Fed up and finished with DVD RECORDERS

[kevs]

Everyone here has been really great, here, I have to say, but I'm throwing in the towel for now.

I started with Panasonic DVD Recorders and returned in within a day or two. was shocked it how much more complex it was than VCR recording.

later I go a Samsung -- way simpler ,but the disc would not play in my JVC player.

Got Lite on, and it broke pretty quickly, dics jammed in, would not eject.

Sony had best layout, but also had some issue I can't remember now.

But turned out, I really needed A HD unit, so just got Toshiba with HD. Only thing is, wont tune TV channels. All others tune quickly and efficiently. Not Toshiba . I'm sure it has something to do with the TV feature, which I don't need.

Just don't have energy any more to track down tech support (not even listed), and be put on hold for 40 min. etc. just wiped out.

SO it's back to VCR for me. Honestly, don't find quality that offensive with VCR -- just bit bulky.

Hey, if I did not work, and was retired I would continue on this quest.

[SCDVD]

Listen up manufacturers. If it isn't easy to use AND reliable, you haven't finished the job!

[Marvingj]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

[BJ_M]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=302154

[budz]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=302154

Pioneer isn't getting out of the dvd recorder business which was posted on another website. I don't understand how posting that link would help the original poster.

I agree that the PIONEER standalone dvd recorders are user friendly. Give PIONEER a chance!

[BJ_M]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=302154

Pioneer isn't getting out of the dvd recorder business which was posted on another website. I don't understand how posting that link would help the original poster.

I agree that the PIONEER standalone dvd recorders are user friendly. Give PIONEER a chance!

they are according to them -- see japan site ... yes they are good - but if he doesnt buy one right away - it may be not a pioneer is the point ....

[kevs]

thanks SCD! good quote.

I was going to go with Pioneer! but they decided to end the DV input which I wanted.

Actually, I was very familair with Sony, so when I retire and have endless amounts of time for this hobby to continue maybe I'll go back to Sony, although I know they are evil.

[samijubal]

You'll have to pry my Toshiba D-R4s out of my cold dead fingers.

[edDV]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=302154

Pioneer isn't getting out of the dvd recorder business which was posted on another website. I don't understand how posting that link would help the original poster.

I agree that the PIONEER standalone dvd recorders are user friendly. Give PIONEER a chance!

they are according to them -- see japan site ... yes they are good - but if he doesnt buy one right away - it may be not a pioneer is the point ....

They are moving on to BD/HD. They have concluded that research is best placed over there. Research and development is expensive for a medium size company.

[kevs]

Actually, it turns out, that I really don't need that DV in, as can do it with computer/Toast, (did not think of that) so I could get the Pioneer now........but
breaking point is hit. I'm dropping whole DVD project and staying the VCRs. thanks for great help here.

[BJ_M]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=302154

Pioneer isn't getting out of the dvd recorder business which was posted on another website. I don't understand how posting that link would help the original poster.

I agree that the PIONEER standalone dvd recorders are user friendly. Give PIONEER a chance!

they are according to them -- see japan site ... yes they are good - but if he doesnt buy one right away - it may be not a pioneer is the point ....

They are moving on to BD/HD. They have concluded that research is best placed over there. Research and development is expensive for a medium size company.

sort of large middle sized... 33,000 employees , 6.5billion (US$) in sales .... BUT they had a loss last year (a small loss - but still a loss) ...

extra costs related to their purchase of NEC plasma division - as well as declining amounts of sales in their once highly profitable patent division -- has really dragged the profit down ...

the dvd recorder division - as well as all other home divisions (other than display) have been doing really well ...


in comparison -- sony is 8 times larger than pioneer

[vhelp]

kevs, (instead of the built-in tuner) did you even consider using a VCR
as a tuner, and recording from that ??

When I got my first DVD Recorder unit, (brand was, iLO) I found out all
too late that the tv tuner was disapointing. And, the audio was mono.
I put up with it for a short while, and in the end, routed my VCR into
the mix. And so far, I have never had a hint of trouble since. Now, I
have my latest brand, a Pioneer DVR-220-s, and it has been providing me
the best all-around comprimise in terms of tv programing archival, etc.,
all with using my VCR as the tv tuner.

Very briefly, here is what my use my DVR-220-s unit for:

** Every day, I put in a new -r disk (usually before I got ta bed)
** I set up my unit to record in MON-FRI mode, for my ST-TNG series

I have my unit set for MON-FRI (a one-time setup for recording at a
certain time - 1hr program) and after that, I do nothing else to the
unit - ever. Every evening, when I come home from work and turn on my
pc, I just do one thing, Finalize. Then, I put in a new disk, and go
on my merry way. Now, if only I had gotten a HDD model instead, that
would make things even more busier for me.

Course, I do other in-between recordings, such as when I'm right there
and find something that I have to record to -r disk. But, for regular
timed recordings, the above is what I use during the week. But, a HDD
would make a great multi-program-source archival arson, indeed.

Don't give up just yet.. there are other ideas you haven't tried

-vhelp 3981

[davideck]

kevs -

FWIW, I know someone that had to exchange a Toshiba HDD DVD Recorder because the tuner was defective in the first unit. The second unit was fine.

Timeslip is too convenient for me to ever go back to a VCR.

[handyguy]

Yeah but VCRs have commerical advance. That was pretty cool....

Dvd recorders are just as simple as vcrs to program, if not easier as they have tvguide. But only work right if you use compatible media.

[davideck]

Yeah but VCRs have commerical advance. That was pretty cool....

Well, my DVD Recorder remote control has Instant Skip and Instant Replay buttons that operate much faster than the commercial advance on my VCRs. Those two buttons get a lot of use and are among my favorite features.

[SLK001]

kevs,
Sorry to hear about all your problems. I'll send you my address where you can send your unit for proper "recycling"! I'll even pay the postage!

[lacywest]

You should have went with Pioneer, Its the most friendly DVD recorder. Really Easy to Manage. Go to Best Buy or Flys check the display out. ( free )

Well ... uhm .... I don't agree ... for my Panasonic E50 [not the Hard Drive version] and my Pioneer DVR-220.

I can pop in the DVD-R disk ... into the Panasonic unit ... program in the time to record just fine.

If the show is getting ready to come on ... I use the Flex Record button.

I find out how long by checking the guide on the Comcast Box or use ... www.tvguide.com

[http://www.tvguide.com/Listings/index.asp?I=62135&zip=]

or the guide on the Directv box ... more than one way to check the length for a movie.

I don't like Pioneer's method ... doesn't allow me to tune in to the last minute. I believe it uses 5 minute blocks.

Panasonic EH50 with Hard Drive ... I usually have to keep the manual close by for help.

I do use this DVD/HD recorder as my main DVD Player [I have 4 Panasonic EH50s - 1st one bought at Circuit City and the next 3 on Ebay]... and it does read the DVD+R DL disks I make .... Verbatim and Ridata.

I have one Pioneer DVR 220 and two Panasonic E50 units

Yes ... I can see better image quality with the Pioneer than the Panasonic ... but only when I'm doing a comparision test.

[akrako1]

I haven't found any problems with the built in Tuner on my Pioneer dvr-320. I typically tune off basic cable using the built in Tuner. For digital cable, run a s-video cable from your cable-box/sat to the dvr and do all the tuning on the cable box (no need to touch the dvr tuner, except to set it to L1, L2 or L3 for recording from the cable-box)

[samijubal]

Yeah but VCRs have commerical advance. That was pretty cool....

Well, my DVD Recorder remote control has Instant Skip and Instant Replay buttons that operate much faster than the commercial advance on my VCRs. Those two buttons get a lot of use and are among my favorite features.

Are you talking commercial advance or commercial skip? With commercial advance you don't have to press anything on the remote, it automatically FF through the commercials. It's a lot faster than commercial skip which picture searches forward. Commercial advance is pretty cool, it doesn't work every time though.

[davideck]

Are you talking commercial advance or commercial skip?

Both actually. The response time of the Instant Skip and Instant Replay buttons is virtually instantaneous, and it works every time. In comparison, I find Commercial Skip to be too slow and Commercial Advance to be too problematic.

The one feature that I DO miss about my VCRs is the seamless picture searching as opposed to the image stepping that most DVD players/recorders do beyond 2X.

[Rich86]

I must confess that I have been tempted many times to switch over to a HD/DVD type recorder for TV. I use it strictly for time shifting TV programs. But reading this forum over many months has convinced me that my high-end JVC S-VHS machine is just fine for time shifting TV programs.

[Frobozz]

I must confess that I have been tempted many times to switch over to a HD/DVD type recorder for TV. I use it strictly for time shifting TV programs. But reading this forum over many months has convinced me that my high-end JVC S-VHS machine is just fine for time shifting TV programs.

Ahhh, where's your sense of adventure? Among the reasons I switched from S-VHS to a HDD DVD recorder for time shifting is the ability to start watching a program while I'm in the midst of recording it and to be able to watch a different recorded program while something new is being recorded. My S-VHS deck is useless to me while it was recording, but that's not the case with my DVD recorder.

But I must admit my manual is pretty dog-eared. You can't have that many features without there being some mystery to how it all works.

[davideck]

I must be one of the lucky ones to have (so far) experienced flawless performance from my HDD DVD Recorder.

Being able to watch the same program that I am currently recording is a great timesaver for me. Being able to record one program while watching another is also very convenient.

There are no tapes to mess with.
No waiting for Rewind/FF.
Massive amount of storage.
Better picture quality.

And archiving takes only a few clicks on the remote and a blank DVD-R.

I held out for a long time. Now my JVC HR-S9600U SVHS VCR isn't even plugged in anymore!

[lordsmurf]

I think you quit too easily.

I have 2 JVC units, they work flawlessly. The DR-M100S is great, timer is wonderful. No complaints.

I've even got an abused Panasonic E85H that does pretty decent on a timer, as a TIVO-like unit at least, not all that fond of it for archiving video (SP is passable), quality not as good as JVC. But for casual timeshifting, very nice.

Your LiteOn and Samsung issues, no idea what that was about. Fluke. Those are generally nice units. Good LSI encoder chipsets in all LiteOns and several Samsungs.

[yoda313]

I'm liking my liteon 1107 hc1. The nice thing about the dvd recording is the instant recording. As long as there is space on the disc it will record. No more fast forwarding or rewinding to find empty space like on a videotape.

I'm using dvd+rw more frequently right now. Instantly erasing a show is so convenient (not to mention I don't need to finalize a +rw to play in another player, I just stop recording the +rw and pop it in another player and it works right away). I have a large stack of +r for permanent storage as well. Though as far as the rw goes I can always rip to the pc, edit out the comercials, and burn to a new +r.

Definetely worth trying the dvd recorders. (Though I can still and will use my pc for analog in recording and of course htdtv recordings).

[kevs]

I'm sure I could lick this problem with Toshiba, or get another unit and reach the finish line, but just wiped out. of course benefits to dvd recorders, that's why put so much time into this venture, but I have to say:
there is always a new issue, this wont play with this media, that wont play with that media.... does seem to never end.

[Seeker47]

I must be one of the lucky ones to have (so far) experienced flawless performance from my HDD DVD Recorder.

Same here.

Being able to watch the same program that I am currently recording is a great timesaver for me. Being able to record one program while watching another is also very convenient.

There are no tapes to mess with.
No waiting for Rewind/FF.
Massive amount of storage.
Better picture quality.

I'm sure you could find a couple of rather specific exceptions, but overall the relative convenience factors amount to a big No Contest. Consider also the storage space required for racks 'n stacks of vcr tapes vs. for dvd. And dvd is certainly the more easily portable and very probably the more readily playable option, for taking them to view elsewhere. (Archival longevity may be a wash, though. I think the jury is still out on that one. But the tapes themselves are quite susceptible to damage, the tape transports to mechanical falure sooner or later.)

And archiving takes only a few clicks on the remote and a blank DVD-R.!

And here's a real difference that may sound kind of odd: I can't tell you how many tapes I have where I have no idea what's on it ! Why ? Either laziness at the time, being in a hurry, or both. So, NOW, I'm gonna FF & RW through 2 movies on each T-160 (@ the middle LP rec., speed in most cases), or maybe 4 programs, just to find out what's on it ? Uhh, I don't think so. Fortunately, no more than 10% of the tapes are like this, but that's plenty. It's weird, but I've never had that problem with DVDs. The -Rs get a quick scribble with the CD marker pen, as soon as they come out of the PC or DVDR tray, and I'll know what's on it. (I use Post-It notes for the RWs, as I sometimes did for the cassettes.) But even an unmarked dvd is checkable as to contents much quicker and easier than any tape.

And speaking of tape, have you noticed that the quality of most of the blank VHS tape you can buy today has plummeted ? There is still some SVHS that is made in Japan (expensive), and I'd guess that is fine, but I wouldn't care to mess with the rest.

[ROF]

Sorry to hear about your issue Kevs. Modern technology isn't for everybody.

It could be worse. My mother-in-law loves to watch all kinds of movies so I bought her a DVD player. It took about 100 times of me explaining that DVDs had menus on them and she needed to select with the remote the play movie button on screen in order to watch them. I also have to set her clocks and setup her kitchen television for CATV when we lose power.

[Oscar wallace]

Dvd recorders are just as simple as vcrs to program, if not easier

I agree,I have three DVD recorders and two VCRs (and owned dozens more over the years)each is just as easy to use, the problem is with the OP not the machines,try taking a bit of time and reading the manuals instead of bitching, if you want complex you should have tried using the Grundig V2000 range of video recorders from the late 80s/early 90s.

[kevs]

Have you guys seen Panasonic or Toshiba machines -- not easily to deal with. still may go back, but very burnt out. I have DVR cable box and it is awesome -- wish is had DVD recorder in it.

you gotta admit: vcr, put in tape in any other machine, no problem.
DVD -- so many issues with what works with other players.