. I'm not going to bother trying the longer modes.

[lordsmurf]

My beef with Emerson is longevity in general. Their products rarely last. I'm more against the company than the machine. GoVideo is the same way. Crap company.

Almost all recorders look okay in 1-2 hour mode. Just like all VCRs were fine in SP mode. It's longer ranges that dictate video quality.

I don't know anybody that recorded VHS in SP mode. We always did LP or EP/SLP mode. Why leave longer VHS times for "better" format that limits your time? Nobody wants that. You need a format that can do at least acceptable LP in great quality. This means interlaced recording and less noise.

I grade machines on the 3-4 hour cycle. That's the cherry spot people want. The most time at quite decent quality.

[handyguy]

try our comment section:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters

yes, dvd recorders are in the dvd writer section.

[richdvd]

Great results so far with the Panasonic E55!

[hech54]

My beef with Emerson is longevity in general. Their products rarely last. I'm more against the company than the machine. GoVideo is the same way. Crap company.

Same here....I wouldn't buy anything with Emerson's name on it. I've been equally un-impressed with anything GoVideo as well. First thing that comes to mind with GoVideo is....Emerson.

[lordsmurf]

My beef with Emerson is longevity in general. Their products rarely last. I'm more against the company than the machine. GoVideo is the same way. Crap company.

Same here....I wouldn't buy anything with Emerson's name on it. I've been equally un-impressed with anything GoVideo as well. First thing that comes to mind with GoVideo is....Emerson.

Add RCA and Magnavox to that list too.
Magnavox was swallowed by Philips some years back. Hmm..

[indolikaa]

Great results so far with the Panasonic E55!

Me, too.

Unfortunately, I cannot give JVC the kudos it appears to deserve. I have so far had two units arrive at my house. The first was dead right out of the box, and the second worked for all of 18 minutes before the optics died. As both were from different suppliers, I now have some serious reservations about ordering a third unit.

I don't know anybody that recorded VHS in SP mode.

Yes you do!

[hech54]

My beef with Emerson is longevity in general. Their products rarely last. I'm more against the company than the machine. GoVideo is the same way. Crap company.

Same here....I wouldn't buy anything with Emerson's name on it. I've been equally un-impressed with anything GoVideo as well. First thing that comes to mind with GoVideo is....Emerson.

Add RCA and Magnavox to that list too.
Magnavox was swallowed by Philips some years back. Hmm..

I wouldn't buy the Magnavox either come to think of it. That one reminds me of my LEAST favorite Philips.....the 70. THAT Philips I would NOT buy.

[gshelley61]

You all know how much I like my JVC DR-M10SL. I have a Panasonic E50 which I also like OK, but the JVC makes a better MPEG2 recording and burns in DVD-Video format to DVD-RW's (a huge plus for me). The pre-encoding processer ("DigiPure" DNR/TBC filtering) really works and does a great job of suppressing video noise. Reliability has not been a problem for me. It's been working like a champ so far.

I'm sure even better performing DVD recorders are just around the corner, but the recording PQ of the JVC is hard to beat right now.

[samijubal]

If Go Video uses the same maker for their DVD recorders as their VCRs they are Samsung, do we need to say anything more about the quality. If Emerson uses the same company as their VCRs they are Orion, a step up from Samsung but not a huge one. I really liked the JVC better than the Panasonic but after trouble in the first 2 weeks I question how long the unit will last. At least My E20 lasted a little over 2 1/2 years. I bought a 5 year warranty on the JVC too just like the Panasonic, so I guess I'm covered.

[lordsmurf]

So far, I think the only JVC complaints come from eCost buyers. Is this true?

Mine came from Crutchfield the first week the machine was available in the USA.

[indolikaa]

So far, I think the only JVC complaints come from eCost buyers. Is this true?

Mine came from Crutchfield the first week the machine was available in the USA.

Crutchfield, and Ultimate Electronics in Phoenix. And both were shipped box-within-box. The Phoenix shipment came in a 27" TV Box filled with peanuts, so I'm thinking shipping probably wasn't the culprit.

[gshelley61]

Mine came from eCost. Made in China, too. Like I said, no problems so far.

[lordsmurf]

Well that was a short-lived theory.

[indolikaa]

Well that was a short-lived theory.

Bad luck on my part, methinks. I'm the black cloud of hell when it comes to shipping. I'm thinking this time I'll just drive to Phoenix and get the damn thing...

[samijubal]

Mine came from RC Willey and was made in Japan. Within the first 2 weeks it would go into loading a few times a day.

[ejai]

I didn't buy my JVC from eCost and it still went down (laser went bad). I am still trying to adjust to having it back. Wondering if it would last longer this time. My E50 and E30 have been around a long time and have not went down once.

I know some people put down the picture quality of the Panasonics but I have made excellent recordings using my E50. I admit if you go over 2 1/2 hours you will notice block noise throughout the video. I usually don't. 8)

[samijubal]

I never used anything over SP, but the E20 recorded good in SP. I think the JVC is a little cleaner when looking at backgrounds though. It doesn't seem like the JVC gets that digitized look on dark scenes as bad as the Panasonic did either.