I mean the kind you hook up to your TV, not the kind you hook up to your computer. The prices on the no-name (ilo???) Walmart ones have gotten under $100. That’s pretty reasonable so I’m thinking of getting one for my dad for Xmas so he can transfer his camcorder tapes, without the hassle of dealing with a computer. I suppose it’s less flexible but he’s much more likely to actually use it.
So anyone have one of these? Do they work well?
I considered these, but eventually bought a dvd player that can play all types of computer files directly such as mpeg, mp3, jpg, avi and divx.
My concern was that a straight dvd recorder can only store about 2 hours of shows at high quality. Then you have to switch in a new dvd. This means that soon you will have dvds all over the place and they are very easy to damage. The only practical version of a dvd recorder, imho, is one that also has a large built in hard drive. I would say 100 gig or bigger. In that case you will probably ignore recording to dvd except when you want to transfer the information to another tv or computer.
Is transferring a lot of tapes to a lot of dvds much of a solution? Especially when you cannot edit the raw footage in any real sense? I hear what you say about not wanting the complexity of the computer, I just dont think stand alond dvd recorders are very practical for recording.
I got one in August: a Sony DVDirect. Right now it’s in my living room, hooked up to my VCR, and when I’m done transferring video I’ll hook it up to my computer.
Mikemike2 is right that each disc only holds about 2 hours of decent-looking video; they’re capable of holding 6, but the quality is just horrible at that recording speed. However, I don’t think the followup statement of “soon you will have dvds all over the place” is really a negative: how is having DVDs all over the place worse than having VHS tapes all over the place? They’re smaller and easier to store, for one: I have content on 24 VHS tapes that will only require a fraction of the same space to store on DVD, even though I’m looking at 2 hours per disc instead of 6 hours per tape. Plus, the tapes are starting to wear out: the DVDs will be playable for much longer. And I disagree that they are “easy to damage” – if you’re used to handling music CDs, you know how to handle DVDs. It only requires a little caution and common sense to keep them in good shape.
As far as editing goes, I can insert my own chapter markers (“skip to” points) and I can pause during recording (so I can skip the blank spot on the tape where Cousin Sammy knocked over the camera, or I could fast-forward and put Uncle Bob’s speech on the DVD after Aunt Carol’s fainting spell). That’s it, though: I can’t do anything with the menu on the DVD, and I can’t change the content once it’s recorded. But, for my purposes I don’t really need any editing capabilities.
It’s an expensive little toy, but if you (or your father) have a bunch of stuff on tape that you’d just love to have on DVD, it might be worth it. I love my DVD recorder. 
Can you recommend a good one of these kind of players?
I agree with everything Misnomer said in her post. She (?) loves her DVD recorder and that is the ultimate test of a product.
She is also a much more organized person than I am. I used to have vhs tapes all over the place and now I have the same problem with cds and dvds. A naked dvd is much more vunerable than a vhs tape. I usually find them face down on the stone fireplace which is the last place the kids left them.
To me DVD recorders have too many of the same limitations of vhs recorders to be worth the upgrade, especially when most of these concerns are eliminated with the addition of a hard drive.
Also I think that the mpeg 2 standard - which is what low cost dvd recorders are based on - is on the way out. It is just too inefficient. I can put 6 to 8 hours of mpeg 4 on a dvd that is of the same visual quality of 2 hours of mpeg 2. That is why I bought a dvd player that can play that format, and just about anything else I have thrown at it.
I bought one for my dad a couple years ago. His is Panasonic. It was $400 at that time. I’m sure you can buy three for that money now. He uses it strictly for recording movies. Two to a disc. The quality is fine, but not great at that speed.
He loves it. And he’s the guy who thinks computers will end civilization as we know it. He’s probably recorded a thousand movies since I bought it for him.
I like the LG DiVX Compatible Progressive Scan DVD Player (LDA-530). It can play almost any media file and you do not have to use the DVD format. For example you can just burn .avi or .mpg files to a cd or dvd, and the dvd player will play them. It will create a simple menu so that you can navigate between the different files. You can even throw different types of files onto the DVD. For example pictures, mp3s and movie files. The DVD play will look at the files and then create on screen directories for each of the types of files. You can have the mp3s play while it does a slideshow of the pictures. No, I am not being paid for this advertisement I put 1,500 mp3s on a DVD with folders for the different categories of music. There are also advanced versions of this player which are dvd recorders with hard drives. They did not suit my needs.
There are other dvd players with similar capability. One of the first things to look for is that they are divx certified.
Of course you pretty much need a computer with a dvd burner to make this DVD player do the things I have mentioned.
Which ones?
The only one he didn’t record is “Dude, Where’s My Car?” And that was at my behest. He has roughly 6K movies in his library.
I have a Panasonic recorder. It can record in 1, 2, 4, or 6 hour modes. The 6 hour mode looks a like you aimed a cheap camcorder at a surveliance monitor so I never use it.
I used to use it to record stuff onto DVD-Rs, but now I use it primarily to transfer stuff to my computer via DVD-RAM discs where I use TMPGEnc to burn DVDs.
I almost always use the 4 hour mode. The final prodcut is indistinguishable from the original source material. Once in a while, I’ll use the 2 hour mode, but not too often.
I bought the cheap ilo DVD burner at Walmart last year (it was $130 then) and my brother bought the same one a month later.
We are both very happy with them. I make DVD’s and send them to some friends in Germany (who have multi-regional DVD players and televisions) and it is so much easier to pop a DVD in a birthday card and send it along.
I also tape a lot of films on my DVR and copy them to DVD for future viewing.
I have not noticed any perceptible lack of quality on any of the DVD’s I have burned, and I have a flat screen plasma television so I think I would notice.
I have seen those new ilo DVD burners, about $89 and thinner and smaller than the one I have. I am seriously thinking of getting myself one for the bedroom. I guess that is proof that I am happy with the machine.
Oh, forgot to mention that at work I have a Sony DVD recorder model RDR-GX7 that cost about $700 two years ago. Fine machine, but to be honest, not better than my little ilo.
I paid $500(!) about 4 years ago. The closest current model is $200.
It did lock up a couple of times, but that’s been at least 3 years ago. The DVD-RAM discs (which are much more popular in Japan than here) are great. I have a dozen I’ve used hundreds of times.
I have a Pioneer 533. This is a DVD player/recorder + a hard drive (DVR). So far I have just recorded to the HD, have had nothing I wanted to keep / transfer yet.
Brian
Any compelling reason to get one with a hard-drive, as opposed to one without? What’s the advantage of having an internal HD? Edit the recording, then burn to DVDR?
If you don’t have TiVo and you have a big list of shows you like, it’s the only way to go.
Yep. I don’t know about other recorders, but Panasonic’s menu setup sucks. It’s just a list-type and you can’t have subchapters.
That’s good to know…the Panasonics were listed very high in Consumer Report’s ratings.