JVC DR-M30HS. The good, bad, and ugly.

[heavyharmonies]

Just received my JVC DVD recorder today from Crutchfield ($399 - $20 MasterCard Promo = $379).

I've played with it for a few hours, and thought I'd give the rundown.

I'm using it primarily for converting '80s music video VHS tapes to DVD; an acid test for a DVD recorder if there ever was one (low-quality source, LOTS of fast motion, lots of dark backgrounds prone to macroblocking).

The good:

1. Video quality. Using SP mode, this does a wonderful job at encoding. Considerably better then my Panny DMR-HS2.

2. Since others have asked: splitting is frame precise. I was easily able to do exact splits with no problem.

The bad:

1. The manual is as useful as tits on a bull. Throw it away or shred it.

2. Editing interface. Very non-intuitive (or just utterly different from what I'm used to on the HS2)

3. Titling. Augh! The screen layout for editing, is just dumb. Not that it's different from the HS2; that I could live with. No one-button "save". No one-button delete of a character. Too many remote keys that can be acidentally hit that back you out of the editing screen so you have to start over.

4. Menu styles are fugly. The ones on my HS2 are infinitely more tasteful.

The UGLY:

An absolute dealbreaker for me. I couldn't find a way around this, nor could the support staff at Crutchfield: There is no way to see a preview of what the DVD menu will look like before committing to finalization of a DVD. [CENSORED] lame!!! Even my HS2 has the ability to preview the menu, then go back and change styles, re-title clips, etc. Completely and utterly dain-bramaged.

I absolutely cannot put up with this last issue, so it's going back.

Now the question becomes: what to get in it's place?

Two contenders at this point:

1. Panasonic DMR-E500HS.

Pros - huge HD, somewhat networkable (some have said it's possible to do titling via PC that way. True?? If so, that may be a MAJOR timesaver).

Cons - Panasonic encoding. Supposedly still prone to extensive macroblocking. Ick.

2. Toshiba RD-XS34.

Pros - Customization of menus possible (text color, background image). AFAIK, this is the only available model that does this.

Cons - New enough that the jury isn't in on the video quality.


Can owners of either unit verify that one CAN preview the final menus prior to finalization and then revize?

All recommendations appreciated.

Thanks!

[lordsmurf]

Editing on a DVD recorder is always going to be dodgy and basic. Why? They're made for ma and pa that shop Walmart. If you want to author a nice sleek menu, and cleaner/more precise editing, it'll always be the PC route.

I would suggest you give Pioneer a look too if you haven't already.

[Stampe]

4. Menu styles are fugly. The ones on my HS2 are infinitely more tasteful.

The UGLY:

An absolute dealbreaker for me. I couldn't find a way around this, nor could the support staff at Crutchfield: There is no way to see a preview of what the DVD menu will look like before committing to finalization of a DVD. [CENSORED] lame!!! Even my HS2 has the ability to preview the menu, then go back and change styles, re-title clips, etc. Completely and utterly dain-bramaged.

I absolutely cannot put up with this last issue, so it's going back.

Why do you need a preview? Once you've made 1 dvd you'll know what every menu will look like. You can choose an indexpix, a title and different colors background and that's it. There's absolutely no need for a preview. And if you really really need - try a rw-disc first.

Do you really need a preview to figure out if the menubackground should be blue or yellow. And why change the title? It can't be that hard to make up your mind I've had it for 7 months and love it for the great vhs -> dvd job it does. That matters a lot more to me than the possibility to preview a menu. The live buffer is fantastic also and it comes with flexibel recording for optimized quality and no wasted space on the disc. If I want a better looking menu and more interactivity I burn on rw-disc, rip it and author in TMPGEnc.

[gshelley61]

You can always burn to DVD-RW then re-author on the computer. DVD authoring software gives you much more flexibility and customization options than any DVD recorder in terms of menu creation anyway. Personally, I am just the opposite - I hate friggin' menus and usually edit and re-author on the computer to remove them! I prefer "simple" DVD's with chapter stops. FWIW, YMMV

Pioneer DVD recorders have about half a dozen or so different menu styles with thumbnails. You might want to check out one of those. The new DVR-633H has a 160GB hard drive.

[heavyharmonies]

Why do you need a preview? Once you've made 1 dvd you'll know what every menu will look like. You can choose an indexpix, a title and different colors background and that's it. There's absolutely no need for a preview. And if you really really need - try a rw-disc first.

Do you really need a preview to figure out if the menubackground should be blue or yellow. And why change the title? It can't be that hard to make up your mind I've had it for 7 months and love it for the great vhs -> dvd job it does. That matters a lot more to me than the possibility to preview a menu. The live buffer is fantastic also and it comes with flexibel recording for optimized quality and no wasted space on the disc. If I want a better looking menu and more interactivity I burn on rw-disc, rip it and author in TMPGEnc.

Why do I want to see a preview?

1. To see the interaction/contrast between the thumbnail choice(s) and the background option.

2. To see how scene title names will break lines or if certain ones are too long. This is not a big deal for most movies, but it IS for music video compilations where every scene has a title, and a lengthy one at that.

I don't get the hostility here. It's not like I'm asking for ridiculous functionality. My 1st-generation DMR-HS2 did this.

Yes, for *some* things I do port to the PC via DVD-RAM and re-author there. I don't want to HAVE to do that for everything.

In terms of *MY* workflow, I'm looking at a step backwards in functionality. Paying almost $400 for that is unacceptable, and I think a valid complaint. Just because it doesn't affect YOUR workflow, doesn't invalidate the issue.

The deck does great encoding. The ergonomics SUCK.

[DVWannaB]

heavyharmonies,

I agree with much of what you have reported, as I did a similar report on my MH30s back in January. I have a great Pioneer and Panny and the JVC is the best recorder of the bunch.

As you have found out, as I have, the functionality of the JVC is seriously lacking. While I have no problems with the menus, I would use the computer as mentioned above for control over menus. I just feel unless you are doing menus for a customer, where you need a certain look or functionality, then the recorders menus will do. Just burn to a DVD-RW in VR mode and author a menu to your liking in DVD-lab or some other authoring program.

[heavyharmonies]

I just spent about a half hour reading the user manual for the Toshiba SX34. I'm liking what I'm seeing:

1. A manual that is actually READABLE, with plenty of pictures.

2. Unlike (most) other units, this one will load cartridge DVD-RAM discs. Very nice. I got used to that with my HS2.

3. Titling screen. Infinitely better than the JVC, and at first glance better than my HS2: Caps are done via a "Shift" on the remote (similar to the way you handle them on a keyboard) rather than a separate Caps palette. One-button remote functions for "space", "delete", "clear all", and "save". MUCH better.

4. Combining multiple clips into one. I've not found any other units that do this; my HS2 did not. Effectively an "unsplit".

5. The menu options are heads above what other recorders offer for authoring menus. You can hide the following if you choose: disc name, page number, chapter name. You can display a running time in lieu of chapter name. You can choose a scene from the movie to use as the menu background (WAY COOL!). You can set a translucency option for better text legibility. You can set text and cursor colors. And most importantly (to me) -- full preview prior to finalization.

If the Toshiba comes anywhere even close to the JVC in terms of video quality, I'm guessing this is the unit to get (and NO, I don't care about the fan noise)...

[gshelley61]

I have an SX32 and a DR-K2. Encoded video image quality is very good in SP mode. The analog input video noise reduction has two levels, plus off (a nice feature) and works better than most other machines (except the JVC is still best at this). Input video brightness (black level) control settings are not sufficient to adjust a 7.5 IRE source down to 0 IRE for a proper DVD encode, but the unit plays back at 0 IRE (even through the composite/s-video output). Not a problem if you use a proc amp to adjust the black level. Well built units, too.

[Neuron]

I'm an owner of JVC DR-MH30 and I already expressed my thoughts on its menu and other users interface pieces here. --> https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=272920
I keep this machine only because of its unbeatable superior video picture quality and that is more important to me than having ability to create fancy looking DVD menus. I fully agreed with lordsmurf. If you need special look for your recorded DVD menu - use your PC as a video editing workstation and use DVD authoring software for special menus creation (DVD-Lab Pro or TMPGEnc DVD Author as an example).
Just consider your JVC DVD recorder as an excellent video capture device and DVD structure constructor, and do the final beatification steps on your PC before you create DVD-Video disc.

So there is nothing "UGLY" about this unit. It juts the only matter of "advantages and disadvantages". Every DVD video recorder as well as DVD players, VCRs, TVs and etc ... have their advantages and disadvantages / conveniences and inconvenience. Just simply admit and consider that DR-MH30's software user interface is one big disadvantage or nconvenience of this model. But compare to its advantages - that disadvantage is nothing and can be easily tolerated and even ignored.

Just my 2 corrosive cents.