Current DVD Recorders available?????

[Regor21]

My brother in law is looking for a DVD recorder, but I haven't been able to find any around in the less than $200.00 (Canadian) range. I own a Liteon, which of course is not available now, so what is and where?

[orsetto]

The only DVD recorder in North America thats still available "new" worth buying is the US-market Magnavox H2160. Try checking J&R Electronics website in New York City: J&R has an exclusive deal with the mfr to sell refurbished (i.e., new but open box) units for $159. J&R should be able to ship it direct to you in Canada. The refurbs sell out quickly but stock arrives every few weeks: I just checked and they have only a couple left today so move fast if you need it right away. (J&R has been in business 30 years and is a totally legit dealer with multiple specialty stores in NYC for computers, audio and home theater.) Brand new sealed Magnavox H2160s are only available thru Wal*Mart or Target online, at prices ranging from $229-279, and they won't ship to Canada because of mfr import restrictions. Get the refurb from J&R- much better deal, I picked up a couple there myself back in November.

The H2160 has the only really dependable ATSC tuner/timer of any current recorder, which will be useful to you when Canada follows us into digital broadcasting. The Magnavox also has a 160GB hard drive, which makes timeshifting and editing commercials much much easier, and avoids the annoyance of eraseable DVDs for watch-and-erase temporary recordings. The Magnavox is overall not as "nice" as similar Pioneer and Sony models that were sold in Canada until recently, but its half the price and includes the soon-to-be-crucial digital tuner these fancier machines lacked. All other North American-market recorders are pretty crappy and skimp on features now, a poor value especially at the prices they're asking.

[handyguy]

You can find plenty on ebay. If you're going that used route, I'd look there.

[victoriabears]

Happy new Years one and all:-

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/class.asp?logon=&langid=EN&catid=24854

http://www.bestbuy.ca/search/searchresult.asp?logon=&langid=EN&search=KWS

Or go to your local Wal Mart and get the suggested model (s)

I have also used this company with great success, but work on the basis that returning the item is uneconomical, but everything I have bought has been good:- They used to do border free so you knew what the total was but now it seems they use Fedex to Canada, (Better than ups) and you takes your chances with taxes.

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecce/category/category.aspx?category=155438261

or

http://shop.ebay.ca/i.html?_nkw=dvd+recorders&_in_kw=1&_ex_kw=&_sacat=See-All-Categori..._dmd=1&_ipg=50

[lordsmurf]

Read this for some help on what models to get: http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-recorders.htm

Neither Amazon.ca or ca.buy.com seem to have DVD recorders anymore!
You'll likely need to import from USA.

[handyguy]

You can also use your computer to do it.
Build your own PVR
byopvr.com

I also got LiquidTV for $35 on sale, that's TIVO for your computer. It comes with a USB tv tuner. Be sure to update the software it comes with cause it's out of date.

[jman98]

Amazon.com as of last month still had a surprising amount of DVD recorders available. Don't know what their policy is for shipping electronics to Canada though. Almost everybody has abandoned the market in North America as there is no real consumer demand for them. The vast majority of consumers have no interest in archiving videos and thus Tivo type DVR devices are what the marketplace wants - play once and delete. Philips used to make a very highly regarded DVD recorder for North America. The model orsetto mentions may be a rebranded Philips. I'm not sure.

[orsetto]

Yes, the Magnavox H2160 is indeed a reworked version of the better-known Phillips 3576. In some ways it improves on the Phillips, especially the DTV tuner, and the Magnavox remote is nicer. The Phillips was discontinued a year ago, but inexplicably commands a higher price than the Magnavox at online dealers who still have leftover stock. There is no earthly reason to pay $240-400 for the Phillips when you can get the newer nicer Magnavox for $159-229. There's no significant advantage to the Phillips-branded version: they're 95% the same recorder. For those with a strict budget of $200 or less, the Magnavox is the only serious contender: competing North American units in the same price range have faulty tuner/timers and lack the incredibly useful hard drive feature. Instead, they offer the useless built-in VHS deck which (perversely) doesn't coordinate well for copying tapes to DVD, and increases the potential for tuner/timer failure.

If you can afford $300 to $500, and don't mind shopping online vendors, there are some other good choices but its difficult to justify their prices against the surreally-cheap Magnavox. Panasonic still makes "universal" global-market DVD/HDD recorders like the DMR-EH59 and DMR-EH69, and there is a still a limited supply of leftover Pioneer "global" DVR-560 and DVR-660 units. Refurbished/new open box can be had for $300, brand new sealed closer to $500. In Canada, some stores like Future Shop may still have the Sony RDR-HX780, which is a slightly watered down version of the Pioneer 560, it sells for $300-400 depending on sales promotions. These machines are pitched toward "advanced" users who make heavy use of editing features or need DVD-RAM recording ability. Functionality is similar to the Magnavox, the key differences being faster more-responsive editing with additional options like variable custom recording speeds. If you do a lot of archiving from cable or you're dubbing over a big VHS library, you might prefer a Pioneer, Sony or Panasonic DVD/HDD to the Magnavox. But if you primarily want to timeshift (watch-once-then-erase), the Magnavox is by far the better $ value, and again it includes the DTV/ATSC tuner lacking in those "global" machines. (You'd need an outboard tuner or cable/satellite for the Sony, Pioneer or Panasonic.)

Adventurous types with specific needs tend to go the eBay route, buying second-hand recorders similar to those they already own. This is a bad idea unless you REALLY know what you're shopping for, and are prepared for probable repair costs. There's never been a recorder yet that didn't have fundamental flaws right out of the box: these flaws tend to get worse over time, making used recorders a tricky purchase. Certain "vintage" recorders from the golden age of 2003-2006 have quality and features unavailable in current models, but used prices are inflated and not worth the risk for most typical consumers.

[lordsmurf]

The Philips is superior to the Magnavox, but I would not pay 200x the amount for it. Maybe $100 more. The Philips was about $400 new.

[usually_quiet]

You can also use your computer to do it.
Build your own PVR
byopvr.com

I also got LiquidTV for $35 on sale, that's TIVO for your computer. It comes with a USB tv tuner. Be sure to update the software it comes with cause it's out of date.

A decent TV tuner/capture card + remote bundle costs between $90 and $140(US), and a large second HDD for recording is generally recommended, so building your own PVR is not likely going to cost $200 or less, unless you already have a newish PC that can be used for it, plus a version of Vista or Windows 7 that has Media Center. Linux + MythTV could work too, but not all capture cards have Linux drivers available.

Plus DVD recorders require a lot less work to set up. Getting everything configured and working smoothly for a self-built PVR may require more effort than most people want to expend on the project.

LiquidTV failed. It can still be found for sale by third parties, but Nero discontinued it at the end of last year. http://www.nero.com/enu/support-liquidtv.html The cost of the hardware and software is only part of the expense. A TiVo subscription is also needed. After the free 1 year subscription expires, that costs $12.95(US)/month.

[lacywest]

The Philips is superior to the Magnavox, but I would not pay 200x the amount for it. Maybe $100 more. The Philips was about $400 new.

Smurf ... can you elaborate on your saying it is superior ... what corners did the Magnavox cut corners on ??

I've gotten used to snipping out the commercials with Panasonic units ... I did have a few extra Panasonic EH50 units incase the ones I've been using fail. But I sold one on Ebay last September 2009 for $280 and it was in good working order. My truck was in the tow yard and I needed to get it out ... I was being charged $30 bucks a day. Cost me $910 bucks to get it out ... I also sold a Carver Amp ... for $320 on Ebay ... I didn't want to let these items go ... but I need my truck. Add on a couple of PayDay loans ... and I had the money to get my truck out.

I'm still using one in my bedroom and I've got one under my bed ... it needs to be repaired.

Not the usual problems ... the family was using it to play movies and not recording with it and during a family get together ... the picture was all distorted and squiggly ... didn't matter if it was the DVD or the harddrive or the TV tuner ... picture was all screwed up.

I'm hoping ... someday ... to get this problem fixed.

I also have a E85H ... in good working order ... that is connected to my system in the garage. Which is where I'm at right now.

[lacywest]

You can also use your computer to do it.
Build your own PVR
byopvr.com

I also got LiquidTV for $35 on sale, that's TIVO for your computer. It comes with a USB tv tuner. Be sure to update the software it comes with cause it's out of date.

A decent TV tuner/capture card + remote bundle costs between $90 and $140(US), and a large second HDD for recording is generally recommended, so building your own PVR is not likely going to cost $200 or less, unless you already have a newish PC that can be used for it, plus a version of Vista or Windows 7 that has Media Center. Linux + MythTV could work too, but not all capture cards have Linux drivers available.

Plus DVD recorders require a lot less work to set up. Getting everything configured and working smoothly for a self-built PVR may require more effort than most people want to expend on the project.

LiquidTV failed. It can still be found for sale by third parties, but Nero discontinued it at the end of last year. http://www.nero.com/enu/support-liquidtv.html The cost of the hardware and software is only part of the expense. A TiVo subscription is also needed. After the free 1 year subscription expires, that costs $12.95(US)/month.

MS Vista Home Premium SP2 64bit or Windows 7 64bit ... have a very nice Media Center in them and do a very good job of recording stuff with a HDTV Tuner card ... just add a external 500 GB USB 2.0 hard drive and you are ready to go.

My antenna is an outdoor antenna ... mounted on my chimney. It is a BowTie type ... my zip code is ... 93230

Could use the 32bit versions of Vista and Win 7 ... but I have the 64bit versions ... so I use them.

If you use the MS Media Center to record your shows ... MS MCE 2005 records in DVR-MS ... Vista records the videos with a wtv extension and WIN 7 does too ... but WIN 7 has a feature ... right button mouse click ... to convert ... WTV files to DVR-MS. And then it is easy to convert to Divx videos.

[usually_quiet]

You can also use your computer to do it.
Build your own PVR
byopvr.com

I also got LiquidTV for $35 on sale, that's TIVO for your computer. It comes with a USB tv tuner. Be sure to update the software it comes with cause it's out of date.

A decent TV tuner/capture card + remote bundle costs between $90 and $140(US), and a large second HDD for recording is generally recommended, so building your own PVR is not likely going to cost $200 or less, unless you already have a newish PC that can be used for it, plus a version of Vista or Windows 7 that has Media Center. Linux + MythTV could work too, but not all capture cards have Linux drivers available.

Plus DVD recorders require a lot less work to set up. Getting everything configured and working smoothly for a self-built PVR may require more effort than most people want to expend on the project.

LiquidTV failed. It can still be found for sale by third parties, but Nero discontinued it at the end of last year. http://www.nero.com/enu/support-liquidtv.html The cost of the hardware and software is only part of the expense. A TiVo subscription is also needed. After the free 1 year subscription expires, that costs $12.95(US)/month.

MS Vista Home Premium SP2 64bit or Windows 7 64bit ... have a very nice Media Center in them and do a very good job of recording stuff with a HDTV Tuner card ... just add a external 500 GB USB 2.0 hard drive and you are ready to go.

My antenna is an outdoor antenna ... mounted on my chimney. It is a BowTie type ... my zip code is ... 93230

Could use the 32bit versions of Vista and Win 7 ... but I have the 64bit versions ... so I use them.

If you use the MS Media Center to record your shows ... MS MCE 2005 records in DVR-MS ... Vista records the videos with a wtv extension and WIN 7 does too ... but WIN 7 has a feature ... right button mouse click ... to convert ... WTV files to DVR-MS. And then it is easy to convert to Divx videos.

Computer-based PVRs are good if you watch and erase. Also good if you want HDTV recordings on a disc that is playable on a Blu-Ray player because no BD recorders are made for N. America.

However recording TV using a computer is not as convenient as a DVD recorder for people who want to have a DVD that is playable using most DVD players. Divx files aren't playable on all of them. Conversion and/or authoring is needed to produce a such a disc. This is another reason why a DVD recorder might be preferable for many. Just record on a DVD+R/-R disc, finalize and you have a playable disc.

[lacywest]

ConvertxtoDVD 4 will convert a DVR-MS video file to a DVD ... dont really have to be just Divx video files.

Walmart has a Phillips DVD player for $44 bucks ... no USB port in front.

Or bump up to ... $64 bucks and get the Samsung and it will play Divx videos through its USB port in the front.

I got the Samsung for $64 bucks last week at Walmart and it played Divx videos through my USB thumb drive.

No humming sounds or loud spinning sounds.

Played just fine in my living room with AR speakers connected to a Pioneer VSX 1015 ... the movie ?? ... sssh ... I can't say

[usually_quiet]

ConvertxtoDVD 4 will convert a DVR-MS video file to a DVD ... dont really have to be just Divx video files.

Walmart has a Phillips DVD player for $44 bucks ... no USB port in front.

Or bump up to ... $64 bucks and get the Samsung and it will play Divx videos through its USB port in the front.

I got the Samsung for $64 bucks last week at Walmart and it played Divx videos through my USB thumb drive.

No humming sounds or loud spinning sounds.

Played just fine in my living room with AR speakers connected to a Pioneer VSX 1015 ... the movie ?? ... sssh ... I can't say :oops:

Many people would rather not be bothered with DVD authoring or converting video to have a playable DVD. It requires a little effort to learn how to do those things, and it takes time to do the work. Personally, I like having a playable DVD available without converting video or authoring on the computer every time.

DVD is still the lowest common denominator in video. With all due respect, there are people who are unwilling to spend $40 on a new DVD player or other device just to watch divX files on their TV when they already have a working DVD player. I am related to some of them.

...and there's another advantage DVD recorders have. Some have the ability to record analog closed captions in the mpeg user data, or digital cc's as open captions in the video itself. That is more difficult, if not impossible, to acheive with current TV tuner/capture card models. The WinTV-HVR-1950 and WinTV-HVR-1600 apparently can provide CCs, but it is not officially supported by the manufacturer. Windows Media Center supports CC's but some other PVR software doesn't or requires tweaking.

[lacywest]

To : usually_quiet

I totally understand what your saying about having a DVD Recorder to use for recording TV Shows and such ... I began my interest in using a PC to record TV Shows because ... the market is changing and what use to be available has dwindled.

No more Pioneer or Panasonic models with Hard drives in them unless you get one from Amazon Canada ... etc ... etc.

Another reason ... my Directv HR10 250 only has two tuners to record two shows at same time. My wife and I ... this last fall season ... was a busy one ... Thursday night and Friday night ... geez ... 3 shows were coming on at the same time ... I had to make a decision what 2 to record in the bedroom and what to record on the PC in my garage system setup.

We do have another Directv HR10 250 in my living room but my wife's daughter and her teenage boy ... kind of taken over it and they dont even watch the same stuff we watch ... they like to watch ... Friends ... Wrestling ... Simpsons ... and some comedy show with Ted Danson and Jim Belushi [the one still alive].

And it is a fantastic setup ... AR speakers for the Front ... Center ... back and Back Surround ... and a AR Subwoofer ... its a 7.1 Dolby Digital Setup. TV is a 51 inch HDTV Sony Rear Projection ... which I recently opened up and cleaned the dust buildup ... the lenses on the RED BLUE and GREEN devices were all covered with dust ... picture looked terrible ... but not anymore.

My bedroom setup is similar but its a Panasonic 42" Plasma and AR Flat panel speakers again and a Pioneer Elite Receiver ... plus I have Passive Subwoofers and power driven subwoofers in the bedroom ... with clothes and stuff sitting on them. It's a 5.1 sound system ... would love to mount some Surround Back speakers and make it a 7.1 DD system but my wife says ... NO !!

I've got some speakers that mount right into the wall but she dont want them blasting in her ears ... :P

What I need to do is take the third Directv HR10 250 and move it from the bedroom [computer room ... we call it] and hook it up in the garage where my main PC is at and go from there.

Geez ... decisions ... decisions ...

[handyguy]

People get them for free or cheap from the cable comp, so that's one reason they don't make them as much anymore. The one you can get from AT&T can record 4 programs at the same time & I doubt you can find a Philips (Not Phillips) that can do that.

Now if there were some programs worth recording.

[orsetto]

The Philips is superior to the Magnavox, but I would not pay 200x the amount for it. Maybe $100 more. The Philips was about $400 new.

This point has been argued to death on every conceivable A/V forum, with no clear definitive answer that one is repeatably, significantly better than the other: there is way too much sample variation in black level and other specs to make an absolute "quality" call. Featurewise the Magnavox just kills the Phillips: the Mag pause live TV buffer can be saved and edited, its burner is twice as fast and more reliable, it has the most up-to-date dtv tuner firmware, if you insist on using "auto clock" the Magnavox searches for an ATSC signal while the Phillips can only use the now-dead analog signal, the Mag can record and embed closed captions (the Phillips can't), the Magnavox has some HDMI control faetures (the Phillips doesn't), the Mag has better protection against accidental deletions and recording stops, and the Mag has a better editing display which includes timeline chapter indications. Given neither the Phillips or the Magnavox is a terribly quick or responsive machine, the added features on the Magnavox give it a noticeable edge in operational convenience.

The Phillips version does have three advantages that may or may not be important to an individual purchaser: it handles input from VHS tapes marginally better than the Magnavox, it lacks the minor "finalizing bug", and it has minimal DiVX playback abilities (the Mag has zero DiVX capability). I've been putting my Magnavox thru quite a workout the last few weeks, and feel it has surprisingly decent PQ, but every so often it records a mysterious "glitch" from VHS that does not show on the original tape (or when dubbing to the Phillips or Pioneer recorders). Apparently the encoder in the Magnavox is a hair more twitchy with VHS sources than the Phillips (nothing as bad as the older circa 2003-2004 machines, but it might pop up as an unwelcome issue for some people). As for DiVX playback, recorders stink at this, with very limited functionality compared to dedicated DVD players: I would not let the Phillips bare-minimum DiVX compatibility sway me. The "finalizing bug" afflicts only the most recent Magnavox 2160A units, which require you to switch the input to DV (instead of the tuner or line inputs) before the machine will permit finalizing a dvd. No big deal.

So the Phillips is nicer-looking, has an arguably more ergonomic remote, and a marginally better lock on VHS input. Whether this is worth a $100 premium is up to the individual: when I was shopping J&R in October, they had the Magnavox for $159 and the Phillips for $229, both refurbished. I did not hesitate to choose the Magnavox. However, I also have a couple of workhorse Pioneer recorders as my primary machines, which skews my requirements: if I could only have one recorder, the Phillips might be more compelling if price wasn't a factor and I needed absolute dependability for VHS transfers. Since my Pioneers do most of my heavy lifting, I only really need the Magnavox for backup off-air ATSC timeshifting, a task at which it excels.

[1234567]

I do not know if is any HDD/DVd recorder that can have digitalTuner instead of analog tuner???

[usually_quiet]

I do not know if is any HDD/DVd recorder that can have digitalTuner instead of analoh tuner???

The Magnavox H2160MW9 that we've been discussing is the only DVD recorder made for N. America that has a hard drive and a digital tuner. It is reasonably reliable, the HDD is 160 GB and can tune over-the-air digital broadcasts (ATSC), as well as unencrypted digital cable (clear QAM). Target, Walmart, and J&R Music and Computer World sell them online, but probably not in stores. Now you know.

[lacywest]

I do not know if is any HDD/DVd recorder that can have digitalTuner instead of analog tuner???

Well ... not sure what your sentence is actually saying ... if you're saying a DVD Recorder with a Hard drive then okay ... I agree ... but the latest Panasonic units ... EZ17 ... EZ27 ... and the EZ28 ... record to DVDs and have digital tuners.

But these Panasonic DVD Recorders ... do all kinds of things that piss you off ... lock ups and other crap and they seem to be picky to play back a DVD I've made from my PC ... I thought this was a problem only the EZ27 has ... but I have read some reviews that the EZ28 has this same problem too.

In my living room ... I do have a Panasonic EZ27 connected and can record from the Directv box and is also connected to my outside antenna.

And because it likes to freeze up and lock up ... I've got the Samsung model for watching DVDs and for watching Divx movies on DVD disks burnt in Data mode or from a USB thumb drive.

Oh ... and all these units ... I've mentioned are all connected to my Pioneer VSX 1015 ... selectable with the Pioneer Remote Control.

[lacywest]

Well this topic is kind of old but I thought I'd kick start again ...

I took my Panasonic EH50 DVD Recorder with 100 GB hard drive ... off the shelf in the bedroom. Reason is because the dvd tray would not open up anymore. I replaced with the Panasonic EZ27 ... even tho it has some glitches ... lockups and such ... I've already transfered two TMC movies that my wife didn't want to lose that were on the Directv HR10-250 drive.

I used DVD-RAM disks to record too. The next movie to remove from the Directv box is another TMC classic movie that can be just simply recorded to a DVD-R disk. I have to say ... I like Panasonic's Flex Record feature.

So far the EZ27 has not done anything stupid.

[bjuice]

Hi there. Hope I'm at the right place. Is there any software that can be used on the Panasonic DMR EH59 dvd recorder to remove the copyprotect signal when recording from satelite TV?

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

[olyteddy]

Hi there. Hope I'm at the right place. Is there any software that can be used on the Panasonic DMR EH59 dvd recorder to remove the copyprotect signal when recording from satelite TV?

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

There are hardware solutions. Grex is one such device.

[jman98]

bjuice - Don't hijack threads. You should have just made a new thread. The original subject was a guy in North America looking for DVD recorders and since we have very little to choose from here and it's shrinking all the time, your post about removing copy protection from a satellite signal for a specific DVD recorder you have in South Africa is really outside the scope of the original post.

Also, since you're new here, do NOT do what some newbies do and post messages that say "This really helped me. Thanks." to old threads. We don't need to know if threads helped you. If everybody did that I'm sure you can understand how some threads would have hundreds of maybe thousands of such "Thanks" posts in them. Just leave old threads alone and don't hijack them and you'll do well here.

[lacywest]

Thought I'd do a update ... the EZ27 is still in the bedroom being used ... off and on.

Directv is turned off ... I still watch stuff through the antenna connection ... just can't record to the internal drive.

There is now a Dell Inspiron 530 PC in the bedroom ... using the WIN 7 Media center ... working just fine. ATI 650 HD card inside.

I also have a ethernet cable connected to it ... comes from my Netgear router [in the garage] ... goes up into attic and down into my bedroom closet and under the rug to the Dell PC ... I now watch movies and WIN 7 Media Center recordings from my PC in the garage or from the Dell PC WIN 7 Media Center Recordings.

Thursday night and Friday night ... can be busy nights ... with 3 shows coming on at the same time ... thats when we fire up the EZ27 and record a show[s] on a DVD-RAM disk.

So far my antenna connection is holding up ... I do plan on getting some more UHF signal booster amps but so far last 45 days have been okay ... 5 devices are connected to the antenna ... there is some pixel breakup but not real terrible.

When FOX Channel ... Alcatraz ... came on ... we had to decide what got recorded where ... and last night on FOX 1/21/2012 ... Alcatraz came on again ... nice and clear in HD ...

[bjuice]

Hi there. Hope I'm at the right place. Is there any software that can be used on the Panasonic DMR EH59 dvd recorder to remove the copyprotect signal when recording from satelite TV?

Any assistance would be much appreciated.

There are hardware solutions. Grex is one such device.

Where can I find Grex?

[hech54]

Where can I find Grex?

Google: GREX