anyone know about DVD recorders?

powernoodle

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I'm cogitating on the purchase of a DVD recorder; the purpose being to burn DVDs from videocam tapes.

So, a Sony DVD recorder, for example, will make DVDs in the following formats: DVD-R/-RW/+R/+RW.

I'm just wanting a format that I can watch in most DVD players. Is there a standard format, or a "most used" one, and would this Sony fit the bill?

Here it is.

best regards
 

tiktok 22

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Hi Noodle,

IMHO a DVD drive for your PC is a much better solution if your going to do not much more than video editing from a camcorder. You can pick up a DVD burner for your PC for about 60 bucks. With software, it will allow you to edit the movie to your liking and burn it to practically any format, DVD+-R/RW. I would recommend getting Nero 6(software) and a good burner(both can be had for less than 150 bucks). Lite-on, Plextor,NEC or pioneer, although I have never had any problems with any burner I have tried.

The stand alone unite that your looking at is great, but a PC will do a much better job for your needs at a better price.

As far as formats, DVD-R is the most common but it may or may not play in yours or a friends particular DVD player. There is no gaurantee of what format will play in a DVD player, it's kinda trial and error. Use a good quality media. Some DVD players and burners are very finicky about the type of media used, so use good quality media.

Also, If you choose to go the PC route, you will need a Firewire port (IEEE1394)to get the movie to your hard drive from your camcorder. Damn, I love Firewire!!


Hope this helps. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

LitFuse

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I use -R media and find good compatability with players. I personally would look at one of the entry level Panasonic units. They offer DVD-RAM, which is useful if you plan on doing any "time-shifting" recording. They do not have the ability to burn the + media, but I really don't see any reason that you need to be able to do both. They are also cheaper then that Sony unit. I saw one of the Panny units for $199 recently somewhere...

Regardless of what you buy, don't skimp and get cheap discs. I did this, and the discs are useless just one year later. Apparently the organic dye used is prone to oxidation or something, the result being discs that will have all sorts of problems like pixelation and locking up the player.

Peter
 

LitFuse

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If you go with a PC burner and your videocam movies are analog, you will also need an MPEG encoder.

Peter
 

jtice

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I agree with tiktok,

A computer DVD burner is ALOT more useful, besides your video stuff, you can backup a great deal more info to them then CD-ROMs.

If your camcorder if digital, it probably have a USB or Firewire cable, in that case, your set, it will have software to dump your vids down and edit them before burning them to DVD.

If not, then do what I so, buy a Dazzle.
It is a USB device that lets you plug S-video, and RCA cables into it, and lets you dump down your video.
 

powernoodle

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Thx for the quick responses. I have a bunch of old-ish analog tapes, and a new digital camcorder. The purpose of this venture is to put videos of my progeny on a more stable media. The thought of cheap media (whether tape or DVD) degrading over time worries me.

Shouldn't high-quality DVD media last virtually forever?

I've got some more thinking to do. Frankly, I don't think that I want to mess with using the PC, adding hardware, software, mpeg encoder, etc. The idea of buying a stand-alone unit and just plugging my videocam into it is much more appealing. Above all, tho, I just want a stable media (whether DVD or tape) that won't degrade over time.

So is a quality DVD media the best for this purpose?

best regards
 

tiktok 22

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[ QUOTE ]
powernoodle said:


Shouldn't high-quality DVD media last virtually forever?

regards

[/ QUOTE ]
Hey Noodle,

Unfortunalely, the jury is still out on the longevity of recordable DVD's. I've been burning for about a year on DVD with no bad or problematic disks yet. The great thing is that playing them over and over won't degrade the quality. As far as I know, there is no recordable media that will not degrade or become unreadable over time. Some formats are better than others, but all can fail.
 

gessner17

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you could span it over Multiple Flash drives /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

gadget_lover

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I find that having both a stand alone and a PC dvd burner makes a nice combo.

Recent usage; A friends' daughter recently came home a hero (and on crutches) after more than a year in Iraq. As a medic for an advance combat unit, she was in the thick of the fighting and was wounded on at least 3 occasions. Her Mom called the local TV news and told them her story.

I captured all 3 local newscasts with my Tivos. I played each tivo through the Liteon DVD +r recorder, putting all 5 news shows (different versions the next day) on a single DVD. This took about 4 hours, as the actual recording has to be in real time in this set-up.

I then recorded a second copy that had just the 5 minute interviews for her family. I used the DVD burner in my PC to whip out 5 copies of that in just minutes. The DVD read and DVD write can go at top speed when copying.

When you look at DVD recorders, look also at the inputs and outputs. Mine takes firewire, optical, composite and RF inputs. It outputs several of those too, but I have it hooked up to the component input on my TV.

BTW, Tivo and DVD make a great combo.

Daniel
 

LitFuse

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[ QUOTE ]
gadget_lover said:
I find that having both a stand alone and a PC dvd burner makes a nice combo.

BTW, Tivo and DVD make a great combo.

Daniel

[/ QUOTE ]

I couldn't have said it better Daniel. I've got a standalone Panasonic DVD recorder, an NEC burner in my computer, and three DTV dual tuner TiVos! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Peter
 
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