DVD Recorders questions
 

Hi All-

I'm in the market for a DVD recorder, specifically the Sony RDR-VX530 VHS/DVD-R combo unit (mainly because it's on sale at BJ's!).
I know of all the main features on it, but I do have a few questions for anyone who can answer them:

* Will this unit (or any others) when recording allow me to manually place chapter stops, or are they pre-determined on a time increment?
* How does the image look played back, when the original is transferred from VHS to DVD?

I did a search and couldn't find the answer to this, so if it's posted already- I apologize to the Mods!
Thanks for the help

You can't place chapter marks. The recorder will automatically create chapters every five minutes or so.
VHS transferred to DVD still looks like VHS. It's the quality of the source that matters. Analog cable still looks like analog cable, etc. They may look slightly better but it will be obvious tape was the source.
Be aware you will not be able to transfer prerecorded tapes because of copy protection.

Don't know about that one, but my Gateway dvd recorder lets me set chapter marks from 2 min. to 15 min., when I record.

As was said, quality of picture depends on source, and speed you record at. Slowest speed gives worst quality.........

Thanks for the replies- I wasn't really expecting the video quality to improve, I just didn't want it to decrease in quality!

That's too bad about the chapter stops. The main reason I wanted to manually do them is because I have videos of various bands I've played with in college, high school, etc, and it would be cool to transfer some of our old shows to DVD, with chapter stops at the start of each song! Oh well.....

Thanks again-
Kram

DVD+RW decks let you place chapters after recording- ones with built-in VHS decks are retarded anyways.

How are they retarted? I have the Panny DMR-ES30V and after owning a Philips, Cyberhome, and RCA recorder (w/out a built in VCR), this one is by far the best.

i have 5 Panasonic DVD recorders;; and a few players too;; i just record to DVD-RAMS,, and then either re-record onto a DVD-R and do "Titles" instead of "chapers",, or,,

record into my PC and make a chaptered version with ULead..

i am very very happy,, then,, sometimes i just combine all my DVD's onto another DVD with Nero7..

but,, i am here to learn more;;cause i think i do everything backwards..

ps;; i also have a Sima A/V Mixer that i use to add layered etc scenes onto my second recording.. does this sound normal??

So if I bought a stand alone DVD recorder, would I be able to manually place chapter stops?

the only way i suppose to be able add the "CHAPTER" marks is by dowmloading the dvd from the stand alone into my PC and use the Nero7 to add the chapters;; but i have a glitch that makes it crash right now..

as i said before,, i make my DVD first;; then,, take that DVD and re-record it onto another DVD Pana and create Titles instead of chapers..

that works fine with me for now;; even in my favor;; because the Nero7 program allows me to add "Titles" in any order i want in making my new DVD;; and the quality is pretty good..

if you have a Panasonic DVD recorder that records with DVD-RAMS;; you can add chapters on those;; there is a trick to it that is in one of the threads on this forum.. it's all about Panas..

so,, maybe look into that Nero 7 (neroVision) program and see if that would help you..

i joined (re-joined) this forum for almost the same advice;; although the way i am doing it is working out well..

I have the Pioneer 420 and Toshiba XS-32 models. They are almost 2 years old, so I can't speak for the latest models; however, both of them allow the placement of chapter marks as desired. I hook up my VCR to the RCA inputs and record the entire program(s) to the hard drive. Then I go back and delete commercials and place chapter stops where desired before burning it to a DVD-R and finalizing.