Page 1 of Need help choosing DVD recorder please

Hi to everyone,
I`ve decided my house needs a stand alone DVD recorder. I`ve read reviews, checked websites and I`ve narrowed it down to two models, the popular Panasonic DMRE55 and the LiteOn LVW-5005.

Ok, here`s where the problems start. People speak very highly of the Panasonic E55, I would have just gone for this in a flash but I read some people think DVD-RAM is a "niche" market and plus the blank media is dearer.

So onto the LiteOn LVW-5005, it uses cheaper DVD-R/RW & DVD+R/RW, I have plenty of these already for my pc dual format burner. Plus it has a DV port for my digital camcorder which I know I would use.

I will mainly be using the stand alone DVD recorder to take programmes off Sky+ and for camcorder tapes.

Opinions please?

Many thanks :)

The Liteon does not support RGB or S-Video inputs only analogue TV signals so your Sky+ box is useless with this machine. Stop wasting your time and get an E55 at once!!!.

Many thanks for the advice. I did suspect the lack of RGB would be an issue but its good to hear someone in the know confirm this.
The Panasonic it is then.
Cheers :)

i have the 5005 and sky plus and the lack of rgb is not much of an issue and the picture quality is not affected much at all. Passess the wife test anyway. I use the svhs out on sky+ to a scart adapter on the 5005 and it works fine. If you can get the usa version that does have rbg .

".The Liteon does not support RGB or S-Video inputs only analogue TV signals so your Sky+ box is useless with this machine. Stop wasting your time and get an E55 at once!!!. "

RGB and S Video are analogue siganls too, so you simply cannot get a direct digital output from your Sky+ box (Unless you take the top off and do a modification, which is not recommended unless you are VERY confident with your soldering abilities!!).

RGB is an undoubtedly better quality source to use than composite, but composite is still very good, and I`d wager that the majority of people would not be able to tell any real difference between the two.

The Panasonic will write to regular DVD-R discs, but not DVD-RW...if you are going to want to do any editing of footage on your PC (Dump the footage onto a re-writable, transfer it to the hard disk, edit, burn to final disc) , then you need to be able to use a re-writable format your PC DVD drive can understand, and the majority simply don`t recognise the DVD-RAM format.

If video editing on your PC is not going to be an issue, then the Panasonic is worth looking at-Some deals around are offering 10 DVD-RAM discs when you buy it.

The biggest problem with the Lite On is that it doesn`t have a nicam tuner, so all `off air` recordings from your TV aerial will be in mono only. It is more flexible in what it will write to-including CDr, so it really it`s a case of looking at your requirements and then making the decision-either one will give you great results

This item was edited on Friday, 17th September 2004, 10:54

Quote:
I`d wager that the majority of people would not be able to tell any real difference between the two.

You`re probably right, but then again the majority of people are happy with VHS. ;)

Mike

That`s true..but the difference between VHS and even the lowest setting on a DVD recorder is blindingly obvious, and you`ll never want to go back to VHS again!!!

Interesting that someone says the US version of the Liteon has RGB.As they don`t use Scart or RGB this seems doubtful

the us version does have rgb and i do use scart, My wifes friend in the states recommended me to the player as she has one and it does have svhs in and rgb . great player recommend it to anyone , the fact that it doesnt have a nicam tuner is not much of an issue to me anyway as i will only be using it to record from sky anyway or backup my vhs tapes.. the rf signal is crap round here that s why i got sky in the first place so i wouldnt need to record from tv

Bluenose-I`m confused.You say you use Scart,and as you record from Sky you must be in the UK.I am saying that US equipment does not usually come supplied with Scart as this is a European invention that the yanks have not adopted.Maybe the US one is imported from Europe.Certainly mainstream makes like Panasonic do not use Scart in the US.And the Liteon reviewed in Home Cinema Choice had no S-video input either.Have they released an updated version?