DVD recorder - opinion ?

T

TarfHead

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I think I want to get a DVD hard disk recorder, if only to reduce the amount of tapes cluttering up the room. Also, the VCR is begining to show signs of age and wear & tear.

DID have a Philips unit (DVDR3450H) for sale for less than €350, which is upper limit on my spend. 160 GB hard disk & DivX & Philips are the principal reasons why it appeals to me. Another point in it's favour is that it's an Irish bricks'n'mortar store so I can dispose of the VCR there.

3 questions ..
- anyone here have one of these and, if so, how has it performed ?
- do electrical retailers normally price stock to clear in the run-in to Christmas ?
- is i.Link a universal standard for DV camcorders, i.e. would it limit my choice of DV camcorders when I eventually go to purchase one of those ?
 
Cant comment on the unit u mention although I have found Philips stuff pretty reliable over the years.I have a Lite-On bought in Currys last year and think its great-but u will get some different opinions on these over on the Lite-On DVD Forum.I have not had problems with it...so far -apart from finding the the correct media...believe me all recordable DVDs are not equal-I find that some brands recorded on this unit wont play on other players.
Generally though these units are such an improvement on VCRs an so convenient-like u say no more searching frantically for blank tape etc.

Electrical retailers in my experience charge top dollar for everything in the run up to Christmas but have seriously reduced sales starting St.Stephens Day
The unit I have has a front DV Link as well as ordinary AV Line In for audio and video.
 
I got a pioneer DVDR433h for this money about a year ago. has 80Gig HD. I find it extremely good, and like all Pioneer products, extremely user friendly. Allows you to record, and at the same time play back the start of the program still recording - good for anyone who has to leave looking at a program for say 15mins...

can change the quality of recording to lengthen the amount time you can record etc.

It also has a cd jukebox function to allow you copy/play cd's
I chipped the region coding, so can play any region etc etc.

Probably have come down in price since I purchased it through Amazon last year, so maybe you can get 160gig version for similar money now.
 

The Philips DVD recorders are very good. Excellent picture quality, easy to use, high on features.

The problem buying these kind of things on the Net is that you need a dual-tuner (UHV and VHF) one for Ireland (unless you only every plan to record from a Sky or NTL box and not from the built-in tuner) so most of the UK models or models on the Net won't work fully here.

Lite-On - as mentioned by another poster - is one of these PC kits which is aimed at domestic hi-fi. High in features but according to some sources, their picture quality is not always the May West. Plus, they are probably not as easy to use.

iLink (aka Firewire) is the standard for DV camcorders, although some of them have USB 2. Firewire is regarded as better for sustained throughput even though USB 2 is supposed to be faster on paper.

The only thing I would say is you should try to buy a DVD recorder which has HDMI output (digital output) - not sure if this Philips model does. Your next TV will have HDMI even if your current one doesn't.
 
TarfHead said:
I think I want to get a DVD hard disk recorder, if only to reduce the amount of tapes cluttering up the room. Also, the VCR is begining to show signs of age and wear & tear.
Click to expand...
The Lite-on and the Philips both come from the same factories. It's just different software and badges.

My last Philips Hard Disc recorder was very disappointing. Tacky remote, fiddly software. After a year, the HD became unreliable, the machine would freeze. The RGB input recorded with a blue tint. Eventually, I gave it away and bought a Sony. I'm very pleased with it.

This is the second time I've had problems with Philips video hardware. Previous model, a DVD-recorder eventually stopped making readable discs after a couple of years.

I think that Philips have had mixed results with its video recorders, some people find them OK, some are disapppointed. In my opinion, Sony are more consistent, generally better designed and worth the extra.
 
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