EXCLUSIVE: Wal-Mart DVD Recorders for $99!

[zorankarapancev]

At the end of 2004, US retail giant Wal-Mart talked with leading manufacturers in Taiwan concerning OEM production of entry-level DVD recorders. Wal-Mart wants the players priced at US$75-80, and all makers involved in the bidding are currently evaluating the feasibility of bidding on an OEM contract.

The target makers include Lite-On IT, BenQ, Quanta Storage, Mustek Systems and Protop Innotech.

In the US and European markets, entry-level DVD recorders did not sell well in the peak 2004 Christmas retail period, even with a drop in retail prices of around US$139-149. Wal-Mart plans to stimulate demand for DVD recorders by offering a retail price as low as US$99 – the so-called magic price – for entry-level models in the second or third quarter of 2005 and therefore has to keep OEM prices down to a correspondingly low level of US$75-80, the makers noted.

The target OEM makers in Taiwan are all interested in landing large orders from Wal-Mart, but are mulling over how to minimize production costs since their OEM quotations for DVD recorders currently stand at US$110-120.

Japan-based Techno Systems Research recently downgraded its estimate of global sales of DVD recorders in 2004 to 10 million units. If retail prices fall to US$99, DVD recorders will increasingly replace DVD players, and global demand may reach 20-25 million DVD recorders this year.

[Zisguy1]

I would certainly buy one... sick & tired of lame VHS cassettes.

[housepig]

that's what I'm waiting for... $100 price point on a recorder that can use RW discs.

[handyguy]

Apex was under $100 at Walmart this year.

But they don't have a lot of features for that price.

[lordsmurf]

Apex's DRX9200 had a REALLY small distribution.
I never saw one in person.

[sullen]

Apex's DRX9200 had a REALLY small distribution.
I never saw one in person.

Then you should visit my local Meijer stores. TONS of them there. The 9100 went fast. Almost every Sunday they advertise a rebate for this machine. Sometimes with other coupons it runs around $100.

[NightWing]

Has predicted by the fall to see 99 dollar ones. LSI Just released a new chip set that would drop the price but not sure if it will drop that far.

Fork time for VHS?????

Didient the Pres of APEX get arrested by China?

[lordsmurf]

Yes, Dec 26th 2004, check the NEWS section from about that time.

[steve2713]

Actually, I see Dvd Recorders for $99 here and there. The quality of them, that's probably a whole new story...

[lordsmurf]

Panasonic had some for $99 last year, as did LiteOn, Apex and a couple others. Usually rebate+sale.

[Prot]

Local Walmart has the Panasonic DMR-E50 for $150. I saw the same model at CompUSA for $329. Go figure.

[handyguy]

Yes, Walmart sold out of those e50s pretty quickly at that price.

[Bridge]

Was at a store today. They put the Panasonic single disk recorder on "clearance" last week. Last week it was $212 and they still had them. Today, when I went by, they were down to $174 and all sold out. Are the new Panasonics being released soon? What month do they come out?

[KTH]

If released on schedule the new Panasonic DVD recorders should start being released in April starting with the apparent replacement for the DMR-E55. Looks like all the new models will add the ability to record to DVD-RW & DVD+R disc's.

[vhelp]

Yeah. The cheapist price I've seen on DVD Rec was @ Wal-Mart for $149
but I forget the name brand. I'm not too sure that its going to matter all
to much now, (the price of these units, brand-name-wise) because everyone
will want one.. including myself. I want a piece of the action too, hehe.

Today, I'll have to visit my nearest W.Mart and see on models and prices
and things.
.
I did like the idea of the Harddrive model, but (last time I was there) at
$278 dollars, it was too much for me to soon. I'm willing to take a chance
on a no-name brand, just to see for myself (finally) what all this hype is
all about - great or bad.

.. If anything, I want one because I could record to highest quality, a 1/2 hr
.. or one hr show, and actually enjoy it even more than if I had recorded it
.. in EP mode on my S-VHS unit.
.. And, I just want to put that drea idea away ta rest.

But, I wonder. Because I also want to get my hands on a DL burner too, and BJ's
has one for $109 over here. It's a Lite-on 16x but there is no Model No stamped
on the boxes, so I don't know how you all tell what brand it is. Anyways.

-vhelp 3123

[handyguy]

$109 is way too much, newegg.com has them for about half that.

[Racer2x]

"$109 is way too much, newegg.com has them for about half that."

Well then, kindly give us a link to such a deal at Newegg, cause the cheapest DVD Recorder I see is a GoVideo, for $165.99, and I'm not buying a GoVideo. Total garbage.

[whompus]

Racer the half that is referance to pc burner he was talking about.

As far as the liteons go dont worry much about them. I found a few 1613 drives in the clearance bin at our local wal-mart priced at 35 each. So I scarfed them up. Crossflashed them to 1653 and dl burning is no problem on them. Only problem is cost of media.

[Racer2x]

That's what I figured he was talking about. Unfortunately, that was NOT what these guys were talking about. Just wanted to give the guy a chance to prove himself.

[KDH]

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050303A2004.html

"The Taiwan-based manufacturer Protop Innotech plans to offer entry-level DVD recorders for retail sale at US$99 through the Wal-Mart chain in April, according to the company. The retail price is equivalent to competing for orders at zero gross margin or even a loss because the current OEM production cost of DVD recorders is US$90, the makers pointed out."

[Beavis]

I still say if I care enough to record it on anything better than a VHS tape, then I care enough to record it using my PVR-250, quickly remove the commercials, and burn it to DVD-R. I assume these cheapo DVD recorders are essentially digital VCR's and wouldn't have any editing capabilities, right?

[edDV]

Old news, but one should consider not buying the price leader but the better one that is priced just a little more.

But be careful, Walmart is not always the best place to buy that better model. Although they drive market prices down with their price leader, they typically charge more than other sources for the mid-range models. That is the secret to Wal-Mart's pricing strategy and profits.

Nobody can beat Wal-Mart prices on the price leader, but many can beat Wal-Mart prices for higher end models.

[yarko]

I just bought this recorder, drx9200, at XSCargo in Canada for $88.

So far it looks like it works fine.

The pause between switching between record and playback is awful.
The dvd+rw disc works in my panasonic player no prolem.

This price is great.

[vhelp]

- DECEMBER 17, 2006 - 10:20am -

hmm.. better late then never.. reporting my success. I lost this topic,
and now found it again. It's nice to record an entry of my success

Here's my success story, so far.

Well, first of all, I purchased all my dvd recorders (all THREE) at
Wal-Mart.

FEBRUARY 2005
My first dvd recorder unit was the iLO DVDR04, purchased in mid February,
2005. It provided good picture at the time, but had audio issues -- the tuner
was MONO, rest was Stereo. The unit is still in excellent condition, though
rarely used these days. Read on..

FEBRUARY 2005
My second dvd recorder unit was the Pioneer DVR-220-S, purchased also
in late February, 2005. It provided slightely better picture but included a
host of advanced user configureble recording quality setup/features that were
too good to pass up, not to mention the price was right, at the time. If it
weren't for the price, I'd probably still be using the iLO brand.

Since the Feb 2005, I've been very happy with the unit and mainly used it to
record (while a work) the Star Trek series.. ie, TNG and DS9, among other
things.

But, the one thing that bothered me most was the ultimate, component recording
capability and HDD features, though these could wait to happen in time, as I
was in no hurry. Read on..

JULY 2006
My third dvd recorder unit *IS* now the Polaroid DRM-2001G, which was purchased
in early July, 2006. I first spotted it in early February, 2006 and wanted to
purchase it, but Wal-Mart was out of stock on them, not to mention, there were
romars of a store-wide recall. In one passing, I read it was on account of the
wrong user manaul (was in another language) being shipped. I don't know how
true that was, but then, it doesn't really matter all that much, today. But,
the price did not change -- was still $219 US dollars.

I mainly wanted it because I had discovered (while looking it over the first
time I saw it) I noticed it had Component OUTPUT, but low and behold, it also
had Component INPUT as well, but that I didn't know if they were operational,
since no one had tested this out, per my own researching. So, I waited, and
waited, and waited, every week, visiting Wal-Mart (and looking it over, since
Feb through July, and over, and over -- cause I couldn't wait to get my greedy
hands on one) and wishing (and fantasizing) using it for my HDTV Receiver and
plugging it in for the Component capability -- I just couldn't wait.. I couldn't
wait.

Then, finally, it paided off (the wait, that is) Wal-Mart had come in to stock
of these, and the price (I had feared) stayed the same. But, at the time, (by
that time) I was short of cash, and bills piling up, sort of. So, I greedaly
picked one up tucked it under my left arm, and walked around the audio/tv
area, dreaming and fantasing of owning one, for maybe half an hour, trying to
convince myself that I could make it through, financially. I kept telling
myself, "do the right thing.. put it back.. and stay out of debt" (not that
I was in any, mind you.. I was fine) ..

Finally, I gave in to my greed, and with a very exciting'ly can't wait to
unwrap and open and use and fullfill my long-time ideas of this unit, I made
the decision and purchased it -- all $219 dollars, plus tax, of course.

I'm currently using the Polaroid (via its INPUT Component capability) using
this setup, and it works very well:

--> Antenna -> Hisense, USDigital USDTV DB-2010 -> Polaroid DRM-2001G

You can also visit this link, that I started for it:

--> DVD Recorder: Polaroid DRM-2001G tests

Oh, and buy the way, you'll be happy to know, I made the purchase, debt-free,
and no regrets, and my once fantacy a reality

Thank you Wal-Mart and Polaroid, for making it happen.., oh, and for vcdhelp,
for the forums, articles, and of course, this thread/topic.

From the Video Workstation of,
-vhelp 4172

*~*!*~*!~* HaPpY HoLiDaYs *~*!*~*!~*

[drstew]

My understanding is that the Lite-on LVW-5005X is the same as the iLO DVDR04. How is the quality of the iLO DVDR04 when using a TV tuner from a VCR? Does your iLO DVDR04 work in 3 hour mode? Does the Polaroid? How does the picture quality with a good source compare among your three units?

[handyguy]

You can get a refurbed dvd recorder at philips outlet online under $85 shipped.

[Epicurus8a]

Wal-Mart sucks!

Wal-Mart is so powerful that it moves the economies of entire countries, bringing profit and pain. The prices can’t be beat, but the wages can.

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2004/national-reporting/works/walmart1.html

[superspeedfreek]

Beyond malwart being heinously evil, I advise to stay away from cheap DVR's. I bought an ilo DVR last year, and the unit functioned properly for no more than 3 months. Being too busy to find time to return the junk, as I live in the city and thankfully all malwarts are in the suburb. Altho I'm now stuck with this piece of poo; I learn that you get what you pay for. And yes, as technologies age, prices will drop; since DVR's are not so "new" they have been becoming more affordable. However cheap is cheap - and you know what that means. Anyways thats my opinion -ssf-

[oldfart13]

Wal-Mart Canada has Venturer units that seem to be 5001's again at $85CAD during Boxing Week. I already have 2 working 5001's so I don't need another but someone might be interested.....

[MJA]

Beyond malwart being heinously evil, I advise to stay away from cheap DVR's. I bought an ilo DVR last year, and the unit functioned properly for no more than 3 months. Being too busy to find time to return the junk, as I live in the city and thankfully all malwarts are in the suburb. Altho I'm now stuck with this piece of poo; I learn that you get what you pay for. And yes, as technologies age, prices will drop; since DVR's are not so "new" they have been becoming more affordable. However cheap is cheap - and you know what that means. Anyways thats my opinion -ssf-

ILO 05 (cyberhome) are garbage but not the 04 model (made by Lite-on) my 04 is still running strong