Does the Pioneer DVR-640H-s Support 1394 Fire Wire

[jrank001]

Hi. I am trying to transfer my mini dv tapes off of my Sony DCR PC-110 with 1394 Fire wire. Well it looks like my Pioneer DVR-640H-s does not support that. How then can I get the best transfer quality to my recorders HDD? Thanks

[Frobozz]

The U.S. version of the Pioneer 640 does not have the Firewire input. I believe it is present on the European and Japanese versions.

On the AVS DVD recorder forum there are many who seem to like the picture better when transferring via S-video than via DV on recorders that have both options. For me, I'm perfectly happy with the DV transfers on my Pioneer DVR-510H and prefer it because of the conveniences of automatic title and chapter breaks, controlling the camera via the DVD recorder's remote, and one-wire connection.

The advantage of S-video connection is you get to use the Pioneer's Video Adjustment controls to tweak the incoming video and you can record the time/date stamp if you want that.

I would have upgraded to the 640 if Pioneer had not dropped the DV link. However, I think you shouldn't worry much about a noticeable loss of picture quality according to what I've read in posts by others who have made the comparisons.

[jrank001]

Will I be losing a lot of picture quality if I transfer via s-video? Or should I see if I can get a Pioneer DVR-633H-s? I am hearing that this is not a user friendly unit.

[deuce8pro]

I dont have this Pioneer machine but I do think there is a quality difference in transferring digital video using a firewire. Its the way to go.