Centrios EDW8020 Discussion

[rumplestiltskin]

Just bought the subject recorder at CircuitCity and have been playing with some test recordings. So far, the quality of the HQ, SP, and LP settings (1, 2, and 3 hrs, respectively) are fine but the EP setting (4 hr) is pretty poor (not too surprising).

One thing that has me mystified is that the "finalize" menu option is not enabled no matter what buttons I push. Could it be that I am using +RW discs and, perhaps, these do not have to finalized? The disc (holding five separate recordings) shows up in my Apex AD660 and Philips DVR320, each menu item may be selected, and each "session" (recording) plays just fine.

Lousy manual; could stand to be expanded dramatically.

The unit has a small fan which is not noisy; maybe it's about a loud as my G5 (which is whisper-quiet).

Please post comments in this forum if you're an owner of this unit (and if you have some idea about the "no finalize the +RW" issue).

Thanks

[junkmalle]

Found your post about the Centrios DVD recorder!

I believe +RW disks don't need to be finalized. I've read that about some other DVD recorders.

[rumplestiltskin]

Greetings, junkmalle! (I had been typing junkmaile, oops!)

Just finished a 2:52 recording from Turner Classic Movies using the LP (3 hour) mode. The +RW did not have to be finalized. The manual does specifically exclude +RW's when discussing the finalizing step so you must be correct about this feature (and an excellent feature it is!).

[87wrangler]

Rumple,

I was checking out the recorder on Circuit City's website and came across the following while looking at the reviews -

"I was about to return the product because DVD+R wouldn't finalize making it not work on any of my other dvd players, including my computer. But before I run out to return, I called Centrios and within 2 minutes tech support answered my question. When yu're done recording with everything press 'STOP' button twice. After that the finalize option should be avaliable."

Hope that helps...

-87W

[rumplestiltskin]

Wranlger,

+RW media does not have to be finalized in a DVD recorder (as I found out after my original post); it may be played directly in a normal set-top player without any separate finalizing step. That's a great advantage of the +RW format.

I returned the Centrios when I found that +R media burned elsewhere would lock up the unit when inserted in the Centrios. I have many +R discs.

[87wrangler]

Ahhh... okay... wasn't sure if what applied for +R was the same for +RW. Good to know as I'm starting to look at DVD recorders... Thanks for the info.

-87W

[Marco33]

Seems to finalize RW's as you go, R's when you tell it to. Works with Verbatim RW.

I ran a test. Taking a Giants game recorded in HD on my Tivo. I hooked the s-video and standard L&R sound. Set the Tivo to downconvert the HD to 480i.

Recorded HQ and SP settings of a 5 min excert. I wanted to see how well the Centrios converted in 2 hour SP mode as opposed to recording HQ and converting it on the computer.

First off, the HQ seems like a carbon copy of the original image on my screen... a 43" HDTV. HQ looks great. No mosquito noise.

SP mode offered a good picture. Some moquito noise.

Then I took the same 5 min HQ recording and converted it on the computer. Setting CCE to 3 pass at 4300 (give or take) bit rate.

The PQ of the SP mode was better on the Centrios than the HQ converted on the computer.

The conversion left more mosquito noise than the SP mode.

I'm not realy sold, I wish it's SP mode was as good as the HQ mode.

Am I expecting to much?

Is it me or does the monitor quality change as you change modes? While watching the tv while recording in the different modes the picture on the TV seemed to change as the mode was changed.

[rumplestiltskin]

Marco,

As it's been explained to me, what you are seeing on the screen during recording is what is actually being recorded (quality level of the mpeg). So, yes, the screen does change when you begin recording.

I returned the unit.

[Marco33]

I'm about to do the same.

I'll try the lite-on 5005 next.