ilo DVDR04 vs. DVDHD04?

[87wrangler]

I'm considering getting one of these models soon and was wondering if anyone went through the same decision process and if they could share their thoughts or anything they found out before finally picking one. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the extra $ for the HD model. My primary use would be to record from digital cable, edit out commercials on my PC and then re-burn to watch/archive. Thanks in advance for any help, people!

-87W

[tekkieman]

I can't say I went through that decision process. The HD model was just more than I wanted to spend. I really wanted the MPEG4 playback option, but I can't see a $120 difference for a feature I can get in a $70 player. I just got my R04 on Sunday, and I have capped 2 movies in realtime, and 3 TV shows via timer. The 2 movies were capped to +R, and the capped TV shows were to a single +RW. I haven't done any transfer to PC or editing yet.

The HD model supposedly still has a problem the R04 doesn't, but that was supposed to be fixed by a firmware release today. Since I don't have the HD, I haven't looked to see if the firmware was released or not.

I wouldn't mind an HD model in the future, but for now, since my capture requirements are small, I don't need it. If you need to capture anything more than 4 hours, get the HD model.

[Guitarman]

I own 2 of the HD04's and love them. They do still have a few problems that need to be worked around but hopefully will be fixed with the coming update. I have one hooked up with a digital cable box and the other hooked up with a DVR. I then record to the HDD and transfer to a DVD after trimming. The ILO with the HDD is a little more versatile since you don't have to worry about space if you have more than a couple of things to record before transfering.

I hope this helps in your decision.

[87wrangler]

Thanks for the help, guys. Guitarman, so you can trim the commercials and such on the ilo device itself before burning to DVD? Also, how long on average does it take to transfer 3-4 hours of recorded material to DVD+RW? How come you have a HD one connected to the DVR? Couldn't you have gotten away with just the R since the data is on the DVR or is there some added advantage with the HD? (Also thinking about upgrading my cable box to the DVR type since it should be available here by now).

-87W

[Guitarman]

I had both recorders before I got ther DVR. Plus, you can't edit a recording on the DVR, so it's easier to transfer to the ILO HDD and edit before going to the DVD.

As far as trimming commercials, yes. There are 2 ways to do it on the recorder.

1. Create chapter marks at the beginning and end of each commercial break, then hide the chapter. When copied to the DVD and finalized, the hidden chapters will not play. Drawback... the hidden chapters still take up space.

2. The HD04 has a split function. You can go to the beginning of a commercial break and split the recording. This will create 2 files. Edit the second file and split it after the commercial break. You will now have 3 files, the second one being the commercial break. Select the second file and delete it. You can then merge the 2 remaining files back together as one. Keep doing this until the final recording has no breaks. A warning though. One of the issues needing fixed with new firmware is that occasionally the splitting function will freeze. Once it does, you have to unplug the recorder to unlock it. Once this happens, the recording you were trying to split becomes corrupt and unplayable.

Of course, the easiest way to edit the recording is to copy it to a DVD+RW, rip it to a computer and use good editing software to trim out all the junk you don't want. Then you can erase the DVD+RW and use it again.

[87wrangler]

Great info, Guitarman. Actually, it was some of your posts here and on techolio that got me looking at these units in the first place. On average, how long would you say it takes you to transfer 3-4 hours of recorded material from the hard drive on the ilo to DVD+RW and to DVD-R, respectively? Does it max out at 4x or is it a faster burner if you have faster compatible media (+/-R)?

-87W

[Guitarman]

It is a 4x burner in the HD04. It not a matter of how long the recordings are as much as how much data. Since it is only copying the recordings from HDD to DVD, it is only going to take as long as a normal burner in a computer.

In my usage, it seems to take about 15 minutes to copy a full 4gig worth of content to the disc. This would be a 1 hour recording in HQ, 2 hour at SP and so forth. It only takes about 1 minute or less to finalize the disc once you're done writing to it.

[lemmy999]

Guitarman, how do you go from your DVR to you DVD recorder without having additional loss from re-encoding the video?

[jdemer]

I have a DVDR04 that I'm using to record from my tv and to backup my videotapes.

If I have only one program I use DVDShrink to trim my "before" and "after" capture. This is not the same as eliminating commercials but I'm capturing from PBS so the commercials are at the beginning and end of a segment and are easy to eliminate.

The same with backing up my videos. I trim the previews using DVDShrink. The process is quite easy. As for loss of quality, capturing from tv and videotape backup are inherently frought with some loss, but I don't mind.

I updated my ROM to include three-hour recording and to be free of macrovision. I used the download on Guitarman's site. (Guitarman, if you're reading this, thank you). The upgrade was simple and smooth.

I'm happy with the DVDR04.

[lemmy999]

I usually rip the video to one large file using DVD Decrypter (but my videos are not encrypted). Then I edit with Womble MPEG2VCR, then use some authoring tool to burn back to DVD. Still, personaly, I think I would rather record to HDD on a DVD recorder, then burn to the DVD locally and not even use the PC. I just wish the interface on the DVD+RW/HDD devices was better for editing out commercials.

[Guitarman]

Guitarman, how do you go from your DVR to you DVD recorder without having additional loss from re-encoding the video?

I only do this if I have to. The quality is crappy!!! I have one of my HD04's set up with a digital cable box and use that if I can't use the built-in tuner to record what I want.

This is what I would suggest:

1. ILO tuner (if stereo is not an issue)

2. AV2 or s-video in from VCR tuner (if stereo is an issue) or a Digital Cable Box/Satalite Receiver (for recording that can't be received without the box)

3. AV2 or s-video in from DVR (bad final PQ. Use if it is the only source available or you can adjust the compression the DVR uses)

[lemmy999]

If you have a DVR, is there any way to get the digital files off of it or is it only have analog output? I guess you could always take the HDD drive out and plug it in to the computer assuming it has a standard format.

[Guitarman]

lemmy999,

DVR's don't have the same format as a standard recorder, which is DVD-VR. When selecting a recording on a DVR, it's not just a thunbnail menu you are using. The recording holds all of the information about the recording including channel, date, time, show description, etc... so it seems that the whole format of the recording process is different. The only thing they have in common is the fact that the video is recorded in mpeg.

I also heard from another source that some of the DVR's use a Linux format on their drives, which would render the drive completely unreadable in a standard Windows PC.

When copying from a DVR to the DVD recorder, it has to be real time through the available output jacks.