TV DVD Recorders Vs. Computer DVD Recorders, Which.......

[VCDBurner666]

I have a few questions I cannot seem to locate on this site or the site's forum.

1. On TV recorders; non computer based, the ones you hook up to your tv. Can you make complex menus, editing, image correction, etc. ?

2. Can you hook a tv dvd recorder up to a computer to obtain images or video files, in order to add them to your dvd-r, as menu features or part of your movie?

3.Which is better a TV burner or a Computer based burner?

4.Can you hook your computer based burner up to a tv to record tv shows?

5.I will eventually be using my dvd burner to make dvd's for my band, and I want to be able to edit in special features, menus with music and special effects, etc. Can I do this with a TV dvd-r recorder or do I have to buy a computer based dvd-r burner for this?

I'm asking these questions because I do not yet own my own computer, I share one with my family and it is a very limited 20.0 GB computer with no video or audio hook up, so if I buy a burner for this computer I will end up having to upgrade a computer that isn't even mine, with a new harddrive, a video/audio capture device, dvd editing/burning software etc.

I'm basically trying to find the cheapest way to go about getting a dvd burner to transfer my VHS tapes to dvd and also my svcd/vcds to dvd so I can preserve videotapes that I own, and also get rid of a few shelves worth of VHS and VCD/SVCD media.


Thanks a lot for everyone's time, I hope someone will help me.

[hech54]

DVD RECORDER....hands down winner. Cheaper(in your situation)....MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH easier than capturing video into your computer....encoding....authoring...then burning a DVD.

However if you want to COPY those DVD's you make in a recorder.....MUCH easier in a computer.

You will get BASIC menus with a DVD Recorder....nothing fancy.

The choice is yours in the end.

[DaveS]

VCDBurner666 - some basic info below ... feel free to respond w/ more questions...

I have a few questions I cannot seem to locate on this site or the site's forum.

1. On TV recorders; non computer based, the ones you hook up to your tv. Can you make complex menus, editing, image correction, etc. ?

Not complex menus - mostly basic text based, w/ a thumbnail on some versions. Editing is mostly by making cuts in the video and defining new play lists without those cuts or some can re-record without the cuts. Basic 'image correction' & time-based correction (for older analog tape sources) is provided and will vary based on the model. Usually these features are quite helpful.

2. Can you hook a tv dvd recorder up to a computer to obtain images or video files, in order to add them to your dvd-r, as menu features or part of your movie?

You could either by sending an analog signal or a digital signal out of your PC (would need a card / box / device in each case) and this would look to your set top recorder like any other signal coming in (e.g. would look like a TV show) - you could record this onto your DVD but would have no more or less control over it than you do w/ the other sources.

3.Which is better a TV burner or a Computer based burner?

Depends on what you want to do...a lot of tapes to transfer w/ not much need for 'fancy' menus, then set top. Creative looking output with a lot of control over what's on it, then computer-based (as would seem in your case w/ your band).

4.Can you hook your computer based burner up to a tv to record tv shows?

Well actually, you would hoook up your computer to your video source, e.g. cable tv feed, satellite, rabbit ears, etc. as your TV doesn't have any of the shows in it You would then put some software on your PC to capture that input at pre-described times, etc. You would also need an extra board in your PC to support this (some are not expensive).

5.I will eventually be using my dvd burner to make dvd's for my band, and I want to be able to edit in special features, menus with music and special effects, etc. Can I do this with a TV dvd-r recorder or do I have to buy a computer based dvd-r burner for this?

Special-features is on the PC and can't be done on the set-top. Also, the key is which software you pick for your PC to do the editing, etc., rather than the burner itself.

I'm asking these questions because I do not yet own my own computer, I share one with my family and it is a very limited 20.0 GB computer with no video or audio hook up, so if I buy a burner for this computer I will end up having to upgrade a computer that isn't even mine, with a new harddrive, a video/audio capture device, dvd editing/burning software etc.

I'm basically trying to find the cheapest way to go about getting a dvd burner to transfer my VHS tapes to dvd and also my svcd/vcds to dvd so I can preserve videotapes that I own, and also get rid of a few shelves worth of VHS and VCD/SVCD media.


Thanks a lot for everyone's time, I hope someone will help me.

The cheapest way, in my opinion, will be the set-top burner. If you get one with a hard drive, you can play your svcds/vcd's (check the specs of the unit first to make sure), record those onto the hard drive, then burn them back to DVD. For the tapes, you can hook up a VCR to the set top. This approach will need the least fiddling, no extra software, no other cards, etc. Just buy blank DVD's & go. However, it won't give you the creative control you would want for custom menus, etc. for your band. You can convert large libraries using the PC approach, but it's more time consuming, both to get up to speed and also to fiddle with it, and to do the work, since the conversion on a set-top is 'real time' (e.g. 1 hour video takes 1 hour to transfer) while on a PC, it is longer.

There have been other posts lately outlining a bare-bones computer-based setup which if I can find, I will post a link. The gist of that post was that PC-based does not have to be expensive. However, given that you can get a panasonic (or other) set-top for a decent price, in my opinion, a set-top would be cheaper (but with the above limitations.

Hope this helps, feel free to post questions & good luck.