Page 1 of What Muti-region DVD Recorder to buy? Or should I move to Sky+?

Any advice on what multi -region DVD Recorder I ought to buy would be most appreciated?! What is best in terms of value for money and where to buy? Must be able to play multi region discs!

I see that Sky+ are also waivering the £10 subscription if you already have the full package. Should i forget about a DVDR and just go for Sky+ and keep my muti region player?

I hope those in the know will be able to help!

Thanks
Rob

Sky+ will only give you the option of recording onto the hard drive, which is restrictive in that you can`t take it out to lend to others, or keep it for posterity like you can -R or +R discs.
I`m happy with my Panasonic E50, which I believe is already available for under £300 multiregion.You can then record `sundry stuff` onto the RAM disc, just like Sky+, or you can shove in -R discs for stuff you want to keep or lend out.
The E50 can also record in the same way as Sky+, by using the Sky personal planner and `external link` function.Just set your programme on sky,press EXT LINK and leave it.Dead easy.It also has time slip, which means you can `pause` live TV and watch it again from where you left it.

Or the best of both worlds i.e. hard disc and DVD would be in the Panasonic DMR HS2

JohnF

There`e plenty of bargains to be had. But be careful. Some of the online dealers won`t repair your E50 if it goes down during the first year. Others will repair but you`ll have to meet the cost of shipping back to them. Under their 1-year guarantee, Panasonic will uplift, repair and return to you without charge. But they won`t touch the MR version because they regard that as having been tampered with by the dealer thus invalidating their guarantee. So before you buy the MR version best find out from the dealer how they go about repairs under the guarantee.

I thought the distance selling regulations meant that the retailer was responsible for collecting/returning goods ?

Thanks for the info so far guys, really appreciated!

Where is the best place to buy the E50? Is there a region hack? Or do i have to buy it from a supplier that has already made it multi region?

Also i believe that most dvdr`s record in -r, is this a major issue as i have a wharfy 750 as well as tv/dvd combi - will -r dics play on these machines?

So many questions!!!

Thanks
Rob

Wharfy750 can be touch about DVD-R disks. My sister`s 750 won`t play DVD-R`s :(
My Wharfy M5 plays all +R/RW, and -R/RW after DVD rom changed....
Any 750 owners out their whoalsohave probs with -R disks...

This item was edited on Monday, 15th September 2003, 20:27

For the best price for the E50 click on the below link

http://www.dealtime.co.uk/xPC-Panasonic_DMR_E50~FD-87

There is no handset hack for multi-region, the player is chipped.

The cheapest site is not always the best. I bought mine from Digital Point who have good customer reviews and deliver next day.

Wharfedale players are unreliable when it comes to any dvdr-some will play some won`t.I have a Philips DVD+R recorder,Sky+ and a Panny HS2.To me, any dvd recorder is severely limited when it comes to timeshifting.If you record a lot,then Sky+ is ideal as it holds 20 hours at broadcast quality.All dvdr systems drop in quality at more than 1 hour.If you keep stuff,any dvdr system is ok for archiving(except RAM which won`t play in other players)but if you use the write once discs,then off air recording is out of the question as mistakes cannot be corrected,and rewritable discs are more costly and less compatible.Sky+ is the best base for storing recordings as its so simple to use.But the HS2 is great for editing stuff like ads out on the HDD,then transfer to dvd-r.You must weigh up whether you want to keep stuff.If you do,then dvdr has to be there.Movies off Sky are fairly easy to record on a write once disc as there are no ads-but if you want to do any kind of editing,then you need Sky+ or an HS2,better still,both.If budgets are tight,then £599 for an HS2 will do all you presently need,albeit without the ease of use of Sky+.And don`t forget that Sky+ is just about to receive an update to allow recording of 2 channels at the same time.Its a question of priorities

Sky + is vastly overpriced. I can`t be bothered to go on the site but with installation & one year of everything it would be near enough £700-00. Then yearly £400-00 & rising. One Panasonic E50 will cost you a little over £250-00. Apart from a few blank discs,THATS IT. In spite of phellings saying 1 hour is the only good quality, I totally disagree. The 4 hour mode is better than VHS & for most viewing most people won`t notice much difference between that & broadcast quality. The 2 hour mode is extremely good. The DVD player section of the E50 is very good & would be worth the money for this alone. Try playing a DVD in the SKY +...you can`t. I`ve had the films on SKY for 6 months now (had a cheapie upgrade to watch the last of the footie) & so far have not watched a film yet. Have tried to but they were either rubbish or I`d already seen them in Higher quality DVD. DVD-RAM is the system for now & the immediate future, don`t expect it to play on old fashioned DVD players it won`t but it will on the New Panasonic players & with all the top manufacturers making DVD-RAM recorders it is obvious their new players will include DVD-RAM.
Try archiving movies or whatever onto SKY+ you can`t, Try lending movies etc with SKY + , you can`t. You can do that, & much more with the E50 or the JVC & so on.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 16th September 2003, 08:20