Need Advice DVDR/PVR - Pioneer vs. Panasonic To Tivo or not Tivo
 

Alright.....I need advice. I am going to get my first DVD-Recorder and have decided I want to get a hard drive with it.


The decision is: Do I get the Pioneer DVR 810-HS with an 80GB harddrive and TIVO or the Panasonic DMR E-85 with 120 GB harddrive but without TIVO.


I do not have TIVO yet and am wondering what is a better use of the money, more disk space or Tivo. I don't have any problems programming my own recordings, but I hear TIVO will "revolutionize the way I watch television."

Any thoughts are appreciate

If you don't already have TiVo and you want to get a DVD recorder, what you have is a NO-BRAINER. Get the Pioneer.

I am perfectly able to schedule my own recordings and don't watch soap operas so I can live with missing an occasional show. I also have figured out how to watch one show while I'm recording another and can wait for commercials to go to the bathroom or use the phone. So I never felt a need for Tivo, especially since you have to pay a monthly fee for it. (I've seen Toshiba offering a free basic Tivo service on their recorders but I don't know how that differs from the one people normally use.)

With this TV watching profile I'm more interested in larger disk space. I've been looking at recorders as well and built-in Tivo hasn't been worth anything to me. The quality of the recorder and the types of media it uses are much more important. And price of course.

Tsar,

You say the Pioneer is a No- Brainer, but from I can tell the Pioneer doesn't allow editing of material of the HDD. That seems to be a major drawback. As I said, I don't need TiVO to record things for me.

Agreed. The Pioneer units with Tivo have editing functionality disabled. This is an absolute deal killer IMO. BTW, I couldn't be happier with my Panny.

I am in agreement with X and I own a Panasonic E80 (80 gig HD). I have been REALLY happy with it. I've owned mine for about 4 months and use it daily for time-shifting, archiving of my old family 8mm videos. I don't need the TIVO features or the expense as I am capable of scheduling easily.

Last night I that decided I wanted to record both nights of the Salem's Lot remake on TBS. It only took me 4 minutes to set it up.

I'm sure the TIVO owners will decend upon this thread and preach, I've been through that previously & was not convinced that the added expense and no DVD recorder were of any benefit to me personally.

Weigh the options and buy what's best for your needs. They both work well!

Sonicflood

Sonic, Can you elaborate on the 8mm archiving? I have a lot of old 8mm tapes that I'd love to archive to disc. Can you simply connect a camcorder and record them to dvd's with the Panny? Thx!

Yes, I use a Sony 8mm Handycam I bought at Wal-Mart that has an S-video output. I connect it to the Panny via the inputs on the front (line input 2) and dub directly to the hard drive. I then edit the footage and record to DVD-RAM and/or DVD-R. Works wonderfully. I've made copies for several family members. I like the ability to save a "master" copy on DVD-RAM.

Sonicflood