How do JVC combo VHS/DVD recorders compare to M10 or M100?

[DGinnetty]

Turned on my trusty M100 this week to be met by no display at all.
Tried on a known good power source, and the unit will not power up.
Opened unit and checked the only fuse I saw, which was fine with 0.3 ohms resistance.
The board overall showed some evidence of heat damage, but didn't see any melting components.

I have had it for years now and don't know what the cost of repair would be, so I decided to check ecost.com and get some refurb unit to replace it.

Sadly, ecost.com has no M10s or M100s available, but PLENTY of the JVC VHS/DVD combo units.

I never bothered to look into those until now, since my M10 and M100 units were running fine.

I already own 3 JVC SHVS VCRs and have 3 Datavideo TBC-1000s, so I wouldn't need to use the VCR part.

I guess I really have 2 questions:

1) Is the encoding chip and associated circuitry for the combo untis the same as the M10 or M100 models?

2) Can I patch in the video input to the recorder, effectively bypassing the VHS part of the combo unit?

3) [Bonus question] I use these only for VHS conversion, so I don't need a good tuner. If there another brand
or model of dvd recorder that is comparable in recording quality to the JVCs? I would prefer to stick with the
JVC models as they have worked great for my needs, but if they are no longer around, I need a sutiable backup.

Thanks for the advice in advance

Dan Ginnetty

[DGinnetty]

Wanted to add that I will need the FR mode option; which apparently rules out the M7 combo model.

I did see a couple MV5 models on ecost, so if they have the same encoding chipset as the M10 or M100, I should be all set with those.

Dan Ginnetty

[trhouse]

Yes, Yes, and it depends on what you mean by comparable. My tests show that the M10S's are IRE=0 machines which means they will lighten the VHS source a bit since VHS has IRE=7.5 for black level. The Sony GX315 does the same and neither has IRE adjustable. Most Pioneers and Panasonics have adjustable IRE and my understanding is that newer Toshiba's do as well.

The only other recorders that I can think of that have both FR mode and LSI encoders are the older Panasonic ES20 and ES40V combo, and the new Panasonics which are said to use LSI encoders and have FR mode. I have not seen for myself that the newer ones have LSI chips but the Panasonics do not filter VHS as aggressively as the JVC models.

P.S. I have the service manuals for the M10S and MV1S which show that the encoder assembly is interchangeable between the units. The power supplies are not the same however.

[lordsmurf]

The MV1 and MV5 are basically the same as the M10 and M100, meaning you'll get excellent quality DVD recordings, especially if you need to clean up noisy VHS or cable/antenna. It has a VCR added onto it, though the VCR isn't all that great.

[SCDVD]

Is the consumer model DR-MV78B a decent machine?

[DGinnetty]

OK. Thanks for the info folks. I saw some MV5s (both new and refurbs)
on the net, and will be picking up 2 or 3 of them.

Thanks again for being THE best source of info regarding the conversion of my VHS collection to DVD!

Dan Ginnetty

[StuR]

If your after a JVC dvdrw and you have to buy a combi then firstly the direct to DVD will record the same. Try and get a HDD/dvd combi as VCR's are poor (apart from the rare SVHS player combi). The recording from the HDD to DVD may be better than those direct to DVD due to the 'dual pass' technology i.e. HDD at HQ, then dub to DVDR at say SP. Appears to work best from a high quality input like digital. I'm still testing but results look good using this method even on poor VHS.

[lordsmurf]

Is the consumer model DR-MV78B a decent machine?

All of the "7" models lack FR mode, so no, not really.
FR180 is the best setting on the JVC, aside from XP, and it's missing on the 7's.