new LiteOn 5104 at Radio Shack
 

I just picked up what appears to be one of the newest LiteOn units, the 5104, which has a (I believe) stereo tuner, AC3 audio encoding (a first from LiteOn), and supports DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW/CD-R media.

I'm still getting that stupid hum from the tv tuner, but the s-video input quality is pretty good. I think it slightly lightens the picture (slight IRE error?), but it removes pretty much ALL noise from tapes. Grain, chroma, you name it... gone.

Great unit, if you need no tuner.

It is new and therefore in stock.
Was $180 on sale (until 24th this month) and also has a $50 rebate.
So not a bad little unit for $130 plus tax (about $140 in the end).

I'm still testing it. Because of all the S-VHS tapes I have with chroma noise, I want to keep it. But the slight lightening of video and lack of ability to use the tuner, not sure if it'll be a deal breaker or not.

Where did you get the unit, LS?

Got it at RADIO SHACK.

When playing back the recording, the "lightening" of video appears to not be happening. Appears only when recording.

wich unit do you like better the LiteOn or the JVC?

JVC. No contest.

wich model JVC dr-m10s ?

Any of them. But the non-HDD drives are the DR-M10S (discontinued model) and DR-M100S (current model). The 10 and 100 have few differences, mostly cosmetic and then new type of resistors so "loading" doesn't happen anymore.

I got the same hum noise on my lite on 04 unit.
i hooked up a reciever to my stuff and it was gone.
it worked for me, try it that way if u can.