Looking to buy new DVD recorder and have questions
 

Just started to do some research on dvd recorders.
Can someone list the pro/cons of the different formats DVD-R/RW , DVD+R/RRW, DVD-RAM.
I read in a recent review of a home theatre mag that DVD-R and DVD-RW records in 30 secs increments. In other words, if u record anything less than 30 secs, it will fill up to 30 secs. Is this true? Seems like a big drawback.

I bought a recent SONY dvd player something like DVDPN655. The specs says it can play DVD-RW. Would it also be able to play DVD+RW?

The Pioneer PVR-9000 (professional recorder) and DVR-7000 (consumer unit) use the DVD-R & DVD-RW formats, both of which are the most backwards compatible with existing players.

As for this "30 second" increment issue, the Pioneer units do not record in this manner. The other formats that you've mentioned are a "crap shoot." They may or may not play on certain players: trial & error need apply here.

If cost is a issue be warned that the Pioneer units that I've mentioned, probably the best stand-alone recorders on the market, carry a $2,000 price tag. Before you gasp be aware
of what you're getting. These are recorders that deliver
outstanding images especially when you transfer digitally originated materials: DVCAM, miniDV, Digital8. VHS and SuperVHS
also work well but are limited by their lower resolution issues.

I understand that Philips and Panasonic have released newer recorders that are "nearly" as good as the Pioneer units mentioned. The main difference between these units are in the way menues, text and thumbnail images are made available. The Pioneer units deliver the closest that I've seen to "commericially manufactured" discs.

I've contributed to similar forums like this one before, and as an industry professional, I have found no subsitute for the Pioneer recorders. That is only my opinion of course. I hope this helps.

As someone who just bought and returned the new Panasonic hard drive recorder, I can say that Panasonic units $uck. All of them have a bug that makes the DVD-R recordings lighter than the original. The resulting recording looks washed out on any player OTHER than the Panasonic it originated on. And yes, it's a big difference. A lot of people are "ok" with this and to me, this is something that Panasonic should be slapped in the face for doing. I can't believe it's gotten through 4 players at this point without more people complaining. The Pioneer and Phillips will give you great results and I have a couple of discs made on the Pioneer that look really good (a little darker but almost perfect). At this point I'm waiting for prices to come down and for the technology to be perfected. It's still too early in the game and I really want a hard drive for editing and archiving all my old VHS.

I have a panasonic dmr-e20 and this thing works perfectly for my needs. It makes perfect dvd to dvd copies. My collection is growing very fast. I had the dmr 30 but took it back because it only recorded to ram. The newer recorders have different features that may interest you but since I already have satellite hard disc recorders I mainly use the dmr 20 for backups. Cost me $400.00 for the machine and 87 cents per disc. Not bad.

Also interested.
 

I have also been watching for a good deal on a DVD recorder and was interested in the hard drive unit from Panasonic to archive my old VHS tapes. Has anyone else had a bad experience with this units recorded dvds when played on another machine? This was the first time I had heard any complaints about it.

Use the search function of DVDTalk to search on DVD recorders and you'll find all the info you need....

Two questions:

1. When recording off a show off the air, would it be better to have digital cable as opposed to regular cable for improved resolution during the recording process?

2. Is there or will there be any recorder out there where macrovision protection can be disabled when copying from one dvd to another to make backups or scene compilations?

1) depends on your digital cable service. In some areas, it looks worse than analog, in others it is better.

2) not a difficult problem to get around, but we aren't supposed to talk about it here...