Last time I recorded something off from TV was using a VHS, so... yeah.

Now I'm looking for a good, easy to set up DVD recorder. And I know zip about them. I mean, what am I looking for in one? what not to look for?

I plan to get a 1080p TV later this year if that's going to narrow the search. There's some movies off TCM I want to copy, so... any info would be nice while I browse.

I don't know if Zenith still makes a recordable combo but if so, I'd advise to look for another brand. I purchased one 7 or 8 years ago and spent hours and hours putting my home videos from VHS tape to DVD recordable blanks. I'd "spot check" each one after recording but didn't take the time to view each volume after transfer.

How I wish I had - would have saved much time and cost of blank discs. Occasionally on playback the picture would freeze up with little "pixle" like squares.

Plus some recordings wouldn't even play on several friends DVD system.

So I'd say if you do buy one (a different brand I hope) check it out carefully after the first few recordings and make sure you're satisfied.

Panasonic recorder. Taiyo Yuden media. Perfect compatibility. Very good, if not best, image quality. Pioneer would be my 2nd choice.

Couple points:
-You can't record in HD resolution. Don't care what it looks like the box says. You can't. You can record from an HD channel and it will look like a very good purchased DVD.
-All of them generally have great IQ at 1 hour setting and probably at 2 hour. 4 hour is where it starts becoming a competition.
-I don't think any of them take dual-layer DVDs. Only computers do that.
-Compatibility reports at videohelp.com can be very useful to avoid problems like Flicker had. Or just get a Panny and nothing but Taiyo Yuden blanks.
-Models with hard drives are really cool and can do lots of things the regular ones can't. But they don't make them anymore. So I guess I'm just teasing.

So, I can't record if I upgraded to a better TV? Is that what you're saying? All I'm doing is recording something off a movie channel that shows mostly black/white, nothing hi-def

What does this "IQ" mean and the hours? And I assuming DVD-R would be best for recording? I've heard bad things about dual-layer.

IQ = Image quality. There are quality settings, labeled as 1 hour, 2, 4, etc. It tells you how much video time can be recorded on 1 DVD. 1 hour is the highest quality and generally will look good from any recorder. Unless it is a true POS. *cough**RCA**cough*

The electronics industry likes to confuse people, so there are 7 DVD recording formats.....
Write-once:
DVD-R
DVD+R
DVD-R DL (dual layer)
DVD+R DL

Rewritable:
DVD-RW
DVD+RW
DVD-RAM

Basically, you'll want to pick one format for write-once, and one format for rewritable, cause there's no reason to use more than that, you'd just get confused. Pretty sure these machines can't use dual layer, so don't worry about them at all.

Write-once:
DVD-R and +R are virtually the same cost, quality, compatibility, availability, features, etc. Really doesn't matter, so pick one. You may have to make sure the machine can use the one you pick, but most of them now can use either. Some people will claim one or the other is better. If you want proof one way or the other, check the ratings at videohelp.com.

Rewritable:
DVD+RW is superior to -RW*, so it would be a better choice for rewritable discs. If you plan on use rewritable at all. You should at least get a handful for testing and learning, since you can always erase them if you screw up. Once you get used to the machine, switch to the write-once versions. I think I own 6 rewritable discs, and some of those were free in the box with the recorder. I haven't even opened all of them.

DVD-RAM is different, and has caveats, but is great if you need it. It is still kinda expensive per disc, and is almost completely a Panasonic-only technology. It actually behaves like a hard drive in a computer, so is intended to be used if you want to use the recorder as a DVR. If you don't, just ignore its existence.

I only mentioned the HD because some people think they can record HD onto DVD. Which they can't with this kind of machine. I'm talking about the signal, the physical TV doesn't have any influence at all.



* DVD-RW is inferior because it behaves like a write-once format in some ways. For instance, you can only delete the whole disc at once, so if you want to change something you have to start over. (think: Etch-a-Sketch) DVD+RW allows for more flexibility. If you think that will matter to you, you should research it more.

The TV has nothing to do with it. You're recording the cable/satellite signal just like you did with a vcr. Just playback/watch the dvd-r you make like you would any dvd. Get a Panasonic. If you have a cable box or satellite receiver you can save some money by getting a recorder without a tuner, you won't need it.
Taiyo Yuden are the best discs. Probably have to order them online. If you want to buy in store, go with Verbatim from Sam's Club(100 for $30). Best Buy has them too but cost twice as much.

I believe Panny still makes a hard drive model for sale in Canada only, $600.

You didn't mention if you were looking for a recorder with a hard drive or not.

I have had a Toshiba RD-XS32 recorder and was very pleased with it (it has a HDD). Until recently, I never had a bad burn. The interface takes a little to get used to, but once I adjusted it worked well.

A couple of weeks ago, the dvd drive started to error out when burning. I found some info on line on which model drive to replace it with, but accidentally clipped the HDD cable while replacing it. That cable is nearly impossible to find, so I ended up getting a Philips DVDR 3576H/37 from Sam's Club for ~$250. (The seem to be the only reasonably priced DVD recorders w/HDD. Mits is just a relabel of these as well)

I really miss some of the features that I used a lot from the Toshiba, but I am adjusting. I like having the HDD. For instance, I will record 4 or 5 episodes of a show on my DirecTV DVR, then dump them in one pass to the recorder, split the episodes, then burn to DVD. This reducing the waste of media if something happens during the dub to the recorder.

But the feature I dislike the most about the Philips (so far) is that you have to then 'dub' the content to the DVD (at real time). The Toshiba let you put together a play list, then burn it to DVD in about 5-10 minutes.

I'm still getting used to it, and it works well to archive programs. I even dubbed some VHS stuff last night and it worked great for that as well. I hope this helps a little without adding to the confusion. Feel free to PM me or just ask in the forum, if I can help.

The Philips does up-convert (supposedly up to 1080p), so any TV you have should work. It has HDMI and component as well.

Well, so far, I am going to search for a Panasonic build with... either a DVD-R or DVD-RW of my choice as long as the Panasonic plays both, right?

I'm just looking for a recorder machine, this "hard drive" thing I don't know much about other than the information explained here. Just a simple player I'm not a gearhead obviously.

Oh and to the poster asked if I have a cable box/satellite receiver, I am with DirecTV and they gave me this receiver along with the remote.

After searching Best Buy Online, they have 2 Panasonic recorders available, one is a VCR-DVD combo and the other is a normal DVD recorder and I usually go to Best Buy to get my movies and rarely anywhere else (Circuit City, Target) and there is a Sam's Club in my area, just never been in it.

That's what I did, haven't had a problem. I'd say skip the combo unit. Good place to buy discs: supermediastore.com

It seems a shame to scrap a good recorder due to not being able to find a cable.

Can you post a picture of the cable or a description of it? Maybe someone can find it for you.

I glanced in my Best Buy Ad for this week and it has 1 dvd recorder, for sale. A standard Panasonic DVD recorder. Here's the link:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1198888712414

Is that a good price for one? I remember buying my DVD player for $100+ less The TV I am currently using is a 15 year old, 52+ inches Hitachi and I doubt I can use the recorder right away until I get a 1080p LCD, yeah?

The link won't work. Again, the tv doesn't matter. My recorder is in the bedroom with an 11 year old Admiral 25" standard tv.

Run the L and R audio and video cables from satellite receiver to input 1 of recorder. Run L and R audio and video cable from recorder to input 1 of tv. Set tv and recorder to input 1, set receiver to channel you want to record. You're in business. Exactly like a vcr.

I updated the link. Let me know if it takes you there this time. The last link I used was using tinyurl and it won't let me post for whatever reason.

Hi Myke,

If you are referencing this week's (Aug 17-23) Best Buy flyer, the Panasonic recorder that's on-sale is the DMR-EZ28K ($229). It's more expensive because it has a digital tuner in it. Do you need a tuner in your recorder? You might not if you have a digital box from your cable company. If you don't need one, you could try the Panasonic DMR-EA18K at $179.

I've been looking for some recorders myself. I have a Panasonic e85 with a 120gig hard drive that conked out (I'm having it repaired). I saw that the Target website had the EA18K on-sale for $159. I went to my local store and they told me that they didn't have it on-sale nor would they price match their website. Today, I drove to a Target farther away and they did have it on-sale for $159, so I bought it.

If this is still too expensive, you might want to try the Toshiba D-R410 (no tuner). I think you can find this for about $119 or so. I have not used this machine yet but I do have one. A few days ago, I went to my local Circuit City and, even though I thought this was a newer machine, it was on the discontinued racks at 15% off so it came out to $102 with tax. Circuit City also had the Panasonic DMR-EZ28K on the rack at 15% off the $229 price. I don't know if this is just a local thing.

I'm still in the market for some with hard drives. I haven't been able to find the Philips anywhere, yet. I might pick up a name brand model or two from World Import at some point.

Hope this helps somewhat

That recorder has a tuner. In other words you run coaxial cable directly into it and if you want to record channel 83, you set it to 83. If you have satellite or cable box you don't need the tuner and can save money by getting one without a tuner.

I do have a regular DirecTV receiver. Nothing special about it, it's just a tiny box they gave me with the remote to surf on with like 400+ channels when I first signed with them years ago.

So, is it wise or not to get this Panasonic with the digital tuner? What's the pros and cons of this digital tuner? The price is not what I'm worried about, just want to record some movies/shows/events via satellite through the receiver of course without having it to be complicated with the dvd recorder.

There is a Target, Circuit City, Sam's Club near me. Walmart is a bit of a drive but it's in my area too if there's a better dvd recorder (regardless of digital tuner or not) to narrow the search.

I searched DirecTV's site and they have some receivers on there, I don't know if they are any good or not but they have recording option (at least two of the 5 but no burning option?)

You would only use the tuner if you have no satellite receiver or cablebox. Since you have DirecTV you would not be using the tuner.

I searched on Best Buy site again and narrowed the search down to 11 results. There are two that doesn't have a tuner (and a third with "TV" tuner, not "digital" tuner) and they are the Sony Model: RDRGX360 priced at $179.99 and Toshiba Model: D-R410 that's listed at $119.99. The others has a tuner in them.

I searched Sam's Club and they only have a Panasonic DVD/VCR combo and some TiVos.

I searched Circuit City and they do have this Panasonic DMR-EA18K DVD Recorder that's mentioned in this thread for $180, tuner not included. There's 14 other results too.

I don't want to bother with Walmart. So.... yeah. I'm off work tomorrow and I'll be out but I need to be sure about the recorder before I do. Looks like Best Buy and Circuit City are my best choices.

I went out today and visited Best Buy first and they have absolutely nothing on stock for dvd recorder that I'm looking for. Then I went to Circuit City after that and they do have a Panasonic, but digital tuner is included and the one without is on the web site only. This is the one that was posted here:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panas...oductDetail.do

I'm assuming this DVD Recorder is my best option so far. I will go ahead and order it online within the next couple days unless you guys have something else to add or ask before I do?

You may want to try Wal-Mart. They have a Panasonic, model EZ28K, which I just got a week ago for $159.99. I'm not sure exactly how it compares to the one you linked to, but it's 20 bones cheaper. I've used Panasonic recorders for a few years now (I bought an ES10 back in '05 that was great until the drive crapped out), and they make very good DVD recorders.

The EZ28 I got actually does burn to dual layer discs, too.

Is this the model you got? I searched Wal-Mart's site and this was on the Panasonic list:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...ct_id=10050622

It's 40 bones more Maybe it was on sale that week? Plus I looked through specs and it looked like TV Tuner was applied which some posters on here recommended me not to get if I have satellite/cable box.

Well, it's not that you should NOT get the tuner, it just isn't really necessary. They will all have the digital tuner in the future. It's just this year is the crossover from analog to digital for those who get TV from an antenna. So in your situation you might be able to find a slightly older model and save a few bucks. But if not, go ahead and get a more current model. There always seems to be a Panasonic at $200 exactly. And then it will often be on sale for $20-40 off at various stores.

All DVD-Rs to date have an analog tuner, btw. You don't need it, I'm just saying.

Here's the one I got, Myke:

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=5715956

The price listed is $170.00 and it says online only, but I got mine locally at a Wally brick and mortar location, and for 20 bucks cheaper, so I am guessing it is one of those "YMMV' case by case things.

I would normally say take a look at the Panny's but it depends on what model. I've heard good things about the new EZ-28 but mixed reviews on the EZ-27 and even the older EZ-17. I have the older EZ-10 and it's still doing well.

If you're looking for a player/recorder then get the latest ones with HDMI and upconvert. For "TCM' and other normal channels you'll get some pretty good PQ even with the SVHS input. I recorded "Jaws" letterbox off TCM last year and threw it in the Blu-Ray player and played flawlessly at 1080i. Just don't expect Blu-ray quality or HDTV recording. With all stand-alone players they still use the SVHS input, no component or HDMI.

Check here for some great stuff on recorders www.avsforum.com


Kenny J

I was out of town, so I just got back on this thread.

It's certainly worth a try. These are pics that I took after trying to get the cable. The top cable (in both pics) is one that I received through an Internet cable dealer, the bottom is the one I need.





The wire has 40 conductors (s I count them) and is ~250 mm in length. The leads are 'tinned' at both ends and on the same side of the cable (a place I tried to find it through asked about this.)

The marks on the cable are Sumitomo-G AWM 2896 80C VW-1 -F- (the last part is the difference between the cable I need and the one I received.)

I would love to get this fixed, but the only places that actually can supply it have a $250 minimum. I was thinking I would try cutting it where it is pierced and try to clean the end to connect to the board. There is an adapter on the hard drive end, so I can patch that easy enough. But I would really prefer to find the cable if available.

I have even tried to find used/broke recorders on eBay to cannibalize the cable, but they are generally working well (but bound to get the same problem mine developed). And they tend to go for close to $200. The Toshiba was one of the best recorders out there. I'm really surprised they didn't catch on better.