bboisvert

Well, it's finally happened -- get those credit cards ready... The first ever consumer DVD recorder is coming out at the end of August from Panasonic:
http://www.jandr.com/JRProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_I d=700&Product_Id=861386&Sort=Current_Price

It's $3000 and blank DVDs cost $30. Instead of the 2hrs/4hrs/6hrs recording on VCRs, you get 1hr/2hrs/4hrs on the DVD. The big negative (other than the price!) is that you can't play back the recorded DVD on a regular DVD player.

I think this purchase is definitely a few years away for me. I'm going to wait for the price to come down ($500 sounds a little more reasonable to me) and for them to sort out the compatibility issues. I'm sure that in a year or two, someone will come out with a standard format for *all* DVD recording (that hopefully will work with existing players too).

EDITED TO ADD: Another negative is that it doesn't seem to be able to record in 5.1 (only 2.0). Here's the official press release:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000807/ny_panason.html


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My DVDs
My LaserDiscs

[This message has been edited by bboisvert (edited August 08, 2000).]