# DVD Burners (TV not computer) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502 "2006-04-06T00:43:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/1 "2006-04-06T00:43:09Z")
Just before Christmas I bought a DVD recorder for my TV. I have TiVo and found that half of the space was taken up with stuff that has been saved for a year or more because I haven’t gotten around to saving it to a VHS tape… plus I hate VHS anymore since DVDs are so much better. I’d been putting off buying a DVD recorder because of the price, but I found one at Walmart for under $80 so I said Merry Christmas To Me and got it. I’ve attempted to burn about 4 discs now and only 1 has been successful, which was just one 2 hour movie onto a disc. The others have been trying to record several tv shows onto a disc, and it will get through a few, and then halfway through one of them it starts spontaneously going “pause-rec-pause-rec-pause-rec” and then just says “disc error” and won’t do anything beyond that. Grumble. It also has the worst remote ever. The thing is laid out like a calculator. Just a grid of identical rectangular buttons, labelled in tiny print, with a seemingly random layout. It takes me 15 seconds just to find “play” or “pause” every time. So I figure… I would consider buying a new one, and then selling this one on ebay or craigslist or something. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on this, but I am getting money back from the gummint this year for my taxes, and if I can find a decent one under $150-200 or so I’m considering using some of my tax refund on that. (Hey, I have responsible, grown-up things [bills…ugh] to spend most of it on, but it would be nice to get something for myself as well.) I decided I’d rather go with something that someone I know of has already had good experience with… so I figured… hey! Dopers! I’ll ask them! So… anyone have a good one? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/2 "2006-04-06T04:21:30Z")
I’ve had my external [Sony DVDirect](http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=VRDVC20) for 10 months ([happy thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=328333)), and I absolutely love it. I’m almost done transferring all of my home videos to DVD, and then I’m going to hook it up to the computer. The price they show is $230, which is the same price I paid through [Dell](http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=A0483194&c=us&l=en&cs=19&category_id=6207&first=true&page=productlisting.aspx)for it and is also the same price currently being offered by [Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00092PV6C/sr=8-2/qid=1144297099/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-9127078-9756669?%5Fencoding=UTF8). ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/3 "2006-04-06T11:32:16Z")
I’ve had a couple of them over the last couple of years, so far only the one I have now works. I don’t remember the brand, but I do remember it cost over $200. Don’t go with the Magnavox, though I have a TV from them, I had three DVD recorders. Yes three, none worked right. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/4 "2006-04-06T11:37:29Z")
I have Toshiba’s large HD model. It was stickered at around $500, but we got a great deal on it around Boxing Day. I love it. The only drawbacks are the “TV Guide” channel list diesn’t work with satellite (which I knew going in) and it has a bit of a lag sometimes from when I press the remote button to when the cursor moves on screen. Luckily, this never happens with the editing features or rec/pause…just if I’m putting in a lot of information lke naming titles or setting a manual timer. Not to sound like a prick, but I surmise a good deal of the issues you had (disc errors, crappy remote) are probably closely related to the fact that you paid \<$80 for it at WalMart. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/5 "2006-04-06T16:59:13Z")
> [@RumMunkey](#): > > Not to sound like a prick, but I surmise a good deal of the issues you had (disc errors, crappy remote) are probably closely related to the fact that you paid \<$80 for it at WalMart. Well yes, I think so too and that was kind of the whole point. Yours sounds nice, but even a “great deal” on something that retails for $500 is going to be far, far out of my price range. But thanks anyway! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/6 "2006-04-06T20:59:11Z")
Have you tried using different discs? Might want to check out getting some -R and some +R, and from different manufacturers. You can usually get them in 5-packs for a reasonable price. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/7 "2006-04-06T21:05:07Z")
It’s more than what you stated as your price range, but you may want to take a look at today’s [Woot](http://www.woot.com/) anyway (link will bring up a different offer after midnight tonight). ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-burners-tv-not-computer/351502/8 "2006-04-06T21:22:40Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Have you tried using different discs? Might want to check out getting some -R and some +R, and from different manufacturers. You can usually get them in 5-packs for a reasonable price. The instructions specifically say to ONLY use +R or +RW discs.