VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7
Thread
  1. I have a mint condition Pioneer DVR 7000 Elite (still in its unopened factory-sealed box) which I bought about 12 years ago for $700. I have kept this unit unused under the probably mistaken notion that over time it would become valuable.

    I'm now considering opening the box and using it hoping that, because it's an older machine, it won't have the technology to discern whether a TV signal is Copy-protected or not, thereby allowing me to record programs I currently can't.

    Question #1
    Will the Pioneer DVR 7000 Elite record programs from TV that are copy-protected?

    Question #2
    Is the Pioneer DVR 7000 Elite worth even the $700 I paid for it? Am I ruining a valuable collector's piece by opening it?

    Thanks for any help.
    Quote Quote  
  2. "Although the DVR-7000 has some limited editing features, they can be used only when working with DVD-RWs. Editing isn't this deck's strong suit anyway, and home-video enthusiasts would be better served editing their movies on a computer, recording the final version onto a DV tape, and copying the tape to DVD using the Pioneer's DV input. That little FireWire jack also acts as an output, provided the source DVD isn't copy-protected. Like other DVD recorders, the DVR-7000 won't record copy-protected material, including most commercial DVDs and videocassettes. "

    https://www.cnet.com/products/pioneer-dvr-7000/review/
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member hech54's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2001
    Location
    Yank in Europe
    Search PM
    Wow that thing looks so much like my old Philips DVDR985.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis MN
    Search Comp PM
    1. No, it will obey any and all CP signals.
    2. Probably not, while it's a beautiful machine, I almost bought one 8?? years ago at a local pawn shop but decided against it because of it's limited support for all but 4x(and slower) media which was extremely hard to find back then, probably impossible now. I just don't see it being an in demand collectors item. IMO for something to be such a collectors item lots of people have to really want one, I just don't think DVD recorders are such an item, most people could care less, they were a niche item whos short time came and went. The vast majority of people could care less about DVD recorders....
    While it's beautiful there are probably lots of other older electronic gear that at one time was very expensive and could be called beautiful, just not sure the 7000 would rise above the pack to collectors status.
    Quote Quote  
  5. OK, Jeff, thanks for the response, grim as it was. The Pioneer DVR 7000 Elite will remain pristine in its factory-sealed box, like a time capsule of sort. Maybe decades from now it will take someone's breath away on its discovery. Probably not.

    As for getting by the Copy Protection being sent over Time Warner I think I'm going to buy a Grex 7.4 video stabilizer, which is supposed to do the trick. But I'm not really sure why cable companies are so worried about people recording their programs if DVD recorders are so yesterday.

    https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=grex+stabilizer&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&h...l_6ywm6aolek_e
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Minneapolis MN
    Search Comp PM
    That Grex works very well, I have one I purchased a couple years ago and it's still working fine.
    Yes worrying about analog SD copying is so yesterday but I guess it gives someone something to worry about......
    Quote Quote  
  7. jjeff nailed it: unfortunately, your pristine Pioneer DVR-7000 Elite is all but unusable these days due to media unavailability, and may never appreciate as an unopened collectible. The going price on eBay for a 7000 in mint, operational condition is approx $100 give or take, of which a seller might net only $50 after paying fees and shipping. I haven't seen one in an unopened box for years: you have nothing to lose by listing it for $400 and see if anyone bites, if not keep dropping your asking price in $50 increments. Some wingnut Pioneer freak might eventually offer $250-$300 if you're patient. But I wouldn't expect more than $300 tops: if you can net anything over $200, take the money and run.

    To attain "collectible" status, an item must combine relative scarcity with some emotional or nostalgic appeal. Modern-era electronics made after 1990 are too generic to be collectible: with the exception of some high-end audio gear, everything depreciates fairly rapidly. As jjeff alluded, landmark "first of its kind" units like the DVR-7000 become relatively worthless if the category never really took off (dvd recorders, at least in North America, crashed and burned on the launch pad). Even the very first DVD player from 1997, Sony's $1200 DVP-S7000, has dropped in value to where I could barely recoup my shipping cost if I sold it today. Its a superbly-built unit, one of the last premium devices Sony ever bothered to design, with video performance aspects that are still hard to match. But, it doesn't have an HDMI port, its incompatible with many of today's deliberately-dysfunctional Hollywood dvds, it can't play burned dvds, and physical media is all but dead anyway. Like the Pioneer DVR-7000, its moment has passed.
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!