DVD recorders?

[Fred Voorhees]

Looking for some information guys. The wife and I have been a bit slow in jumping onto the DVD wagon. We have had vhs player/recorders in our home and have been getting by with that with what we need them to do. But, with vhs technology going by the wayside and DVD much more prevalent, we have already purchased, and are using two DVD players. However, in our bedroom is a VHS player that is taking a crap and needs to be replaced. It's actually where I do my weekly recording of This Old House and Norms NYW. That is where I usually try to watch it also, but, as I said, the unit has one leg in the grave already.

I have a ton of old VHS racing tapes that I would like to archive to DVD, among other tapes that I prefer to continue to be able to view. Hence, the need for a DVD player/recorder that also has a vhs player/recorder built into it. That isn't a problem as I have noticed a number available for a fairly decent price. I just have some questions. For taping purposes from the television (This Old House and NYW for instance) would it be possible to record to a DVD disc and are there DVD discs that are "rewritable", in other words, like a vhs cassette, can it be used over and over?

And I beleive that I have read that there are different formats that come into play. Does anyone know about this situation? I know that eventually, I would probably want to go with some form of digital recording devise (Tivo), but for now, my main concern is archiving the old vhs cassette stuff before it is impossible to continue to watch them.

And and all information about what I want/need to know and what to watch out for would be appreciated.

[Frederick Rowe]

Fred- There are a number of DVD recorders which would do what you want. Panasonic makes a line which can record to DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and DVD-RAM. DVD-RAM discs can be re-recorded many more times than an RW DVD. When you are done with the program, delete it, and only it, from the disc and you've freed up some more room. They hold the same amount of data, 4.7GB, and are readily available. Now, as to whether you can use the DVD recorder like your VCR to program to record shows, the answer is - it depends. If you receive your programing over the air, then yes. If you have basic cable (that which does not require a cable set top box) then yes. If you have satelite/FIOS/Digital Cable, then you can only record if you leave your cable box on, and on the channel you want to record. Now TIVO, which is a subscription based (about $12-$14/month), may be able record your shows but check whether it is compatible with your cable/sat provider. The TIVO records to a hard drive in the box, not to a DVD. Which leads me to your first question. The Panasonics (and I'm sure other DVD recorder brands which I'm less familiar with) will easily record your old VHS tapes to a DVD (provided you still have the VHS player to play them into your new DVD recorder). Not only that, they will create menus which will allow you to watch the chapters you want without having to fastforward through what you don't want to watch. A fast, effective way to archive your old VHS recordings. There are some other options out there, but this should get you started. Feel free to PM with specific questions.

[Al Willits]

Another thought is places like best buy have VHS/DVD units, some will record from VHS to DVD and these units are pretty cheap
Al

[Bryan Berguson]

I have a ton of old VHS racing tapes that I would like to archive to DVD, among other tapes that I prefer to continue to be able to view. Hence, the need for a DVD player/recorder that also has a vhs player/recorder built into it. That isn't a problem as I have noticed a number available for a fairly decent price. I just have some questions. For taping purposes from the television (This Old House and NYW for instance) would it be possible to record to a DVD disc and are there DVD discs that are "rewritable", in other words, like a vhs cassette, can it be used over and over?


Fred,

You don't need a combo unit to do the recording. A stand alone VHS player will plug into a stand alone DVD recorder and allow you to record. I have a Sony DVD recorder that I do this with. I have recorded directly from my Digital 8 video recorder and from the VCR. The new units have enough input jacks to have everything plugged in at the same time too. You can get re-writeable DVD's but I haven't used them. I've used +R and -R with success.

Hope this helps.

Bryan

[Jason Roehl]

Just a quick thought on my experiences, Fred. Pick a format to go with. I bought one that is very versatile, and can record in every format except -RAM and one of the other RWs (I forget whether I can do +RW or -RW). I regret the versatility, as it just makes it a headache to record anything, and my wife doesn't dare even try after seeing me beat my head against the wall.

[Richard Blaine]

As long as we're on the subject of DVD recorders and HDRs, are there any HDR's out there that don't require a subscription and also receive over-the-air HDTV? I'd love to receive HDTV feeds from the aerial, and be able to record them to DVD.

[John Mihich]

I bought an LG (Insigna from Best Buy) last year and am very happy with it. It will record DVD+ and - and RW. I bought the one with VHS and DVD drives. I copied all of my TV shows to DVD. Some readers will only read DVD - (older ones I think) so check what your current machine can read. I think all th newer ones will read both. It has limited menu capabilites but enough to separate shows. For a regular DVD you can put 6 hours on it; 12 NYW shows. You can edit out commecials if you wish; I like that feature.

[Russ Filtz]

I think pretty much all the DVR's require a subscription unless maybe you get an HD version for over the air. One way around this is to build a home theater PC and use software to emulate a DVR.

[Curt Harms]

Here's an interesting link. Certainly not for a plug-it-in-and-it-works purchaser:rolleyes:
http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/04/makezinecom_fre.html

Curt

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Be sure you think long and hard about the two possible formats. It's a lot like the Betamax and super 8 battels of years past. There's Blue Ray and another HD DVD tech that are battling it out/

I know little enough of either.

However, I do know that I am sick and tired (angry really) of having a stupid little disk of plastic telling me what I can do and when I can do it.

All DVD machines sold thtough conventional retail outlets in the USA are coded and zone coded to do a couple of things:

1.) they take orders from the disk imposing those owrders on the viewer. These include coded instructions to prevent you from fast forwarding through commercials previews and that idiotic FBI warning etc.
and
2.) They will not play DVDs which you get from other countries such as those you might buy while on vacation thinking thatthe prices are way better than what you'd pay stateside. You get 'em home and you machine can't play 'em because the manufacturers build a code into 'em that tells you DVD player not to play DVDs from other market zones.

This has to do with trade zones and not law. The global market is divided up into trade zones such that the same pair of sneakers you pay $100.00 for in the US will sell for about $8.00 in some other nation.


You can get what is called a Zone Free DVD player and it'll ignore all that coding that takes over your DVD player.

[Al Willits]

Get on one of the audio/visual forums a lurk a bit, there's ways to get around the regional thing, and how to record your DVD's without all the "stuff" you don't want, pleanty of freeware to do this with.

Also I suggested a comb unit as he said his bedroom VHS was dieing, you can get a comb unit for under $200, paid $149 for mine, and you can still use them VHS tapes.

DVDDecrypter, Clone DVD/CD, DVD Shrink, are a few I use, fwiw
Al

[Jon Healy]

2.) They will not play DVDs which you get from other countries such as those you might buy while on vacation thinking thatthe prices are way better than what you'd pay stateside. You get 'em home and you machine can't play 'em because the manufacturers build a code into 'em that tells you DVD player not to play DVDs from other market zones.

This has to do with trade zones and not law. The global market is divided up into trade zones such that the same pair of sneakers you pay $100.00 for in the US will sell for about $8.00 in some other nation

My brother in law is a flight attendant and he brings back all those cheap DVDs. We must have 500 of those things around the house. And do want to know what plays all of them? The cheapest, crummiest DVD player that Apex has to offer. I think I paid $25 for the last one at Sears when they had a sale. It takes a bit of time for it to "get going" but it plays every one of those discs.

I just looked. It's an Apex AD-1200.

[Peter Stahl]

Get on one of the audio/visual forums a lurk a bit, there's ways to get around the regional thing, and how to record your DVD's without all the "stuff" you don't want, pleanty of freeware to do this with.

Also I suggested a comb unit as he said his bedroom VHS was dieing, you can get a comb unit for under $200, paid $149 for mine, and you can still use them VHS tapes.

DVDDecrypter, Clone DVD/CD, DVD Shrink, are a few I use, fwiw
Al

Don't think you can get DVDDecrypter or DVD Shrink anymore. Plus I think Fred is looking for a set top recorder not a PC one.

[Jerry Olexa]

When we bought our HDTV, we got a deal on a new Sony DVD-VCR recorder/player that supposedly handles all those concerns (it is claimed to transfer old VCR tapes to DVD). The Bad news is we are so excited watching the new HDTV and using the DVR, we have not properly hooked up the recording function on this new recorder (i'm told it will require a splitter?!)We are presently using it as a DVD player:confused: :) :D Anyway, they are available but find out how to hook up...

[Fred Voorhees]

Thanks to all of you guys. I knew that there was a bit to know and I will keep all of this as reference when the wife and I go to pick one out. If I didn't have a number of old VHS cassette tapes that I cherish (mostly local dirt track stock car racing oriented and some of some local access cable television work that I did as a color comentator in the sport) I wouldn't be concerned with the VHS format situation. However, I need to transfer them over to DVD format for future watching since vcr's are getting rarer and rarer to find and when you do, they are plastic pieces of crap with little quality built in anymore. I love the idea of possibly archiving Norms NYW programs. I hope to purchase a unit within a week or so. All of this information is sure to be a big help in the process.