Which player do I get? my head hurts!

[Castor troy]

Hi Guys,

I have been researching and going through this forum, in great detail to help me find a dvd recorder which suits my needs, but as a result my head just hurts from the info and now I can't work out what to get.

Here is what I require, whatever you guys can recommend me would be great.

1.Ultra Slim Idealy Portable DVD recorder, needs to be moved quite a bit.
2.Best result for mpeg encoding.
3.Stereo Audio (dolby ac3)
4.Hard Drive based.
5.Multi region
6.Most importantly it needs to used so it can record from a digital betacam VTR, so it requires the right inputs

I was thinking maybe Pioneer, but please let me know what you guys can recommend, all help will be appreciated.

[wabjxo]

Check out the Philips DVDR3575H/37, with 160GB HDD and NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners, stereo input and Dolby 5.1 output via optical and digital coax, easily moved, great recording, DV/SVid/Comp inputs front and back. Not multi-region or region-free.

Click my signature for lots of info, pics, stats, etc.

[Castor troy]

Or alternativley is there a a portable device that can be recomended, that records to mpeg2 which gives me a dvd compatibale file that I can use in dvdlab.

Essentially what i really need is create a dvd's from material which have been recorded directley from digital betcam's, so if there is such a portable device, I will need it so it can record from that machine.

Any ideas, or should I go down the dvd recorder route?

[wabjxo]

I can see why your head hurts!

[Castor troy]

Ok after doing a little more reading, I'm leaning towards a Pioneer recorder, can someone recommend a good one, idealy an ultra slim one.

From what I understand the first two generations were not that great, which new generation player would be worth getting?

[PuzZLeR]

You're on the right track with Pioneer IMO, particularly the latest models, 640 and above - reliability and good quality video and audio encoding. And you're right about the hard drive. You will regret buying one without one.

The only thing you may have a problem with is the portability you desire. These units, particularly the sooped-up ones with the hard drive and all, have yet to see the slimming age from what I have seen. Most of them are still on the "bigger" side (unless someone knows better).

But not that much. I would say just get yourself a good player like the Pioneer. Functionality, quality and reliability are too important to sacrifice for something smaller that may be missing something. I say just accept the extra few pounds and inches and use a good carry case. It's not that big a deal. My 520 is huge and I've managed fine when I would travel it to my parents' place hundreds of miles away.

It will be a while yet before we see a good portable version of this technology.

[Castor troy]

Thanks for the advise PuzZLeR.

I decided to for the Pioneer DVR-630H-S Ultra slim DVD-R / DVD-RW Recorder, 250 Gb HDD.

Mainly due to the fact that its slim and as about portable as its going to get, unfortnatley, here is the UK, I can't find a damm place, online that's selling one.

[PuzZLeR]

I can't understand why they call this model "slim" when it's exactly the same "slimness" as all the other Pioneers - other than a few inches less depth, and tiny bit lighter it's no different.

Then again, you won't find much smaller. By the way, it may be difficult to get since it's actually an outdated model, not just in the UK.

As well, read Orsetto's post here on page 2 of this thread. He recommends Pioneers 640 and above as the ones that have seemed to correct their earlier problems. He repairs them.

Nevertheless good luck in whatever purchase you get. I'll tell you my DVR is probably the most enjoyable electronic equipment I have ever bought.