Simple, Inexpensive, RELIABLE and TROUBLE FREE Recorder...

[gcutler]

I've spent most of my time on the PC side of DVD Writing so am a little lacking in hands on experience to recommend, a friend wants a Non-Hard Drive model DVD Recorder. The only real requirement is that is be Reliable and as Trouble Free as possible (I will make sure they are using decent quality blanks to remove that as an issue) They are non-techie, so a confusing user interface would be a negative.

Can anyone recommend a model available in the US.

[Capmaster]

Panasonic DMR-E55. We have the E50 (same, just a bit older) and it's about as easy an interface as you can get

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=...Model=DMR-E55S

[handyguy]

You could get a Panasonic e30 from ebay for a pretty nice price these days.

btw, dvd recorder comments are under dvd writers, left column

[samijubal]

Panasonics are pretty user friendly and simple to use.

[gcutler]

Thanks!

[FulciLives]

You could get a Panasonic e30 from ebay for a pretty nice price these days.

btw, dvd recorder comments are under dvd writers, left column

That model has the black level bug.

The new current models (actually starting with the DMR-E50) do NOT have the black level bug.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[samijubal]

If they are non-techies they'll never notice. I'm picky and I never noticed.

[FulciLives]

If they are non-techies they'll never notice. I'm picky and I never noticed.

The "bug" really only shows up when you play it back on another DVD player. The recorder, when playing back a DVD it recorded, adjusts itself to look normal.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[NightWing]

Could try the Pioneer 220. Simple easy. And works.

Its tuner is MTS stereo. Keep excelent time. Good picture. And they can gro into it. Motion Menus. Lables automatically. Etc.

Combine the price and 3 year warenty from Wally's world.

I would stay away from the iLO. Its basic but starting to realize its too cheep.

[lacywest]

Panasonic DMR-E55. We have the E50 (same, just a bit older) and it's about as easy an interface as you can get

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vModelDetail?displayTab=O&storeId=...Model=DMR-E55S

Walmart >>

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3168978&cat=105664&type=19&dept=...62055%3A124623

Panasonic DVD Recorder With Time Slip, DMRE55K

$288.00 ... in stock ... online only

[lordsmurf]

Since video/audio quality is not a consideration, get a Panasonic model (a CURRENT model new in store!) from Walmart or somewhere else. But even then, it won't be super-simple, nor all that lasting.

[gcutler]

If they are non-techies they'll never notice. I'm picky and I never noticed.

The "bug" really only shows up when you play it back on another DVD player. The recorder, when playing back a DVD it recorded, adjusts itself to look normal.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

Playing DVDs on other DVD players would be important, as they have other DVD players in the house and would probably make archives for parents, etc.

[handyguy]

"That model has the black level bug. "

Mine doesn't have it & a lot of others dont either, but yes, some did. Mine was manf Oct 2002 I think.

[Frobozz]

I get such a chuckle each time I read the headline for this thread: Simple, inexpensive, reliable and trouble free does not describe any digital recording technology that I'm aware of.

[gshelley61]

I get such a chuckle each time I read the headline for this thread: Simple, inexpensive, reliable and trouble free does not describe any digital recording technology that I'm aware of.

Amen

[lordsmurf]

Yeah. This person may need to stick with a VCR for now.

[Gunslinger2]

I own both a Panasonic E-30 and a Lite-On LVW-5005 and I find them both pretty easy to use as well as reliable. If your friend is looking to use rewriteable discs they may not want a Panasonic as they use DVD-RAM discs which tend to be more expensive. Also the format of the RAM disc makes it more challenging to edit out commercials (although it can be done if they have a drive that reads RAM discs ) on a computer should they want to go that route.

[lacywest]

I get such a chuckle each time I read the headline for this thread: Simple, inexpensive, reliable and trouble free does not describe any digital recording technology that I'm aware of.

Well .... remember the song by Meat Loaf .... 2 out of 3 Ain't Bad

In this time period he wont get all of them but he is asking a simple question and he is getting answers.

I'm happy with my Panasonic E-50. I can check on TV Guide dot com and if I find two decent action movies coming on in a row at night ... I will program them with Flex Record.

Yes the quality is not great but ... I bring these movies to a Substance Abuse Facility and it lets the guys there ... watch about 3 to 4 hours of movies on a single DVD-R [Prodisc 8X] .... from a 20" tv mounted on the wall.

Usually when I walk in for my shift ... first thing they say is "Gary ... what movies did you bring us"

From 15 feet away ... the image looks pretty good. The DVD Player is the Sanyo model that Walmart sells for $43 bucks.

[samijubal]

I get such a chuckle each time I read the headline for this thread: Simple, inexpensive, reliable and trouble free does not describe any digital recording technology that I'm aware of.

Amen

Count me in on that one.

[zorankarapancev]

Me too!

[gcutler]

Since video/audio quality is not a consideration, get a Panasonic model (a CURRENT model new in store!) from Walmart or somewhere else. But even then, it won't be super-simple, nor all that lasting.

Yeah. This person may need to stick with a VCR for now.

Well which one is it? Get a Panasonic or Don't bother and Stick with a VCR? You're kind of contradicting your own advice, making it hard to take it seriously...

[samijubal]

Scrap the VCR, buy the Panasonic. A little more difficult to use than a VCR, but the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages or the slightly more difficult to use part.

[gshelley61]

Video quality with any DVD recorder smokes VCR's. The few quirks you will have that come with using them are well worth the effort.

[lordsmurf]

Since video/audio quality is not a consideration, get a Panasonic model (a CURRENT model new in store!) from Walmart or somewhere else. But even then, it won't be super-simple, nor all that lasting.

Yeah. This person may need to stick with a VCR for now.

Well which one is it? Get a Panasonic or Don't bother and Stick with a VCR? You're kind of contradicting your own advice, making it hard to take it seriously...

I'm not contradicting anything. You need a simple machine for an as-you-described simpleton. The Panasonic may work, but you're better off with a VCR if technology is too tough for this person.

[lacywest]

Since video/audio quality is not a consideration, get a Panasonic model (a CURRENT model new in store!) from Walmart or somewhere else. But even then, it won't be super-simple, nor all that lasting.

Yeah. This person may need to stick with a VCR for now.

Well which one is it? Get a Panasonic or Don't bother and Stick with a VCR? You're kind of contradicting your own advice, making it hard to take it seriously...

Okay ... here is a summary.

Get the Panasonic DMR-E55 ... online at Walmart for $289

Something positive to say about the DMR-E55 ... I have two DMR-E50s ... one in the bedroom and one in the living room. When I want to record something and it starts in the next few minutes ... I hit the Flex Record button ... I select 1 hour and 4 minutes and hit start. Bitrate quality will be very good.

If I'm going to record a movie on Cable at 3 AM in the morning .... I start the Timer Recording feature with my remote ... for choosing the bitrate I use Flex Record ... again. Flex Record = FR

I usually set it up to record 2 minutes before and 2 minutes after ... to play it safe. TV Guide dot com isn't always accurate on displaying the correct length of a movie.

Panasonic doesn't make you select the length ... in increments of 5 or 10 minutes for timer recordings.

What kind of DVD-Rs to get ???

Go here ... these work great !!!

http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/prodisc-4x-dvd-r-dvdr-blank-media-discs-disc-bulk.html

or these will work too ...

http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/prodisc-8x-dvdr-blank-media.html

Good prices for DVD-Ram ... I go to Walmart and buy a 5 Pack for $18 bucks.

How to use DVD Ram disks ...

"Editing Panasonic Burner DVD-RAM VRO Video In Computer"

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1104917

Here is what I said in that thread ...

Transfer the vro files to your computer. "vro" files are the mpg-2 file found on DVD-RAM disk ... one long continous mpg-2 file.

Change the "vro" extension to "mpg" ... to make things easier ... I do.

Snip out the commercials with Womble mpeg-vcr [very accurate] and then load them into TDA. Or load the vro files into TDA and snip the commercials [not very accurate].

TDA ... stands for ... TMPGEnc DVD Author

Ignore the warning about how huge the end result will be and just do it. After it is done ... Shrink with DVD Shrink ... or make it smaller with DVD-Rebuilder [I haven't tried that yet]

You may need a different version of DVD Shrink to shrink it ... I believe DVD Shrink 2.3 ... works.

It's that simple. Nothing was mentioned about audio because audio is fine just the way it is. It is already compatible ... don't mess with audio settings.

Yes ... TDA audio settings can be tweaked ... I try to use AC-3 as much as possible. For the version of TDA I have ... I can encode with AC-3.

But for the menus I make ... I wont have any sound if I don't use LPCM ... so sometimes I have to make some little videos with LPCM audio and use them for my motion menu videos.

There you go ... gcutler

Get the Panasonic 55 and you will have something nice

Get the Prodisc blank DVD-Rs for about 34 cents each .... I buy a 100 at one time for under $50 bucks.

[FulciLives]

It really is not a good idea to simply change the *.vro to *.mpg

There are special tools that can read the VR directly like TMPGEnc DVD Author or MPEG-VCR

I don't see the need to possibly screw up things by changing the file name extention.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rroberson]

Well, Ill probably get a lot of folks disagreeing, I'd try a Emerson, EWR10D4. It is simple, and pretty trouble free. I've had one or two problem that I attribute to trying to set up a start recording time prior to the current time.

But beyond that, I've been happy with how easy it is.

Rick