DVD Recorders Ratings – Consumer Reports Magazine

[zorankarapancev]

The December issue of the Consumer Reports Magazine brought out these DVD Recorders ratings:

DVD-only Recorders:

1. Panasonic DMR-E55
2. LG LGDVDR313
3. JVC DR-M10SUS
4. Aspire Digital AD-8091
5. Toshiba D-R2
6. Philips DVDR615
7. RCA DRC8005N


DVD/Hard-Drive Recorders:

1. Panasonic DMR-E85H
2. Sharp DV-HR300U
3. Toshiba RD-XS32
4. Pioneer DVR-810H


DVD Recorders with built-in VCR:

1. Panasonic DMR-E75V
2. JVC DR-MV1S
3. Go-Video VR4940
4. RCA DRC8300N

[handyguy]

Great, I always knew the Pannys were the best.

[mike1061]

Thanks for posting this. I don't know how I missed it either.
Mike

[lordsmurf]

Ratings are worthless when you are not informed of the criteria. I've seen magazines take off points because a unit was "unattractive" or "did not have a hard drive".

I have NEVER seen a review that SINGLES OUT video quality alone, INCLUDING beyond 1-hour or 2-hour mode. No other retarded criteria (like how well the remote is laid out).

When recorders like Panasonic, units WELL KNOWN for their troubles with macroblocks in most recording modes (especially ANYTHING beyond 2 hours), you have to wonder about things.

My thoughts.

[zorankarapancev]

The results of the tests are:

DVD-Only Recorders:

1. Panasonic DMR-E55 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
2. LG LGDVDR313 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
3. JVC DR-M10SUS - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Fair
4. Aspire Digital AD-8091- Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
5. Toshiba D-R2 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Fair
6. Philips DVDR615 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Very Good; Extended Recording: Fair
7. RCA DRC8005N - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Very Good; Extended Recording: Fair

DVD/Hard Drive Recorders:

1. Panasonic DMR-E85H - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
2. Sharp DV-HR300U - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
3. Toshiba RD-XS32 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Fair
4. Pioneer DVR-810H - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Very Good; Extended Recording: Fair

DVD Recorders With Built-In VCR:

1. Panasonic DMR-E75V - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Good
2. JVC DR-MV1S - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Fair
3. Go-Video VR4940 - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: NA
4.RCA DRC8300N - Prerecorded DVD’s: Excellent; Fine Recording:
Excellent; Extended Recording: Fair

These results are identical with my own experiences with some of the recorders above, as well as all other tests that I had chance to see from the specialized magazines and test labs.

Now we have two choices:

1.To except the obvious facts.
2.To except the possibilities that this is the biggest conspiracy in the electronic world today!

Zoran

__________________________________________________ __________

Truth needs no laws to support it. Throughout history only lies and liars have resorted to the courts to enforce adherence to dogma.

[zleepy]

They been so wrong so many times on camera, audio and PC etc.

AR3, Konica, IBM Peanut, etc.

The last computer was dead in 6 month and the Apple IIc they trashed
lived on for generations (years).

I mean IBM's audio cassette instead of disk storage (Apple IIc) !!!

[H2OSkier]

Where's the Sony HX900 so many rave about?? Am I to believe it didn't even qualify or is it too new of a model

[zorankarapancev]

H2OSkier,
As a new model, Sony HX900 was not rated.

[DVWannaB]

It boils down to this. Tread carefully when reading these reviews and take them all with some grains of salt. Remember, organizations like CR have "constituents", .... you know, just like politicians do.

For anyone looking for a DVD-Rec, should only use such reports as a starting point. Do your own tests and really know wha is most important to you as far as a recorder is concerned and rank them as such.

Personally, I think the Sony(s) gave me the best darn picture qual. But they are also very inflexible for the needs that were important to me, as must have(s). Panasonic was good too in this area, but the JVC combined great reproduction as well as other features and they got the nod.

That new Sony 900 gives ONE HELL OF A GREAT PICTURE!!!! Hard to pass up.

[gshelley61]

I wonder what types of sources they tested the recording quality with. My experience is that the JVC has pretty effective pre-encoding video noise suppression that was not a feature my Panny had. When recording a less than perfect source, the JVC cleaned up the video enough to result in a better transfer to MPEG2 (less bitrate being wasted on encoding noise). I mean, I owned both at the same time... at the XP (1 hour) setting, they both were superb, although the Panny would record the video noise while the JVC filtered it out a bit. But when the time extended into the two hour and longer range, the JVC clearly produced a less noisy recording with fewer macroblocks. FWIW

Oh, one more thing... they gave the combi JVC VHS/DVD Recorder high marks, but here on this forum it has been mentioned over and over that it is at best a compromise with a cheesy VCR. Not recommended.

[handyguy]

The one at walmart, dual too, under $140 wasnt rated either:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3429491&sourceid=19196308332646179957

[zorankarapancev]

gshelley61,
CR did tests on the recording quality and available features on those DVD recorders. People mostly complain about poor JVC reliability that is well known issue for some time, especially between professionals. For that reason I often hesitate to recommend JVC products.

__________________________________________________ __________
Truth needs no laws to support it. Throughout history only lies and liars have resorted to the courts to enforce adherence to dogma.

[lordsmurf]

I've never encountered JVC unreliability.

If anything, Sony and Panasonic (ironic, seeing as how Matsushita owns both it and JVC) have given worst possible service and have flaws. And their products are also very overpriced.

"Features" is a pretty broad word. That can include anything, and I bet it does have more weight given to it than VISUAL quality.

To have a list that entirely ignores Pioneer and LiteOn is pretty much laughable. Especially when it finds RCA, Philips and GoVideo to give excellent results. Philips is very "crunchy" with quality even in M2 (2-hour, like SP).

Again, something just isn't right.

[zorankarapancev]

Reliability Report.

CR brand repair history based on nearly 81,000 DVD players purchased from 2000 to 2004:

1. Panasonic
2. Sony
3. Toshiba
4. JVC
5. Pioneer
6. Hitachi
7. Philips
8. Samsung
9. RCA
10. Apex Digital


__________________________________________________ _________

Truth needs no laws to support it. Throughout history only lies and liars have resorted to the courts to enforce adherence to dogma.

[Frobozz]

lordsmurf, thanks for the cheery Merry Smurfmas greeting.

I, too, am disappointed with the absence of Pioneer's standard line-up. The DVR-810 is Tivo-equipped so not really comparable to the other hard drive recorders.

Over the years I've found Consumer Reports to be rather odd about what it doesn't like in products and which models it chooses to rate. Certainly it is helpful when it finds serious flaws but otherwise the general advice is more helpful than the product ratings.

My favorite stretch by Consumer Reports was when it compared a 1970 Toyota Corona Mk II with the U.S.-made garbage cars such as the Ford Maverick. Import cars were naturally questionable for quality, safety and repair back then. There was a close-up picture of someone awkwardly trying to flip the Toyota's turn-signal lever by reaching from under the steering column. The caption complained of the hard-to-reach turn signal lever. It actually could be reached easily from the side without letting go of the steering column just like on any other car. I think Consumer Reports has a significant defect with operator error when it tests equipment. Oh, by the way, my Toyota was unreliable and required a lot of repair, so they guessed that part right.

[mike1061]

DVWannaB
I beg to differ with you on the point of Consumers Reports magazine haveing "constituents". They have a long history of being independant of any business at all. They will not take any money from business, so they will not be compromised in there independancy.

IMO, they are a great source of information. I belive in there tests and results. I am also willing to state both, that they are not perfact, and people here are tons more knowageable on the subject of video and video related. Using there magazine is a good way to buy somethings. Man I don't have time to research every perchase I make, so I look at them for there ratings, AND comments. The comments part is just as important to me.
Thanks Mike

[lenti_75]

I've never encountered JVC unreliability.

If anything, Sony and Panasonic (ironic, seeing as how Matsushita owns both it and JVC) have given worst possible service and have flaws. And their products are also very overpriced.

"Features" is a pretty broad word. That can include anything, and I bet it does have more weight given to it than VISUAL quality.

To have a list that entirely ignores Pioneer and LiteOn is pretty much laughable. Especially when it finds RCA, Philips and GoVideo to give excellent results. Philips is very "crunchy" with quality even in M2 (2-hour, like SP).

Again, something just isn't right.

exactly, that is just a BIG BS. panny IS NOT one of the best at all, that everybody knows who had a panny before,

consumers want what you give them....not what is best. and mostly, that is what looks nicer, and lower price.

[DVWannaB]

DVWannaB
I beg to differ with you on the point of Consumers Reports magazine haveing "constituents". They have a long history of being independant of any business at all. They will not take any money from business, so they will not be compromised in there independancy.

IMO, they are a great source of information. I belive in there tests and results. I am also willing to state both, that they are not perfact, and people here are tons more knowageable on the subject of video and video related. Using there magazine is a good way to buy somethings. Man I don't have time to research every perchase I make, so I look at them for there ratings, AND comments. The comments part is just as important to me.
Thanks Mike

Well Mike I am very happy for you and swallowing everything CR publishes as the last word in your buying decision. Thats your prerogative. If you are happy buying like that, then thats what matters most.

You are correct that you dont have enough time to research every purchase. Same for just about everyone else. But if you are going to be dropping 500 bones on somebody's store counter, you better be doing as much research you possible can and dont make any hasty decisions. Buying a toaster........ yeah I can use CR rating or whatever is on sale.

As for CR's political side. Well let me just say this. When an entity as CR is as well known as it is, and they are reviewing some VERY LARGE and even MORE prestigeous company's products,........well, lets just say phone calls are exchanged quite frequently and the relationship is far less than adversarial. If you or anyone feel theat CR is 100% independent of all outside influences, then so be it. Not going to try and convince anyone of anything, just telling it as I know, based on my experiences.

Happy Holidays (substituted for Merry Christmas as that is not politically correct these days )

[kisrum]

I can remember when CR thought Tandy personal computers were the cat's pajamas.

[Capmaster]

I can remember when CR thought Tandy personal computers were the cat's pajamas.

At one time Tandy was beating out IBM (and everyone else) in PC sales. That was until word got out about the underhanded proprietary tricks and intentional crippling in order to sell their proprietary after-the-sale "enhancements". We owned a Tandy 1000 and it seems like they patterned it after the Packard Hell in design philosophy

Back on topic - We have a Panasonic E50 and have no real complaints about it

[OldFeller]

I think CR can be very useful in learning about products' features. I also trust their integrity. On the other hand, I have bought things they recommended only to be disappointed and bought things I was happy with that they didn't like. Their "reliability" scores generally matich my experience, but not always.

Nevertheless, I have subscribed for almost fifty years and will no doubt renew. CR has been worth the money to me.

[Captain Satellite]

'nuff said!

[KavMan]

panny's are up there with the best

i bought the sony hx900 waiting to be blown away by the visuals but could not tell that much of a differance if any between that and the e100

looked at it on slow mo, ff/rw and also on the monitor at 1600x1200 and any other possible ways
i just couldn't freakin tell them apart, that's why it went back to onecall

imho any of the top quality recorders on the top 2 recording speeds will have very very close visuals

don't believe the hype that some people are spouting saying one blows the other away etc....

if i have time after new years, one of my friends also bought the hx900, hell, i'll go to best buy or walmart and also borrow a jvc for a day or two hehe and i'll also use my e100

record some high quality dvd stuff on all three, up the mpegs, let you guys burn it to dvd and see if you can see this blow out vid quality one has over the other bs hype that alot of you are spouting

[macleod]

I want to see this in "fight Back". Anyone remeber that show. What was the hosts, name, Dave something or other.

They should have a show like that come back on the air and do these kinds of tests...

[Captain Satellite]

David Horowitz - "Don't let ANYBODY rip you off".

[tommyoz]

Just my thoughts,

This review means nothing to me. Just because someone writes it, doesn't mean it's right. The same goes for the all the post, just because you say it doesn't make it right.

Hence, the reason why I own 4 different models for a non professional.
Also, I have tried at least 8 different models. Bring it home and test it with the equipment that you have and your eyes to see. I'm sure we're always going to disagree about something.

[msteis]

For what it's worth, I tried the Toshiba DR-2 and found that it was mostly incompatible with most of my backups (Ritek, Verbatim, Maxell TY's).

msteis

[mike1061]

Thanks

[Almost Human]

Ask David Horowitz at www.fightback.com .

I have been a Consumers Report subscriber since 1963, the only magazine I subscribe to. It is an invaluable tool, when used for the right project.

[p_l]

I can remember when CR thought Tandy personal computers were the cat's pajamas.

Who wouldn't be impressed with this baby...