Hello all

Happy weekend, for all of you who were on spring break this week I hope yours was better than mine.


Anyway, I am going to buy a dvd recorder for my birthday in a month and a half, I was wondering if anyone of you could recommend certain brands and price ranges, I looked around at the mall I saw a Panasonic, Sony and a Sylvania, Sylvania was the cheapest out of all 3, about $109.00, its not exactly top of the line, but from what I heard it was bought out by Philips, like Magnavox. I saw a Emerson one on Walmart.com for $58!, that’s too cheap for comfort ;) I really don't record that much, but I would like to transfer my recorder tapes to dvd, so they last, and when I trade I can send dvd's not tapes. If there are any you could recommend I would be most grateful:wave: Thanks to all of you

Stay away from Philips! I had so much trouble with their recorders. I have a Panasonic that is much less problematic. I like it. It still screws up from time to time, but I think most of the earlier models are that way. I sure hope they're better now.

Stay away from CyberHome as well. It's not worth your money at all.

I have a Phillips and it works great. Panasonic is also a very good brand.

About how much to DVD Recorders cost? Are they easy to use? Also you don't have to pay a fee, like you would on a Tivo?

About how much to DVD Recorders cost? Are they easy to use? Also you don't have to pay a fee, like you would on a Tivo?

Nope, they work just like a VCR(except it's with DVD's instead), it costs nothing once you buy it(except for the DVD costs, but I pay about $13 for 30, so that's even cheaper than VHS was).

I have a combo DVD Recorder/VCR from RCA, I bought it around Christmas 2004, haven't had too many issues with it.

Nope, they work just like a VCR(except it's with DVD's instead), it costs nothing once you buy it(except for the DVD costs, but I pay about $13 for 30, so that's even cheaper than VHS was).

I have a combo DVD Recorder/VCR from RCA, I bought it around Christmas 2004, haven't had too many issues with it.
Thanks for your reply, and the DVD has better quality than a VHS would?? Also can you buy them at Best Buy ect?

Thanks for your reply, and the DVD has better quality than a VHS would?? Also can you buy them at Best Buy ect?
Yes, if you record directly off the cable/satellite, the picture can be much better. Just like VCRs, DVD Recorders have SP, LP, SLP settings that determine picture quality. They have an added one of HQ. I've never tried it (because it only gives you an hour per disc), but wow if it's better than SP even.

If you copy things onto DVD from VHS, it doesn't miraculously make the picture better, but your recordings will last longer.

And yes, you can buy them anywhere they sell electronics.

I have an RCA one that I paid $200 for, and it's great! It also has on screen listings and you can bring that up, scroll down to a program you want to record, press a button, and it will record the show automatticly, or you can search for the show you want to record (they also have all the shows listed in alphabetical order), and when you find it, highlight it, press a button, and it will record it automatically, or when you're watching a show, press the "record" button to record it that way. Or, you can set the on time, off time, channel, etc. yourself like on a VCR.
And, when you press fast-forward and rewind, you can do it at 4 differnt speeds-I find that when you do it on the fastest speed you can go through a half-hour in just 5 MINUTES!!!
But, you can't record onto DVD-Rs or DVD-RWs. You have to record onto the machines hard drive, like with Tivo.
It also play CDs, and you can watch TV through it, too.
And, of course it also plays DVDs. And for DVDs that have the movie, show, or whatever, divided into "chapters" you can just stick the DVD in, and skip right to a certain "chapter".

About how much to DVD Recorders cost? Are they easy to use? Also you don't have to pay a fee, like you would on a Tivo?
DVD recorders are MUCH cheaper than they were when they first came out several years ago. I have a Memorex DVD recorder that I got in March of 2005, and it was $250. I still see my model in stores, and last time I actually looked for it, I think the price had gone down to $125.

To be truthful, I wish I had a better DVD recorder. My Memorex has been in the shop twice -- both were in the first half of 2006, BTW -- and the picture quality is crisper if I play my DVDs here on my computer. But, as long as my DVD recorder is still working, I'll use it. I can always buy a better one and sell my recorder to some unsuspecting person. :lol:

No, you don't pay a fee. A DVD recorder works the same way a VCR does -- you just use discs instead of VHS tapes.

Thanks for all the help. I was curious can you record 2 shows on different channels?

Thanks for all the help. I was curious can you record 2 shows on different channels?
At the same time? I don't think so. At least I can't on mine.

Thanks for all the help. I was curious can you record 2 shows on different channels?
If you magically find a DVD recorder with dual disc trays, then it'd be possible. :lol: But no, I don't know of any other way you can record two things at the same time.

http://www.consumersearch.com/www/electronics/dvd-recurce=adwords&gclid=CNP_U4DZOSCFRcdSgodXV2GBg

check this site

Some only record directly to DVD, others have a hard drive for editing, storing, and making a more custom DVD. Those start at $300. That may not be worth it to you if you'll only be transferring.

Tip: When you transfer, use the VCR that you made the tapes with. Quality will be better than with another VCR.
DVD/VCR combo's are made poorly; If you have a VCR, it's easy to transfer: just connect the "VCR out" jack to the "DVD in" jack.

when I trade I can send dvd's not tapes
One thing I avoided by getting a hard drive is, every time you make one for a trade, you'd have to re-transfer the VHS - unless you have a DVD duplicator or a PC with a DVD recorder. If you transfer a bunch of stuff to a hard drive, you can choose what recordings to burn to DVD, and make as many as you want with no more effort.

can you record 2 shows on different channels?
I think there are some that have 2 tuners. They'd come with a hard drive.

Stay away from Philips!

....and Walmart!