Key Post: Current best value DVD recorder

Re: Current best value DVD recorder

the saga becomes an epic - does the 510 not have i-link or any way to link camcorder to it? I have a SONY Handycam Vision - CCD-TRV218E PAL video Hi8 and indeed one of the reasons to have the DVDR is to put footage onto DVD....
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

podgerodge, taking postage into account the difference in price between the SONY 160Gb and the 80Gb comes to E68.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Have checked the specs on the Philips and Sony again and can see that the Philips has i-link (for camcorder facility) but can't see that the Sony 510 does. If that;s the case then I'm going to go back and re-order the Philips - if I'm not struck off the web!
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

aghghhghghgh!

i-link is the same as DV in which we discussed earlier! The 710 has it which is the machine you should have purchased all along !
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

podgerodge said:
But why you would get the 80 gig version instead of the 160 gig with Camcorder In facility for the sake of Eur33 is beyond me!
As for the Philips model 3300 it is DVD+R/+RW only - not a big deal if you are sure you are never going to be given a -R/-RW disc. The Sony supports both DVD versions.
Click to expand...

Remember this?!
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Remembered.

but...went into Dixons and a guy explained to me that i-link only of use if you have an i-link camcorder. They don't sell any at the moment and they would cost approx E1,000 anyhow. Of course I'll be able to record my camcorder footage through the TV.

So, think I'll stick with the SONY 510
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Not true. I-Link is only a Sony term for DV in and lets you connect any Digital Camcorder into it. Don't rely on sales advice from Dixons!

Not sure how you intend to record camcorder footage through TV but nothing will retain the quality as well as direct DV input.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Glad to see babydays that you are going with the Sony model. I'm not sure about the i-link but you can definitely connect your camcorder using the video cable that comes with the 510. I haven't used my camcorder in so long but I know that the same cable came supplied with the 510 that you just connect to the recorder and that camcorder. Stick with Sony.....it is the better choice. The only thing I have to say is that it is a bit noisy when in standby but other than that, fab all round. I was away all week and set it to record Big Brother every day and 2 episodes of Lost and they all recorded perfectly on the hard disk.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

tks Ribena.
Can't wait 'til it arrives. Will give review as soon as I get to grips with it. Still feel a bit mad about spending so much for it but hopefully it's worth it!
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

babydays said:
tks Ribena.
Can't wait 'til it arrives. Will give review as soon as I get to grips with it. Still feel a bit mad about spending so much for it but hopefully it's worth it!
Click to expand...

If you can't afford a Sony or Philips, this (non-mainstream brand) seems to be good value model - €370 on Pixmania.ie - DVD recorder, DIVX, 160GB hard disk.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

That's an interesting one Monsieur Bond. The only downside I can see is the lack of -R/-RW support.

It appears from Phocus's website that you can copy from DVD to the harddrive as well (pixmania doesnt mention this) which would suggest you could store your entire divx collection on it. Also accepts CD's with Divx's burned on them according to the website.
[broken link removed]

I would be strongly tempted if I did not have the HX710 to look at this at the price.

Of course the ultimate machine is going to be the DVD recorder that records directly to Divx.


Update - just noticed it does support READING of -R/-RW so thats not so bad.
 
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Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Tks M.Bond.
Did you see any independent reviews of it. The Mustek (but 80Gb) seems also to be good value.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

What do you think of this one ?

350 sterling. (or 600 EUR on [broken link removed])
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

babydays said:
Tks M.Bond.
Did you see any independent reviews of it. The Mustek (but 80Gb) seems also to be good value.
Click to expand...

I could only find reviews in German!

They regularly review cheap DVD recorders in Home Cinema Choice. Mustek and Kiss and the like get ok reviews, but they usually finish by saying "for £50 you can buy a Philips (or other named brand)" - for Ireland, you can double that figure, THEN translate into Euro.

You get what you pay for.

Brands like Sony, Philips, Pioneer, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung etc. are experienced in AV and Hi Fi. Mustek, Kiss, Liteon etc. are (as far as I know) all PC brands bringing their PC component experience to the AV market, which is not sufficient in my humble opinion or at least not sufficient YET until they have a few more years under their belts.

I still have not found my wishlist DVD recorder:
  • DIVX/XVID/WMA/MP3/Video CD/Photo CD/JPEG playback
  • Ideally, Internet upgradable firmware in order to support new codecs in the future e.g. Nero 6, DIVX 6
  • Hard disk min. 80GB
  • Multiformat recorder (DVD+-R/W, DVD-RAM would be nice but not essential)
  • Double-layer (DL) DVD support
  • SACD and DVD-Audio playback
  • 5.1 input (not essential)
  • Plenty of SCART inputs (as I will use this as a switcher until I eventually buy a HDMI switching amplifier)
  • iLink aka Firewire aka IEEE 1394 aka DV In aka Camcorder Input
  • Video upscaling (to 720p or 1080i)
  • HDMI Output - essential for future proofness
  • An EPG (Electronic Program Guide) such as Guide+ (which may eventually work in Ireland)
  • Ideally, support for streaming music either wirelessly (802.11G) or via an Ethernet port
Samsung have a DVD for €173 on Pixmania with most of this, which I may buy (and a cheaper one for €120 without SACD and DVD-A), then buy a DVD recorder next year.

The move to bigger hard disks, MPEG4 compression, HDTV resolution support, not to mention players which skip commercials on playback, is probably going to change the landscape a bit in the next year. Not to mention HD-DVD and BluRay.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

SONY 710 (yes:eek: I went back AGAIN and changed my order to the 160Gb model) arrived this morning.


BUT instructions are only in German, Dutch, Italian or French! Four great books of each language arrived but none in English. My French is reasonable but not for instruction manuals.
Crazy, pay so much and don't know how to use it!!!

Are there downloadable instructions for this on some website?

:eek:
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder



I think this link will get you what you want. ( althought there are a few versions of the user manual? )
Or just search the sony uk website.
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

You did the right thing babydays....you paid less for your 710 than I did for my 510. The 510 was really easy to set up. It should automatically go in to it when you install it for the first time. If not, go in to setup and choose the easy setup option on the bottom and it just does it all for you. Enjoy playing with your new toy:D
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Congratulations!

Here is a link that I used for my manual - its a PDF file - just right click and save as...
 
Re: Current best value DVD recorder

Aldi from 1st September



Sounds good for the money - 3 year warranty is excellent these days - after 3 years you won't want this machine anymore anyway cos you'll be buying the 3000gb mpeg4 realtime recording fridge. with commercial skip of course.
 
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