your opinion on a couple of product models?
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1. What's the budget? 2. What are you wanting to record from? Are you converting VHS tapes, only recording from television/cable/satellite, or both? 3. Are refurbs/used okay with you? (They are for me, lots of my stuff is refurb/used, great items!) |
As to Qs:
1. Best not to base a reply on that criteria...Pretend it's "the sky"- I'll just hafta deal 2. From both suggested sources: VHS (,etc.)- now and then Off-air- routinely in any scenario recording to -RAM 3. Okay (and obviously necessary), if hardware is not already in need of major repair... Footnotes Already own: Panasonic AG-1980P (+AG-A96-P companion editor) Panasonic DMR- E50 Panasonic AG-VP320 Panasonic DMR- EZ37VK Panasonic DMR- ES10 Panasonic AG- DV1000 Sony EV- C200 Hi8 8mm VCR Daewoo DVG- 950N JVC HR-S9911U using ALL S-video connections Now what would you suggest? Thank you in advance! |
For top quality off-air recordings, from cable/satellite/antenna, I suggest the most current Philips DVD recorders:
These Philips units (3505/3506/3575/3576) will record from ATSC/QAM HD sources, creating 16:9 widescreen DVDs in excellent quality. They will also do Half D1 for longer 3-4 hour recordings in SD (standard def) and will look excellent. Much better than the Panasonic quality. The 3505/3506 units have some great prices on refurbs from the above Amazon.com links. If I needed such a recorder right now, that's what I would buy, and that's where I'd buy it from, too. But the Philips aren't so hot on VHS>DVD recording, as it does no filtering. VHS needs filtering, it's a noisy source full of grain and chroma errors (those red/blue sparkling splotches you see). For a quality VHS>DVD machine, hunt down one of those older JVC DR-M10S or JVC DR-M100S units. Those filter VHS nicely. Your best bet for these is going to be eBay. Be sure to read the DVD recorder review page found at http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-recorders.htm for more details and history on the various DVD recorders from 2002-2009. |
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Personally, I would not suggest DVD-RAM in the JVC units, it doesn't work as well in my experience, as compared to DVD-RW or DVD-R. You're pretty much limiting yourself to Panasonic equipment, to use DVD-RAM. They were really the only manufacturer to bother including it. Not really sure why they did either, as it was never very popular, and such compatibility surely inflated machine costs. |
upon further review...
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It might simply be a matter of economics and compatibility. This is speculation on my part, but consider this:
If you like DVD-RAM, then by all means, stick with it. :D Just remember that some recorders will record in "unusual" (for DVD-Video) sizes, such as 480x480 DVD-VR size. For best "safe" recordings, stick to XP or SP, the 720x480 on a DVD-RAM. Indeed, more media for you! I've seen some great clearance prices in the past few years. |
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