corycouger

If so what should features shoud you look for?


Can you get a directv quality picture on a recorded disc or do you get the same crappy picture quality as you do with a recorded VHS tape?

Brian Shannon

Your quality will only be as good as the source material.

I have recorded off of Direct TV and have been pleased with the results.

To answer your question, what do you want to do with a DVD recorder? That might help you decide.

corycouger

I want to tape shows from HBO especially the full seasons of the Sopranos, The Wire, etc


Also I want to transfer some of my VHS recordings to DVD.


Will the picture quality on a DVD recorded off a VHS tape look better than a VHS to VHS recording or will it be the same?


Also do the recordable dvds have onscreen menus and chapters?

Brian Shannon

corycouger

Thanks for the info.

Can you buy a dvd recorder that can copy dvd to dvd and also from dvd to VHS?

X

Not a copyrighted, CSS protected DVD

meritocracy

It can, but not without a little help. Many stabilizer units allow this ability for both vhs tapes and DVDs.

X

However we don't want to discuss copying copyrighted materials here.

Shannon Nutt

The quality of your recording will vary with the speed setting you use...much like a VHS tape. Record one or two hours over a DVD and the picture will look as good as broadcast quality. Record 4 to 6 hours onto one DVD and you'll start seeing some pixilation on your recording. I've found that two hour movies record great - anything longer and you have some quality issues. Granted, my recorder is three years old - so newer models might be better.

corycouger

Also can you tape something on a DVD-R and erase it and tape something over it?



I am clueless since I still use VHS.

Brian Shannon

No that would be a DVD -RW or +RW

X

Various brands of DVRs handle either +R/+RW or -R/-RW. Chosing one that allows the RW format (instead of, or in addition to, -RAM) provides better compatibility with other players.

nightmaster

A DVD recorder is wonderful for the same thing one has always used VHS for, time shifting shows you want to watch later. It's also great for transferring home movies from your tape sources to disc. As others here said you will get broadcast quality, so what you see on your cable channel or DirecTV is what you'll get with your recorder, no more and no less, assuming you use the highest quality setting on your recorder. DVD-RWs are cheaper now than they've ever been so grabbing your favorite programs to watch at your own leisure is easier and cheaper at this point than buying videotapes.

0rac

Not sure if this is the best forum for this but didnt know a place to post it.


At the end of Sept I hope to get a DVD recorder. However I know NOTHING about them. Is there bad ones? It seems the most DVD players are the same, just different prices.
I hope to use it mostly for recording TV shows and old VHS stuff to DVD's. If I can copy DVD that is a plus but not a MUST if I have to buy alot more. Also I have TiVo and like to know if you can save TiVo shows to DVD. They have an option on TiVo that says "Save to VCR" so I guess you could use that? Not sure.

I hope to get it under $300 if I can. saw one at Target for $200 and that would be GREAT. Cheaper the better unless there is a reason not to.

So please let me know what to get, or not to get. Or what to look for and what to stay away from.

thanks
Darin

Brian Shannon

Might want to try a search.

There are two threads on the front page alone about this topic.

0rac

I searched and I can't find anything about recording from TiVo to a DVD recorder.

meritocracy

You can easily record onto a DVD recorder from your TiVo unit. Archiving will be in real-time because it records the signal coming from your Tivo. I would purchase a unit with a built in hard drive. This will allow you to remove commercials and other items. You can then high speed dub the program to 1 disk.