DVD Recorders in the A/V room

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thedqs
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#41

Post by thedqs »

RussellHltn wrote:I think the lack of hard drive in burners are because for most people who want that function they buy dedicated DVRs.

Actually that is what my sister has but the DVR recording is less reliable then the straight to DVD recording.
- David
rmrichesjr
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#42

Post by rmrichesjr »

RussellHltn wrote:I'd find the manufactor's list of recommended media and use only that. In a ideal world, all blank media will work. But the truth is it's better to stick to the media the manfuactor actually calibrated the unit for.
However, at least with CDs, you're going to end up with a coaster every so often. (I'm just a tiny bit short of switching from CDs to DVDs for personal system backup.) Unless DVDs are much more reliable than CDs in terms of coaster frequency, which an earlier question had asked, if a single DVD is all you're recording to you're at risk of losing a one-of-a-kind program.
RussellHltn wrote:I think the lack of hard drive in burners are because for most people who want that function they buy dedicated DVRs.
Between that and the manufacturer cost to put in a hard disk, I agree with your theory.
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thedqs
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#43

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rmrichesjr wrote:However, at least with CDs, you're going to end up with a coaster every so often. (I'm just a tiny bit short of switching from CDs to DVDs for personal system backup.) Unless DVDs are much more reliable than CDs in terms of coaster frequency, which an earlier question had asked, if a single DVD is all you're recording to you're at risk of losing a one-of-a-kind program.

Maybe I am just lucky or something but I haven't had much of a problem with coster CDs or DVDs and I make DVDs more often then CDs.
- David
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#44

Post by skiptaylor »

thedqs wrote:Actually that is what my sister has but the DVR recording is less reliable then the straight to DVD recording.
I'm really curious as to how the DVR recording is less reliable? I have a DVR from the cable company here and it works fairly well. It's a Motorola MOXIE system if I remember right. I've not had real problems with the HDD portion, but their software and power supply could use a redesign.

Skip
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thedqs
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#45

Post by thedqs »

Her DVR would lose segments of the recorded show and just report that it had gone missing but the Dish Network said that the drive is fine.

The DVD recording hasn't failed recording live TV and only when the signal degrades does that get passed onto the DVD. Of course this is only 2 weeks of testing that has been completed and she works with it more then I do.
- David
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#46

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thedqs wrote:Her DVR would lose segments of the recorded show and just report that it had gone missing but the Dish Network said that the drive is fine.

The DVD recording hasn't failed recording live TV and only when the signal degrades does that get passed onto the DVD. Of course this is only 2 weeks of testing that has been completed and she works with it more then I do.
I've seen similar on the DVR I have from the cable company, but it's usually when the drive is pretty full. I think it indicate's a bad area on the hard drive. I've also wondered if it was just a recorded glitch in the digital signal as it's very consistent when viewing. If it weren't a recorded signal I'd think it would change the way it looks.

This makes me wonder if there's a 100% reliable medium for recording!

I think I would feel safer having the hard drive as well as the recorder.

When I was at Walmart yesterday, I noticed they had a Polaroid DVR/DVD Recorder combo and there were RCA and a couple of other brands on a closeout shelf. The closeouts appeared to be returns from the carton conditions.
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#47

Post by russellhltn »

avskip wrote:I've seen similar on the DVR I have from the cable company, but it's usually when the drive is pretty full. I think it indicate's a bad area on the hard drive.
I wonder if it's because the disk drive is having to scramble more to find open blocks to write in. It might also be needing to look for things it can overwrite and the extra task is just too much for the hard drive to keep up with the data stream.
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thedqs
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#48

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avskip wrote:This makes me wonder if there's a 100% reliable medium for recording!

The Book of Life though it can be edited. :D
- David
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#49

Post by skiptaylor »

I wanted to post and let everyone know of my decision and recommendation for a DVD Recorder.

I've decided it has to have a DVR. There are many reasons, but I feel it a good thing to have.

I have recommended that we purchase the Philips DVDR3575H/37 which includes a DVR with 160GB hard drive. These have been recently released and Walmart has them priced at $298.00. I'm also recommending the 3 year extended warranty at $23.88 as it seems quite an exceptional value. I've never seen an extended warranty that includes what theirs does.

There's one specialty forum ([url=http://www.avsforum.com/]http://www.avsforum.com/[/URL]) where the participants seem to be knowledgeable and they seem to really like this unit. It's not perfect, but the downfalls I've read about would not affect us. These are cable TV related functions that we don't need or can't use (TV Guide, QAM etc).

So there you have it. Now to go through the process of obtaining it!

Thanks for all of your input on this thread, it's been enlightening and very appreciated!

Regards,
Skip Taylor
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thedqs
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#50

Post by thedqs »

Thank you for posting which one you liked but please remember that this model is not supported by the church and so we are not advertising this on the site and that nobody actually has to go out and procure one.
- David
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