My retired father has a LiteOn DD-A100GX that is about to die. He lives about a 2 hours drive from me so I can't just pop in the car and go down there on the spur of the moment. He has loved the LiteOn because it has a really easy VCR like menu to use. I've done a search on the internet and I can't find any information on what model burner it uses or whether it's even practical to try to replace one yourself - assuming you can even get a burner that works. I suppose I can open it up the next time I am visiting.
Anyway, I could a recommendation from the gurus here. Here's what he needs:
Records to DVD+/-RW (both preferred but can live with just one of the two)
Tuner NOT necessary at all as he will use a cable box 100% of the time and will ONLY record TV shows
Menu absolutely HAS to be simple enough that a non-techie can use it. This is the most critical thing of all.
Prefer cost under $100 but will take suggestions that exceed that if the menu is really really simple to use.
Recording to a hard drive is not necessary but if you only know of a model that does this that meets the requirements above, let me know what it is.
NOT helpful suggestions would include getting a DVR/Tivo as they have zero space for that. He doesn't want one and they have some kind of entertainment cabinet that was designed for the 1990s and there honestly is not any room at all for a DVR/Tivo. He also has a Toshiba DVD recorder/VCR combo unit which really sucks. I can barely make the thing work and he has never been able to come to terms with the rather complicated menu system it uses. A recommendation for Toshiba is NOT going to be helpful as he'll never buy one again.
Finally, please note that we live in the USA so telling us about great models in the UK or Australia won't do us any good.
P.S. For clarification when I talk about "menu" I mean setting up the recorder to record TV shows at a later time.
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Last edited by jman98; 23rd Jun 2011 at 16:48. Reason: Add PS
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Toshiba and Magnavox DVD recorders made by Funai are the only US models still in production. Panasonic and Sony stopped producing DVD recorders for the US market this year. Lite-on is long gone. The Magnavox HDD models are decent but likely too complicated for your father to operate.
The pickings are slim for new tunerless DVD-only recorders, and they go for over $200. There is an international/multisystem tunerless model, the Panasonic DMR-ES18, which is sometimes available at places like B&H Photo or World-Import.com. You would have to look for the similar US Panasonic DMR-EA18K on eBay. Google found some refurbished Sony RDR-GX257 DVD recorders. Those were the only bargains I found.Last edited by usually_quiet; 23rd Jun 2011 at 18:57.
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I bought a Sony RDR-GX257 from Walmart.com. It was a refurbish unit for $54 and works really good, I'm happy with this unit. I connected a Grex unit to be able to records protected by Macrovision. It is simple to operate, doesn't have a tuner and up convert to 1080-p via HDMI.
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Thanks for the recommendation, Marquitos306. Still open to ideas if others wish to comment.
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Sony RDR-GX257 is a winner.
Refurb $65 + shipping: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001I59HSW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=thdifa-20&link...SIN=B001I59HSW
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