DVD Recorders

[Pete C]

Does anybody else have one? I just bought a dubbing deck with VHS, to convert my hundreds of hours of mostly music-related video, both commercial and recorded from TV. I bought a Sylvania through Amazon for under $300. Sylvania is now a brand of the Japanese Funai corporation. I bought that one over the slightly more expensive Panasonic because it had generally better user reviews, and I had a problem with a Panasonic DVD player in the past that seems to be common across models (drive motor failure).

Anyway, I'm very happy with the ease of use and the results of dubbing. Standard recording speed allows 2 hours per disc, but this model allows up to 10 hours. The 4 hour speed is quite reasonable, and still much better than VHS SP. DVD-Rs are pretty cheap now, under $1 each in bulk. I have my digital cable receiver hooked up to it via S-Video and the results are excellent. Right now, as far as I know, home DVD recorders only have analog audio inputs. I can also copy DVDs (without interactive features or digital audio) via a Philips DVD player that has no macrovision (and also plays PAL, and DIVX & MPEG files).

[Chris D]

Does your player used DVD+R or DVD-R technology? The latter is preferred among professionals.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Chris D

Does your player used DVD+R or DVD-R technology? The latter is preferred among professionals.

DVD-R. I made sure to go for that because it seems to have more widespread compatibility. The finished discs play fine on my other DVD player. In "video mode", finalizing creates a title menu, but there is no chapter menu, only markers at user-specified intervals. Recording on a DVD-RW in VR mode gives you more flexibility for editing, custom chapter breaks & thumbnails, but that format can only be played on machines that are specifically compatible with VR.

[Pete C]

I've had very good luck with the Sylvania unit I mentioned above. I paid $299 two months ago, and now it's down to $249.

[Pete C]

I withdraw my endorsement of the Sylvania model. I day after my previous post, the VHS loading mechanism broke down, and now it's in the shop. It's on original warranty, but I also purchased an extended warranty. Workmanship ain't what it used to be. I've already transferred about 100 hours of tape, or about 2/3 of my collection. After the rest I'll have very little use for a VCR, except I so far encountered 4 commercial VHS tapes in my collection that had copy prevention that prevented me from converting. One of them, Kenny Drew at Brewhouse is available on a DVD paired with a video of--ugh--Diane Schuur.

[mke]

Originally Posted by Pete C

I day after my previous post

And now you tell us?

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by mke

And now you tell us?

Hey, I made a typo. Either that, or I'm Roman.