Lite-on LVW-5101 Sucks! (IMO)

[geepondy]

Bought at Sam's club for $140. Should have known you get what you paid for. The first one would not recognize any discs, regardless of brand or type inserted. Returned it for an exchanged and the second one recognized the discs ok. My first impressions were that the user menu system was the most unfriendly I have ever seen. I have never used a DVD set top recorder before so cannot compare the menu systems to other's but think they would have learned from the refinements of the VCR menu system thruout the years. The recordings from the built in TV were ok but not that great (again cannot compare it to others as have not used). It seemed the skin tones had an orangish cast to them. Every once in awhile the system would lock up and not respond to any input so I would have to unplug it before it would work again. I figured because of the price, I would try to live with these short comings but now it is frying the discs at least my RW's so they can't be read or erased. The thing that sucks is that gf in a cleaning frenzy threw out the box so I don't think I can return it. Anybody else have comments on this recorder. Any recommendations for others that aren't too much more money? Don't need a lot of features, just need it to do what it's supposed to do and that is reliably record from the tv tuner or an analog input without locking up or frying disks. I want +R +R/W, don't care if it does all four formats or not, particularly if that adds to the cost.

[FulciLives]

One of the more reliable brands is Panasonic ... they been making these machines (stand alone DVD recorders) longer than anyone else.

Some don't think the overall picture quality is as good as it could be but for most applications it is "good enough" and much better for sure than your Lite-On plus you have to consider the fact that the Panasonics do seem to work really well ... just about bug-free these days and do what they are supposed to do very well.

Other models (like JVC) might have better image quality but then you have a whole set of "issues" to deal with that you don't have to deal with when it comes to the Panasonic models.

Panasonic doesn't record to +R / +RW but you can pretty much forget about getting a +R / +RW model anyways because ...

I don't think one exists that doesn't suck ass in one way or another.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[samijubal]

I have an E10 Panasonic, first generation, that still works fine 3+ years later. The E20 lasted a little over 2 1/2 years. I had trouble with the first JVC in a week, I have serious doubts that the second will last a year, it's already locked up on me twice, it's 3 months old.

[richdvd]

I agree with Fulci, Panasonic does make very good standalones. I have tried a few different units and they all produced excellent results.

[vdngo2003]

Panasonic is good, but I've had problems with them when my source is not clear. I did a simple test, using the same VHS that I had problems with my Pana, and used it on my Pioneer 220 (bought from Walmart), JVC from Ecost.com and finally the LiteOn 5101 from Sams, all of which produced the same bad result (jerkiness, jumpy pictures) except for the JVC, so I still prefer the JVC yes I know, they are both owned by Matsushita.

forgot to tell you all that I returned the LiteOn to Sams, it was such a hassle though I thought that they had a no question asked policy.

[Xyscaling]

"Every once in awhile the system would lock up and not respond to any input so I would have to unplug it before it would work again. I figured because of the price, I would try to live with these short comings but now it is frying the discs at least my RW's so they can't be read or erased. The thing that sucks is that gf in a cleaning frenzy threw out the box so I don't think I can return it. Anybody else have comments on this recorder. "

Yep. I'm keeping the 5101 and returning the ILO 04. I'm probably the only person on this forum who is doing that, but I've got several reasons.

Your problem with the "lock up" is very easy to solve. Just go into the "setup" and scroll all the way over to the right to the "User Preference Page" (It's the Last one) on the top of the screen. Go down to "default", and over to the right to "reset". Hit "enter" and the recorder will reset and that will solve the problem.

I had this problem and this "reset" solved it. It has worked fine ever since.

Let me know if it doesn't work.
Regards, Tom