Hey all,

I have asked this before, but wondering:

If you have a DVD RECORDER, could you please tell us what brand it is, and how satisfied you are?

I bought one a few years back from Wal-Mart. it wasn't the best (but was cheap) and I ended up bringing it back. Now I have a few bucks in the bank :talk: and I want to buy a good reliable recorder (up to $500 or so)

I was looking at the Panasonic E-85 with hard drive, but want to hear recommendations. So talk about yours and make recommendations.

Thanks for your help! :wave:

Have a Panasonic E80 (same as 85 w/80 gig instead of 120 gig hard drive). One year and 4 months now with tons and tons of use, no complaints. I have had a handful of bad burns, but at least when that happens the machine tells you. Unlike Philips where you can record a disc and not find out till you watch it if it recorded properly or not. I probably use equal amounts -R and RAM discs and both work great.

I've had, count 'em, 3 Philips machines. Great when they work but totally unreliable. They have some pros that the Panny doesn't, like they record and play PAL which is something I need, and component video inputs are handy, but for regular everyday use, I don't think you'd be disappointed with a Panasonic.

I was looking at the rca with built in Time base correction unit walmart 300.00 Tbc will come in handy for those old tapes with noise fuzz on it.

The New ilo DVD recorder that just came out 3 months -ago-around October 2004 at WAL-MART works perfectly except it has circuits that will absolutely FREEZE the DVD recorder if you try to copy\ transfer in any way shape or form any video source with Macrovision or CSS-protection -even if you run it thru a video stabilizer. For that reason I did return it to Wal-Mart....Other than that it is an amazing recorder!!!
Donald Charleston SC

I purchased a Pioneer 220S and I an very pleased with it's perfomance. The time recording are VERY easy to follow and it has performed very well. Even VHS to DVD trnasfers with an older Panasonic vcr have turned out much better than I expected. Before I purchased it I looked for information on it and as far as I can tell it is a recorder Pioneer put out primarily for Europe. I am guessing that Wal-Mart struck a deal with Pioneer to make it NTSC and bought mass quantities.....just a guess.
There is a yahoo group dedicated to this recorder as well if you need further information.

Recording the disk and ripping to the HD then running it through TMPGEnc DVD Author1.6 to cut out commercials makes the process painless and quick.

.$248+tx. at Wal-Mart.

Several of the techheads on another trading forum I'm on trash the Philips and Panasonic, but love the JVC models. Now, I have a Panasonic DMR E80S, and I love it. But the truth is the discs I make on it won't play on every DVD player - most, but not all. I don't know about the playability of discs made off the JVC, but if I were buying now, I'd at least be looking into their models.

I have a Panasonic DMR-E50 and a DMR-E80. After a year of running my Panasonic DMR-E50 almost literally around the clock, it died on me. I recently sent it in for repair as I have a four year warranty on it. But even with that, I'd stick with the Panasonics hands down.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've read fewer complaints about the Panasonics than I've read about other brands.

I own a Philips dvdr80 and it "used" to work great! I'm not sure when it stopped working like it should because I never tried to burn a copy of anything I recorded until a couple of months ago. The dvds I recorded have burn errors and I cannot copy them - even though they will play fine.

Philips "technical support" (I use this term loosely! because they aren't "technical" at all) is of no help. I personally will not purchase any Philips electronics ever again. I've owned this recorder for 10 months when I figured out it is screwing up. It has to be mailed into a service center for repair.

There are several very happy folks who own Philips recorders and I'm sure you will see lots of pro/con comments on any other brand. It's a tough decision while figuring out which recorder you want to invest in. I went through the same thing when I purchased this recorder for $428.00 11 months ago. Next time, I'm going the cheap route. I do know of one person who owned a Cyberhome recorder that broke down on her and she called the factory and they told her to return it and they replaced it with a brand new unit. I like that kind of service! Next time around, I'll research company policy/warranty for repair/replacement.

Nannyfan:wave:

I really believe that 2nd hand used or refurbished DVD recorders are very CHANCY !!! Get a new one at Wal-Mart and then test it out completely before your 90 days are up!!!

Well, I did it. I just bought my DVD Recorder. The Panasonic DMR-E85H, and I'm making my first DVD! I really like the editing features. I hope this works out. I did buy the 4 year service plan because I thought it was worth it, in case something should happen to it. Set me back $99 more dollars but I'd rather have the peace of mind. :crazy:

:wave: I think you made a wise decision in purchasing the extended service agreement! Depending on how much you plan on using your recorder, from what I've heard, these recorders (all brands) tend to wear out (or, break down) before 4 yrs are up!! I'm gonna follow your example and do the same thing the next time I invest in a recorder!!

So, are your menus pictures w/text or just text?

Thanks!!
:wave:
Nannyfan

I've always wanted a DVD Recorder. I hope I get one for Christmas :D

I have 9 templates to choose from for menus, and you can choose the picture you want next to the title and of course name the episode. I'm on my 3rd one so far. it takes a while to edit and stuff, but I like it so far.

It sounds like your DVD recorder has a lot of advanced features.. Did you say that you could edit out commercials????? Donald- South Carolina

Sounds like you chose a nice model! My philips will allow me to choose the pictures as well as add the text menu - but, it doesn't have 9 templates to choose from for a background.

With my DMR-E80 I can edit out commercials, but only make text menus, with a choice of nine colors. To tell you the truth, I can never understand the fascination some have with picture menus. To me, it's like buying something for the packaging.

Originally posted by Agent 13
With my DMR-E80 I can edit out commercials, but only make text menus, with a choice of nine colors. To tell you the truth, I can never understand the fascination some have with picture menus. To me, it's like buying something for the packaging.

Hello, Agent 13:wave:

When it comes to receiving dvds with menus, I don't care if they have pictures or not. I do like having this option while recording because it allows me to capture the title of the movie/show and then I don't have to scroll through each letter to make a title for each episode. It speeds up the process quite a bit when you have a lot of stuff to transfer. This is really the only advantage I can see to having picture menus.

Oh, the other thing is being able to capture a favorite picture while transferring home videos. My girls get a kick out of putting a dvd in and seeing goofy pictures pop up on the menu screen.

:wave:

After running my DMR-E50 practically around the clock for a year, I sent it in for repair under my four year warranty. A Panasonic representative called to tell us that they're sending us a check for $250 instead of repairing it because they said that it'd cost $400 to fix it. My husband asked them if the problem that we ran into was common, and they said that it was very rare. (Making 1,500 DVDs might do it. :blush: )

As it was, Walmart had them on clearance for $200, I went out and got another one just like it. :D Though I prefer my DMR-E80 for editing out commercials and making menus, the DMR-E50 is a great machine.

As far as I'm concerned, Panasonics are the best!

I have a go video model VR 4940 DVD-RW/VCR I have had no problems with it in the 3 months ive owned it, it will copy any tape or dvd even with the macrovision or any other copyguard but i bought it as a close out its not being made anymore for the copy reasons, this i was told makes it illegal to sell, the new go video will not bypass a copyguard, this thing did freez up on me once but i was able to reset it and it has not done it again, just do not try to record with memorex DVD -R or -RW because it does not like memorex dvd.s, i use maxell or sony or tdk it really loves maxell dvd, even tho its not being sold anymore u can still find them on ebay at times, it has dvd video format and dvd VR mode for editing and adding chapters, and it has one touch copy OTC
for dvd to vcr or vcr to dvd. I like this unit alot and hope it lasts awhile.