DVD recorder and What else?

You can buy a combo unit. It's an all-in-one unit. There is one that will allow you to dub VHS to DVD or DVD to VHS. (ones without copyguard). You can probably buy one for about $200.00

i bought a dvd recorder for 191.00 couple of weeks ago it was on sale

Solomon ,

Get a Panasonic DMR-E50. I have this machine and it works great ! It has never let me down yet , and I do a ton of trading with it.

Ben

I've not heard good reviews of the combo units, so you may want to think about a good quality DVD recorder (I love my Panasonic, but afficianados recommend JVC) and a good quality VCR for playback if you want to get into doing DVDs. If you have the PC capability, DVD gurus recommend that route over the standalone DVD recorder.

As for format trading, if someone has something I want (and I'm available to trade at the time), I will trade in whatever format they want (other than VCD, which I loathe). In recent months, I've traded DVD-Rs, NTSC VHS tapes, PAL VHS tapes, and NTSC *Beta* tapes. DVDs, like videotapes, are an art form, and it's just as easy to create a crappy disc as it is to create a crappy tape. The nice thing about putting material on disc is that there is no longer any wear and tear on the source tape when you make subsequent copies of the disc. I have tapes in my collection that were made as early as 1978 - I don't want to have to be playing those tapes over and over again and risking breakage or damage if I can avoid it.

I personally own the Pioneer 220-s model from walmart.... GREAT unit. They were around 248...I think they may have dropped to 199 but you cannot go wrong. If you do a search on the vcdhelp forums you will find that MANY people are pleased with these. If you are going to transfer commercial tapes I also reccomend that you purchase a TBC. (time based corrector)

Many questions you have can be answered here:

http://www.digitalfaq.com/

hi, i have a combo unit. it is a sansui that i bought at seras for about $375.00 around 18 months ago. they were $149.00 the last time i was in our local sears. i have had excellent results with it. it has its moments like any piece of electronic gear, but overall i have been pleased. i am some what new to the tv show trading hobby. kind of backed into this hobby looking for video of the 3 stooges on tv shows etc. i have now started acquiring other shows and my collection keeps growing and growing. in addition to equipment, no one has mentioned that you need a video collection as well. not alot but enough that you don't have to buy all the time to get started. if you don't have alot to start out trading with, then maybe buy some shows or trade some blanks for shows to get started. look for shows or sets to buy that everyone on the boards don't already have. also, see what people are looking for and see if you can locate some of these shows or maybe record some shows from channels you get that others might be looking for and can't get. hope this input helps. just my two cents for what it is worth. enjoy the hobby. i know i do. thanks

DVD recorder and What else?

Don't forget blank DVD's. Either DVD-R or DVD-RW's

DVD Burner.

For your computer, for duplicating your discs (made on the recorder) for trading.
You can also create discs on the computer and get far superior results than you do with any stand alone recorder. But obviously, creating discs from scratch (ripping, editing, authoring etc.) on the computer is not going to be up everybody's alley. The point is, the process of duping discs with a burner is as simple as pushing a button.

Burners are cheap. They are up to 16X now so it takes, what? Maybe 4 minutes to burn a 2 hr SP disc? And gives an exact duplicate (no generation loss). When it comes to trading discs with others, it just doesn't make sense to do it any other way. Hooking up a dvd player to your dvd recorder and copying like you would a vhs tape lowers quality fast, just like a vhs tape. An analog dub is an analog dub regardless of whether it's done to tape or to dvd. When you analog dub a disc you also lose all the navigation info (menus have to be rebuilt, chapters re-added etc.).

This might not be important if you are creating your own dvds and your footage is rare such that you're the only source for it. So long as you have no competition you can do whatever you like. But consider if you want to trade sets already made (nicely done jobs with custom menus etc.), or if your stuff can easily be found elsewhere: you'll end up having a hard time trading away generated copies when other people will also have it and will be able to do an exact dupe keeping all the bells and whistles intact.

True story: there's a nice dvd set of a show I'd been looking for and I found 3 people who wanted to trade me it for something off of my list. One wanted to dub the discs onto vhs for me. One wanted to dub the discs onto dvd with a player and a recorder. One could dupe them exactly in the computer. It's a no-brainer as to which person I chose to trade with. I suspect most other people would have made the same choice.

kind of backed into this hobby looking for video of the 3 stooges on tv shows etc.

Stoogedog. We're going to have to hook up one day on the Stooges. I have a big collection too, but I haven't had chance to index my stuff yet. :)

hi, sent you an email. thanks

TVShow Analyzer, if you want to convert your VHS to DVD then a stand alone recorder with that capability would be good. Once you have DVD's you want to trade I would recommend getting a DVD burner for your computer. Lazygrae has good information about that in their post. Also depending on how much you trade or how much money you have to spend, I would get a duplicator. A duplicator is a stand alone unit (you do not need a computer at all) that allows you to make a perfect copy of a DVD copy. Its very easy to use, you just put the discs in and push a button. It will make your life a lot easier if you are going to need to make a lot of DVD copies. Use the duplicator to copy and your computer at the same time and you can really roll through some discs!

Also one last bit of advice. Buy 8X DVD blank media. Do not buy 4X or less. Lots of stores or even online will have great deals on 100 pack DVD's, a lot of times they are only 4X. These will take a long time to burn! With 8X media you can burn a Full DVD in under 10 mins. 16X media is slowly starting to show up in stores but is still a bit pricey. It is not twice as fast as 8X but is faster as long as your burner supports the speed.

Hope some of this helps you out and good luck to you.

Jeff

I would get a duplicator
These are cool machines. They're basically a DVD-ROM and a DVD-Burner (1 or more), the same kind you'd buy for your computer, housed in their own case. You put the master disc into the ROM and record on-the-fly to the burner(s). Very fast and easy to use, but also expensive. Whereas assuming a person already has a computer, they can buy a burner pretty cheaply. If you need to make many copies of the same thing all at once, then a duplicator does make sense. But if money is an issue, as a few people here have expressed, a duplicator is not a necessity. The same quality results can be gotten with a single burner in your computer, it just ties up your computer.

DVD Burner.

For your computer, for duplicating your discs (made on the recorder) for trading.
You can also create discs on the computer and get far superior results than you do with any stand alone recorder. But obviously, creating discs from scratch (ripping, editing, authoring etc.) on the computer is not going to be up everybody's alley. The point is, the process of duping discs with a burner is as simple as pushing a button.

Burners are cheap. They are up to 16X now so it takes, what? Maybe 4 minutes to burn a 2 hr SP disc? And gives an exact duplicate (no generation loss). When it comes to trading discs with others, it just doesn't make sense to do it any other way. Hooking up a dvd player to your dvd recorder and copying like you would a vhs tape lowers quality fast, just like a vhs tape. An analog dub is an analog dub regardless of whether it's done to tape or to dvd. When you analog dub a disc you also lose all the navigation info (menus have to be rebuilt, chapters re-added etc.).

This might not be important if you are creating your own dvds and your footage is rare such that you're the only source for it. So long as you have no competition you can do whatever you like. But consider if you want to trade sets already made (nicely done jobs with custom menus etc.), or if your stuff can easily be found elsewhere: you'll end up having a hard time trading away generated copies when other people will also have it and will be able to do an exact dupe keeping all the bells and whistles intact.

True story: there's a nice dvd set of a show I'd been looking for and I found 3 people who wanted to trade me it for something off of my list. One wanted to dub the discs onto vhs for me. One wanted to dub the discs onto dvd with a player and a recorder. One could dupe them exactly in the computer. It's a no-brainer as to which person I chose to trade with. I suspect most other people would have made the same choice.

Your not entirly correct, I have made DVDs on my pc and the problem with pc dubbing is that at that speed it skips at times just like a cd does and i have done dvd to dvd on the computer and on the recorder its no difference its the same quality atleast I dont see a lower quality with the recorder against a burner, maby because my recorder has a signal processor built in and will bypass copyguard, but ill put a copy from my go video up against any pc copy and it will be the same.

but ill put a copy from my go video up against any pc copy and it will be the same.
That's a bold statement. And one I bet few people would agree with.

Re-compressing digital data in this manner loses as much quality as VHS-to-VHS did back in the old days, maybe even more. What a horrible idea. Like the previous person said, given the choice of (1) perfect duplicate from a PC DVD burner, (2) dvd-to-dvd re-done on a recorder, (3) or DVD back to VHS .... it's a no brainer. I know nobody that wants DVD-sourced video degraded by being copied like a VHS tape (DVD recorder to DVD recorder), or worse, onto a VHS tape.

This is, of course, for discs already made. For making new discs (from your old tapes or off tv), you need a good VCR, and then either a DVD recorder or a capture card. Do not buy combo units. I suggest some time be spent reading over at videohelp.com for some tips and ideas.

DVDs would also not skip if people would start buying good media.

Lordsmurf,

Agree on all points except

I have a Panasonic DVD Recorder/VCR combo that just came out and it works the same as my extremely expensive JVC vcr into a Panasonic Hard Drive recorder. The new panasonic recorder combo unit works very well on old vhs tapes convert to dvd, same tuner, so it gives a exact image of what is on the tape.

BUT, that disagreemet aside, once something is on dvd, I definitely recommend making a copy via computer, it is an EXACT image.


Tom

If you go the computer route, a sony vaio with the giga pocket software is the easiest to learn and use. You just get those color coded video cables and hook them to the front of the computer to the back of the tv, vcr, dvd player, or cable box, whichever you like. After you record a tv show, you can go right to dvd.

It has all its own programs or you can use others.
For instance, I have tmpeg dvd author to hack out the commercials and make a seamlless show and then i burn with the nero program. if i want to cram a lot of a dvd, i use dvd shrink to cut some MegaBytes off the file size.
The only drawback Ive experienced with the sony is that i cannot find a program to hack in and disable macrovision. I wanted to transfer some of my vhs movies to dvd - because i have some titles that just arent out on dvd yet, and i couldnt do it. (for now anyway)

Heres a link to my favorite dvds -- Ritek/Ridata 100 pks. Over 500 dvds burned and not one of these ever messed up. http://www.templelooters.com/404.htm

[QUOTE=lordsmurf]That's a bold statement. And one I bet few people would agree with.

Re-compressing digital data in this manner loses as much quality as VHS-to-VHS did back in the old days, maybe even more. What a horrible idea. Like the previous person said, given the choice of (1) perfect duplicate from a PC DVD burner, (2) dvd-to-dvd re-done on a recorder, (3) or DVD back to VHS .... it's a no brainer. I know nobody that wants DVD-sourced video degraded by being copied like a VHS tape (DVD recorder to DVD recorder), or worse, onto a VHS tape.

This is, of course, for discs already made. For making new discs (from your old tapes or off tv), you need a good VCR, and then either a DVD recorder or a capture card. Do not buy combo units. I suggest some time be spent reading over at videohelp.com for some tips and ideas.

DVDs would also not skip if people would start buying good media.[/QUOTE

You lose more quality copying dvd to dvd than you would vhs to vhs?

I dont think so, Have you ever owned a dvd recorder with copyguard bypass? those recorders have a signal enhancer built in so yes you can get a pc quality copy from 1 of those, im not saying all dvd recorders can do the same but the ones with copyguard bypass can i know ive done it on my pc and on my recorder and it was the same quality.

and the one thing my 2 PCs cant do is play a -RW disc recorded in vr mode so whatever copys i do on my pc have to be done in video mode my computers dvd burner wont even recognize VR mode recorded DVDs and i have a new HP and a new Compaq computers, allso alot of people on this board have shows recorded on vhs and must transfer them to dvd so in alot of cases its going to start out with vhs.

But as far as my best advice to TVshow analyzer is a computer will do it alot faster but to set the record right there is nothing wrong with combo units if you go for a good one i dont mean an emerson either.

If you go the computer route, a sony vaio with the giga pocket software is the easiest to learn and use. You just get those color coded video cables and hook them to the front of the computer to the back of the tv, vcr, dvd player, or cable box, whichever you like. After you record a tv show, you can go right to dvd.

It has all its own programs or you can use others.
For instance, I have tmpeg dvd author to hack out the commercials and make a seamlless show and then i burn with the nero program. if i want to cram a lot of a dvd, i use dvd shrink to cut some MegaBytes off the file size.
The only drawback Ive experienced with the sony is that i cannot find a program to hack in and disable macrovision. I wanted to transfer some of my vhs movies to dvd - because i have some titles that just arent out on dvd yet, and i couldnt do it. (for now anyway)

Heres a link to my favorite dvds -- Ritek/Ridata 100 pks. Over 500 dvds burned and not one of these ever messed up. http://www.templelooters.com/404.htm



i have the top of the line sony vaio, and i am sorry i purchased it

the dvd drives are limited to 2.2 read and write speed

and messing with them voids the computer warranty

so haveing a 250 gig hard drive, two dvd drives and all that great software built, its so slow, i term it as useless for dvd stuff

i got a $ 200 computer from staples--from rebates, added a pair of EXTERNAL nec 3520 drives and a 200 gig external harddrive, i got $ 430 into it now, i get read speeds at 7 to 9 times, and write speeds at 10-12 times

you dont need to spend a lot, to get greta performance

[QUOTE=loren]i have the top of the line sony vaio, and i am sorry i purchased it



thats too bad, mine does wonderfully! No, one doesnt need to overspend to get performance at all.

Do you have to have a dvd recorder or can you trade VHS tapes? :confused:

you could trade JUST vhs tapes if you liked.

however, im sure you will find that 95% of traders dont want much to do with VHS. kind of like 8 tracks. a thing of the past, we've moved onto newer and better things.

you could trade JUST vhs tapes if you liked.

however, im sure you will find that 95% of traders dont want much to do with VHS. kind of like 8 tracks. a thing of the past, we've moved onto newer and better things.
It depends upon how rare the show. Oftentimes, the more rare the show, the more likely it'll only be found on VHS. And then once someone like myself nabs the series and puts it onto DVD, it'll spread throughout the trading community, rare no longer. :lol:
offtopic:
Note: I'm locking this thread because the initial poster obviously has no interest in the subject he brought up and continues to verbally spit at those with other ideas.