Recommendations for a good DVD Recorder?

MunkyHed

Hi, my parents VCR broke down and i was trying to tell them they should get a hard drive fitted DVD recorder. I've been looking online and the cheapest one i can see is on Komplett

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313164

There is one about 20 quid cheaper but it has 80GB as opposed to 160GB above.

Anyone buy one of these, are they any good??
Should we just stick to the cassettes?

The reason the last VCR/Combo thingy broke is because they left a cassette in the machine for ages and the tape actually melted to the head, this is a regular enough problem i hear and could be dangerous enough.


I also saw a Thomson 80GB machine on pixmania but idunno do i trust the brand name.

sweetie

I have a pioneer 530 and it is great (see previous threads in this section.) From what I have researched, the pioneer or panasonics are the best models, followed by sony, samsung or toshiba. Check out the relevant section on www.avforums.com

MunkyHed wrote:

Hi, my parents VCR broke down and i was trying to tell them they should get a hard drive fitted DVD recorder. I've been looking online and the cheapest one i can see is on Komplett

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=313164

There is one about 20 quid cheaper but it has 80GB as opposed to 160GB above.

Anyone buy one of these, are they any good??
Should we just stick to the cassettes?

The reason the last VCR/Combo thingy broke is because they left a cassette in the machine for ages and the tape actually melted to the head, this is a regular enough problem i hear and could be dangerous enough.


I also saw a Thomson 80GB machine on pixmania but idunno do i trust the brand name.

bbbbb

I'd have a look round the shops, last I checked 80GB models started at about €300. With postage included, you're not going to be saving much by getting it off the web & it's easier to handle if things go wrong.

Simon201

Got a Philips DVDR 3300 for a friend a while back had it up and running myself for a couple of weeks. Can tell you I didn't wanna let it go. Any of the HD brand name ones should be ok although there was a few questions that I was looking at -
1. Is the unit region free, if not can it be made unit free with unlocking codes.
2. Can it play NTSC disks?
3. Can it record from a DVD disk on to the HD (not all can - handy for duping disks.
4. Does it have a firewire input for recording from your camcorder?
5. I'm not sure about this one, but do they all have analogue video imputes as standard.
6. Can it do editing of video stored on the HD?

This philips model (buffers) records the last 6 hours of tv from the channel while it's on - real handy when you're heading out and you can't be arsed setting all the timer details. Then you just choose the in and out points in the last 6 hours on what you wanna keep and it writes more permanently to the HD.

branners69

You wont regret getting the Pioneer 530, its a fabulous machine..

I would strongly disagree with the poster who said look in a shop, you will ALWAYS make a saving by buying online.

The JVC 300S which is a fine DVD Recorder with a 160gb HD is €800 in Peats and its €530 from this very reliable online shop!!

I know the saving wont be quite as much on a 80gb machine but you will deffo make a saving!! More then likely you will make a saving AND get a newer model!!

If your not getting the Pioneer then make sure to research the model you are getting on www.avforums.com!!

I got my 530 from Richersounds, if you decide on the Pioneer 530 check online to see if you can get it for cheaper then £299.99 (sterling) cos they more then likely will price match it. This is a great site to get the best price available!! Its UK based but is still worth having a look on cos most UK sites will only charge €40 to deliver to Ireland!!

I cant find the 530 cheaper then £300 but the other online sites might charge less for delivery!!

Another angle you can try with Richers Sounds is ask them to charge you the sterling rate, ie £300. According to currency converter this is €436, not the €450 they charge!! Would be €14 off the delivery charge!!

bbbbb

branners69 wrote:

I would strongly disagree with the poster who said look in a shop, you will ALWAYS make a saving by buying online.

Shop around! I don't think peats is known as the cheapest in any case.

Quick look on powercity.ie, they have a 160Gb toshiba for €380.

Similar/same model on tvandvideodirect.com
is £221.50, add in their £25 delivery to "Southern Ireland" and it comes out at about €360.

Ok, may be a slightly newer model, but for the hassle of having to wait for a delivery, plus an easier comeback if something goes wrong, I'd pay the extra €20.

sweetie

From what I have heard about Philips, they aren't the most reliable brand. The pioneer 530 I have is great. The guideplus feature is similar to having a 160gig sky plus with a dvd burner. Richersounds are a very reputable seller and come highly recommended. They also sell it multiregion whereas some people had to pay for discs from ebay in oder to do this.

Whatever you buy you should also ensure that you can play earlier recordings (or a dvd) on the hard drive while recording something else to it. I have experience of the Liteon 5045 and whilst a good machine until it packed in after less than a year I would rate the pioneer as being in a different league entirely.

MunkyHed

I was lookin at the Kiss DP558 for sale on Elara for around 390. Anyone any experience with this brand, i've heard good things but never seen one in action. I know the HD is only 80GB but shouldn't be a probel if connected to a PC with plenty of storage.

bbbbb

MunkyHed wrote:

I was lookin at the Kiss DP558 for sale on Elara for around 390. Anyone any experience with this brand, i've heard good things but never seen one in action. I know the HD is only 80GB but shouldn't be a probel if connected to a PC with plenty of storage.

I got one a couple of months ago, very happy with it, but sometimes feels like not quite a finished product. Suits me perfectly as I have broadband & NTL analog & no HD (high definition).

positives, mainly it does alot:
- pause live tv works well, with chase back (you can catch up during the ad breaks)
- similar with recording, you can set it to record a program and start watching it from the begining when the recording is half way through. Don't have to rush home from the gym tonight to catch the start of the sopranos!
- excellent web integration, gives EPG (electronic program guide), shows what's on now/next when you change channel. Can also be used for easy recording. Web radio gives you thousands of radio stations (though about half don't seem to work!). You can also set it to record a program from a web browser (handy if you get stuck in the office).
- (haven't used the ftp much)

negatives:
- bad user interface (menus/remote). poor manual, got most info from the web link below. Some times the machine is "thinking" & you have to wait for it to catch up with your commands.
- lots of scary reports of people with lockups, OOS (out of synch) problems. I think most of these were with early firmware. I sometimes get "white noise" when it's checking the web for the EPG, a quick channel flick sorts it again.
- only has an ethernet port, so you need a wireless bridge/game adaptor if you don't want a cable across the room.

Lots of useful info (& scary stories) here.
http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=38

Also check www.avforums.com

hawthorn

I got my Pioneer 530 a week or so ago from Richer Sounds Belfast, and i dont know myself! Also the price was €449 and only €12.99 delivery. I ordered it Weds at 11.15am and had it 2pm Thursday!

Also they told me its quicker delivery if you order online! (Though check to see if they have one)

I love the feature where if you come in and its recording a programme, you can start looking at that very programme from the beginning, or ANY programme you have recorded, while it continues to record. Lovely machine.

k

sweetie

Did you get your EPG setup?

hawthorn wrote:

I got my Pioneer 530 a week or so ago from Richer Sounds Belfast, and i dont know myself! Also the price was €449 and only €12.99 delivery. I ordered it Weds at 11.15am and had it 2pm Thursday!

Also they told me its quicker delivery if you order online! (Though check to see if they have one)

I love the feature where if you come in and its recording a programme, you can start looking at that very programme from the beginning, or ANY programme you have recorded, while it continues to record. Lovely machine.

k

butts

With regard to buying online, there are indeed good savings to be made. I got my Samsung for €270 including del. Cheapest I could get it for in Ireland at the time was €340 and I would have had to travel to collect it.

hawthorn

Sweetie

Didnt get the epg set up yet. A bit lazy about it! Must try it tomorrow, before World Cup!

k

MunkyHed

Hmm, after much browsing i have decided that the Kiss DP558 is not for me for the simple and disappointing fact that you cannot transfer programs from the hard disk onto dvd. There's only a DVD Rom in there. That sucks!
Thanks for the review tho bbbb!

I was in currys yesterday and they had the LG RH-177 in there for 319. Its 305 on Komplett so its much of a much. What i cannot figure out is the difference between the LG RH177 for 305 Euro and the LG RH-7500 for 315 Euro. Anyone had either of these machines or can tell me the difference??

MunkyHed

Anyway people, the impulse buy caught me on friday. I bought the LG RH-177 in currys. I must say i am very impressed. I have it hooked up to the chorus decoder and my DELL lcd TV. It has improved the picture quality no end. I got rid of the scart connections of the old video recorder and moved to component connections. The progressive scan feature helped a bit as well. The user friendly operation of the machine even impressed my technophobe parents who have already made use of the timeshift function. I'd highly recommend the machine to anybody. Fingers crossed it doesn't break down now!
I'd still be interested to find out the difference between this machine and the LG RH-7500 which is on Komplett. If anyone buys one, post a review please!!

branners69

MunkyHed wrote:

I'd still be interested to find out the difference between this machine and the LG RH-7500 which is on Komplett.

The RH-7500 doesnt have RGB in whilst the RH-177 does, other then that they are apparently the exact same. The RH-177 has a slightly quicker boot up time!!

I use the guide+ on my Pioneer 530 with NTL Digital and it works fine, just needed to edit the UTV from 103 to 111 (I think) and it doesnt register RTE1, RTE2 or TV3 cos I set it using Northern Ireland settings.

It doesnt work with Sky+ (not that you need it anyways) cos when it tries to change the channel Sky+ has 4 digits rather then 3. Maybe this is just my experience but I didnt spend much time on it as I dont need it. I just copy stuff I want to keep over during the night when I am in bed using the Sky+ 'copy' function then I split and edit the programmes the next day. The 530 can drop a film onto a disc in 7 mins which is pretty impressive!!

sweetie

branners69 wrote:

I use the guide+ on my Pioneer 530 with NTL Digital and it works fine, just needed to edit the UTV from 103 to 111 (I think) and it doesnt register RTE1, RTE2 or TV3 cos I set it using Northern Ireland settings.

Actually, if you setup input 2 as satellite it also gives you listings for rte1 and 2. No tv3 or tg4 though but still pretty neat.

branners69

sweetie wrote:

Actually, if you setup input 2 as satellite it also gives you listings for rte1 and 2. No tv3 or tg4 though but still pretty neat.

I must try that, cheers sweetie!!