Page 1 of Which Stand Alone DVD recorder should I buy

Hi

I know it`s been a very long time since I posted, read or even visited the site but I do still recommend it to all of my friends.
I`m hoping I can get a quick answer to a relatively straight forward question. my dvd player has recently packed up after 2 and a half years of faithful service.
I`m looking for a stand alone dvd recorder, as cheap as possible, preferably from richer sounds (as I have a £55 credit note I can use towards it if I bought it from there), that can write to dvd-r and dvd-rw and if poss +r,+rw (but that`s not a priority) I`m not that interested in having a hard drive as I`ve got one on my sky+ but the main reason for me wanting one is to be able to transfer all my video`s onto dvd for storage, some non originals, some home movies and some originals, so if there is a reliable dvd recorder that anyone can recommend that is either already macro disabled or can be made to be disabled easily I would love to hear about it.
P.S. I have already been told about the lite on LVW5005 from argos but there seems to be none in stock anywhere in the country I have found the 5006 but not sure if it will give me everything I`m looking for ?
Greatly appreciate your comments and feedback

5006 is a huge upgrade on 5005 as it has RGB input and a Stereo tuner

Don`t waste your money on Micky Mouse makes. Get either the Panasonic E55. Or The JVC with RAM & R/W & ilink is available at around £180.00

Quote:
Don`t waste your money on Micky Mouse makes

I know as much about DVD/Recorders as I do about quantum physics but here goes anyway :)

TBH That is a wee bit unfair. I have had the 5005B for a couple of months now and in all honesty I am as happy as the proverbial Larry.
I have recorded VCD/SVCD/CD Audio and at all the DVD settings, 1/2/4 and 6 hours and have been extremely pleased with the performance. If the 5006 is an improvement on the 5005B then it will be an even better buy than some of the other makes .

Just what makes any device a "Mickey Mouse" device. I dare say the same business practices are applied now as they were ten years ago. By that I mean that other than the Label on the VCR/TV etc the internal mechanism will be sourced from many suppliers. Panasonic drives for example, if I remember correctly, were simply matsus***a but labelled Panasonic. Maybe not the best example but a valid example all the same.
How many of us actually know what brand or make the components are that hide behind a Sony/Sanyo/Panasonic label and make up either a VCR/TV/DVD recorder?, not many I would think.
Each to their own, I suppose, but to disregard an item because you may perceive it to be inferior because of the name is again a tad unfair.
Yes there are people who have experienced problems with their 5005B, but to my knowledge the overwhelming majority have managed to solve the problems with say stuttering playback by applying a firmware update or disabling the multi-region hack.
Anyway, as I said, I am extremely pleased with my 5005B and as such would recommend it to many.
The purists that espouse the "Many ?" virtues of DVD-Ram may not fancy it and I agree the lack of a stereo tuner may also put people of buying it . That said, how many will record from either a Cable box/Digibox or Sky+ box, which effectively rules out the stereo troubles.

Choagy FFCUK The SPL :)

For God`s sake, Paull, read the guy`s requirements will you? he want`s -RW Panasonic doesn`t do -RW. I reckon if someone came on and said they wanted to buy blancmange, you`d recommend the Panasonic E55 :)

You`re right about Paull -if someone asked him the safest form of transport in the UK he would say the E55.
Choagy,with all due respect your admittance about knowing little about DVD Recorders perhaps shows why you are happy with a Liteon.They are a bit cack and with Pioneer recorders at around £170 for the 220 ,why waste cash on a Liteon.
No RGB(or svideo on the 5005) means immediately that for quality conscious people the machine is a total write off as it has no way to get a top quality recording off any digital box.After VHS the Liteon will look good,but when you have seen what other makes can do you know the Liteon is poor,not because of its name but because of what it offers.
Pioneer and its -RW/-R will do all you need.It can edit like RAM in VR mode,or make a rewritable compatible in VIDEO mode.
Although if you intend to copy lots of VHS you really do need a HDD.
Sky+ does not count as you cannot edit on it or record from external spources.With a £340 Pioneer 420 you would copy hours and hours of VHS onto HDD,then edit and copy to dvd-r at high speed

This item was edited on Monday, 13th December 2004, 21:57

Quote:
Choagy,with all due respect your admittance about knowing little about DVD Recorders perhaps shows why you are happy with a Liteon.They are a bit cack and with Pioneer recorders at around £170 for the 220 ,why waste cash on a Liteon.

phelings :)

My quote regarding quantum physics/DVD recorders was a bit tongue in cheek.
Not because I know anything about Q/P but I know what I like where DVD Recorders are concerned. The picture quality on all the DVD recording settings, even at six hours, on the 5005B have been perfectly viewable while recordings at either the one or two hour settings are quite exceptional.
I fully appreciate that there are better recorders available but in all honesty why spend that extra £40 or £50 when a budget 5005 or 5006 will do what the overwhelming majority of home users want it to do. The plebs/ philistines :) like myself simply want a system whereby you stick in a blank DVD+/- R/RW and record.
If however the more enlightened individuals such as your good self :) are hoping to do far more than the usual bang it in record brigade then again there are probably better units. That does not make the 5005 a poor purchase.
The best example is the following.
Which is the better car, the Rolls Royce or the Mini?
The simple answer is both, or neither :)
It all depends what you want from whichever one you choose.
Well IMHO the same goes for the 5005, it does what it says on the tin , to quote that annoying phart on the advert.

Choagy FFCUK the SPL :)

i should point out that paull did actually recomend a recorder that supports -rw as well as ram Get either the Panasonic E55. Or The JVC with RAM & R/W & ilink is available at around £180.00 peronally i`d stick with the panny as -/+rw is not even slightly important, but if you deffo need rw, then as paull says the jvc seems the way to go for quality & it also supports ram as "a bonus" ;) & also as paul says, once you try ram you probably won`t go back (unless of course you allready have a hard disc recorder)

just imo :D

Thanks Ogster at least you can read.

Quote:

You`re right about Paull -if someone asked him the safest form of transport in the UK he would say the E55.
Choagy,with all due respect your admittance about knowing little about DVD Recorders perhaps shows why you are happy with a Liteon.They are a bit cack and with Pioneer recorders at around £170 for the 220 ,why waste cash on a Liteon.

Well the Panasonic E55 has the safest form of transport there is. Put a DVD-RAM disc in & it goes in & out safely.

As for the cack you recommend phellings I`ve an answer to you with much of the information from Pioneer thereselves. Lookon "E55 to view on other players" thread.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 14th December 2004, 09:00

Hi,

Thanks for all your feedback.
I have decided to go for the lite -on 5006b purely because, I don`t want anything flash, it will do what I need. Here is the full spec that I have found on it:

Leading Optical Manufacturer LITEON IT announce the launch of their versatile LVW-5006 DVD/CD Player Recorder. The worlds first multiformat DVD recorder.
The Lite-On LVW-5006 Combination DVD Player & Recorder not only supports a wide range of playback formats, and includes support for surround sound audio, it can also record up to 6 hours of video onto a single DVD+R or DVD-R disk!

1. The unit will record onto almost any type of recordable disc format using LITEON IT`s AllWrite® technology.This includes all formats of DVD for video and CD for audio recording. (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW and CD+R/RW)
2. The recording quality is managed by user-friendly interface in one of six optional compression modes from HQ (top quality) to disc-saving SLP mode (allowing a massive six hours of recording per disc).
3. Content can be recorded in either SVCD or space-saving VCD compressions and obtained via ANY analogue or digital input including;
a. Your video camera via high quality DV link to store those precious moments.
b. Scart, Video TV or other RF feed to simply save your favourite TV show.
4. The LVW-5006 is designed to be as simple to operate as possible with an easy user-friendly interface and remote.


Features
Manufacturer - Lite-On
Formats Supported - DVD-Video, DVD+VR, VCD, SVCD, Audio CD, MP3, JPEG
Recordable Disks Supported - DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW
Front Panel Connections - Video Input - RCA Connector, Audio L/R Input - RCA Connector (white/red), IEEE 1394 Input - Mini jack
Rear Panel Connections - Video Input - RCA Connector, Audio L/R Input - RCA Connector, S-Video Input - 4-Pin Mini DIN, Video Output - RCA Connector, Audio L/R
Output - RCA Connector, S-Video Output - 4-Pin Mini DIN, SCART Input / Output, Digital Audio Output - Coaxial,Optical
Width - 420 mm
Depth - 268 mm
Height - 66 mm
Weight - 2.8 kg


MEDIA TYPES SUPPORTED (Read Only):
DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, CD-ROM


CONTENT FORMAT SUPPORTED :
1) DVD-Video
2) DVD+VR (DVD+VR format is compatible with DVD-Video in most case)
3) Video CD
4) Super VCD
5) Audio CD
6) MP3
Maximum number of files recognizable : 1000 files
Compression rate : between 32 kbps and 320 kbps
7) JPEG
Maximum number of pictures recognizable : 1000 files


RECORDABLE DISC SUPPORTED:
1) DVD+R ( DVD+VR Mode )
2) DVD+RW ( DVD+VR Mode )
3) DVD-R ( DVD+VR Mode )
4) DVD-RW ( DVD+VR Mode )
5) CD-R ( SVCD/VCD Format )
6) CD-RW ( SVCD/VCD Format )


VIDEO RECORDING QUALITY
Mode Hour Bit Rate Encode NTSC PAL/SECAM
HQ 1 9.5Mpbs MPEG2 720X480 720X576
SP 2 5.1Mpbs MPEG2 720X480 720X576
EP 4 2.5Mpbs MPEG2 352X480 352X576
SLP 6 1.7Mpbs MPEG1 352X240 352X288
SVCD 1.7Mpbs MPEG1 480X480
VCD 1.7Mpbs MPEG1 320X240


VIDEO FORMAT
MPEG2 for DVD+VR , DVD-Video , SVCD
MPEG1 for DVD+VR , VCD
TV Standard & VIDEO RESOLUTION
NTSC PAL/SECAM
Scan Frequency 60Hz 50Hz
Number of lines 525 lines 625 lines
DVD-Video (Horiz.Resolution 720 pixels 720 pixels, Vertical Resolution 480 lines 576 lines)
SVCD (Horiz.Resolution 480 pixels 480 pixels, Vertical Resolution 480 lines 576 lines)
VCD (Horiz.Resolution 352 pixels 352 pixels, Vertical Resolution 240 lines 288 lines)


VIDEO PERFORMANCE
DA Converter 10-bit/54MHz


AUDIO FORMAT
Dolby Digital Multi-channel
DTS Multi-channel
MPEG1 2-channel
MPEG2 Multi-channel
PCM 2-channel


AUDIO PERFORMANCE
DA Converter 24-bit/192KHZ
AD Converter £24-bit
Signal-Noise (1kHz) ³90dB
Dynamic Range (1kHz) ³80dB
Channel Separation (1kHz) ³80dB
Total Harmonic Distortion (1kHz) £65dB


TUNER FORMAT
Signal UHF/VHF/CATV
System NTSC or PAL/SECAM


CONNECTIONS
FRONT PANEL
Video Input RCA Connector (yellow) x1
Audio L/R Input RCA Connector (white/red) x1
IEEE 1394 Input Mini jack x1
REAR PANEL
Video Input*(A)(D) RCA Connector (yellow) x1
Audio L/R Input*(A)(D) RCA Connector (white/red) x1
S-Video Input*(A)(D) 4-Pin Mini DIN x1