DVM70 DVM600 DVM700 Loading Error and Reliability
 

I am looking to add a JVC SR-DVM70, DVM600, or DVM700 to my arsenal of DVD Recorders (currently own a RD-XS34, RD-XS35, D-R5, and SR-MV45) Was curious if the JVC Pro units (SR series) are as susceptible to the "Loading Error" issues (e.g. bad PS board, capacitors, or DVD drive) that affected the consumer line of JVC DVD Recorders (DR-M1, M100, MH30, MVs, etc.). Is the SR-DVM series which was manufactured later any more reliable than the earlier consumer units? From reading this forum I get the impression that the DVM70 still had these issues, but the DVM600 and DVM700 were more problem free. Was wondering what everyone's experience has been with the DVM units before investing in one.

Certain DVM units allow for digital recording to HDD in the DV native format (according to the JVC brochure). I know this is not the customary approach, but has anyone tried this for VHS transfers, I'm curious how this method would compare to MPEG2 transfers? Workflow would be: SVHS (JVC with TBC) --> external TBC --> DVM700 (HDD in DV format) --> PC (DV format).

Depends what you want to get out of it, DV will be better quality than DVD-compliant mpeg2, though you would need to mess with hard drives to get it out. (Afaik the standalone units don't have firewire out, just input for recording from a dv camcorder. EDITL: Seems the DVM700 can in fact output HDD dv recordings over firewire) I don't think the extra LSI noise reduction stuff is active when recording to DV either. That said there are also some dvd-recorders that could record to higher-than-DVD bitrate mpeg2 (Pioneer/Sony), so I don't know which of these would give the best quality, and stuff like the Canopus AVDC boxes that give you DV recorded material directly to a computer.

If you just like the quality from the A/D converter in the units you can also grab the digital output directly from HDMI on models that feature it.

I have no idea when it comes to reliability.